Washington, D.C. joins Denver and Seattle as locations credited with slowing the rising cost of housing by building an abundant new supply of residential units.
"In 2015, DC permitted more new housing units—4,956, to be exact—than in any year since the Census started keeping track in 1980," according to an article by John Ricco, "and there's reason to believe it's helping to slow rent increases."
According to Ricco, "The record-setting year is most likely due to both long-term factors (a shift towards city-living among young professionals) and short-term, cyclical ones (federal government job growth having recovered from the sequester)."
Ricco offers a lot more detail about the D.C. market and how it compares to other cities. Importantly as well, Ricco concludes by citing three separate sources that have found evidence that rent increases are slowing in Washington, D.C.:
- Chloe Johnson, writing for Bloomberg Business
- Maeve Gallagher, writing for The Washington Post
- Cha'Mia Holloman, writing for Multifamily Executive
FULL STORY: DC added record housing in 2015. That’s slowing down price increases.

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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