housing affordability
If Housing Affordability Is Top Concern, Let Metro Regions Sprawl
Research from BuildZoom, a San Francisco-based contractors' website, shows that housing affordability increases with a region's ability to build outwards, as opposed to upwards. Densification largely has not accompanied efforts to curb sprawl.
Group Living Challenges Single-Family Norms, and That's Okay
Faced with a national housing crisis, it's time for cities to stop letting social mores dictate who can live where.
Oakland's Lack of Affordable Housing Declared 'Public Health Crisis'
There's a physical cost to rising rents, and Oakland residents are paying the price.
A Paradigm Shift for Affordable Housing: Preserve What's Left
A Los Angeles affordable-housing developer says the industry needs to focus more on keeping existing housing affordable.
Vancouver to Tax Foreign Real Estate Investments
Big news has emerged from British Columbia, where the government has been criticized for not doing more to address the housing affordability crisis.
Op-Ed: Upzonings Hurting Affordability More Than Helping in Vancouver
Zoning for new housing supply isn't the answer to Vancouver's housing affordability crisis, according to an editorial in the Vancouver Sun. In fact, it might only be making the problem worse.
Survey Finds Pessimism Prevailing in the Housing Market
A new survey finds that many Americans are still extremely pessimistic about the state of the housing market—many even believe that the worst of the mortgage foreclosure crisis that began in 2008 is yet to come.
Is Portland the Next San Francisco?
Now that tech companies have "discovered" Portland, Oregon, longtime residents question whether the progressive city has done enough to protect them from displacement. Sound familiar?
City Study Finds Lots of Illegal Airbnb Listings in San Francisco
Despite Airbnb's promises to better regulate the hosts that use their site, and despite legislation approved a little over a year ago by the city, abuse of short-term rentals is rampant in San Francisco.
Making Sense of Median Rent Statistics
Amid the ubiquitous, and inconsistent, reportage on rising rents and housing prices, a guide from City Observatory helps point readers toward the most accurate numbers.
Say it Ayn So! A Randian View of the Boston-Area's Housing Supply
The Boston-area's supply of urban housing is failing people starting their careers, writes an architect and fan of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead.
Tinkering With Seattle's Microhousing Rules Continues
A local writer evaluates the results of a 2014 ordinance that updated regulations regarding the development of microhousing. The Seattle City Council could once again revisit the regulations as part of the city's HALA process.
Vancouver and Toronto Lead Big Increases in Canadian Housing Prices
The bloated cost of housing in Vancouver and Toronto has raised concerns among market analysts about a potential correction. Presumably, people in Canada are also worried about the price of housing.
Smart Growth Policies for Urban Affordability and Fertility
The new International Housing Affordability Survey contains various errors and biases. The author even claims that compact housing reduces fertility. Really? Smart policies can create affordable and family-friendly housing.
D.C.'s Record Construction Pace Credited for Easing Rents
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.
Cortright: Oregon Legislation Would Make Housing Affordability Worse
Inclusionary zoning and weakened urban growth boundaries are not effective tools for reducing the price of housing. Joe Cortright of City Observatory suggests ending parking requirements instead.
Oakland Eases Restrictions on Secondary Housing Units
Following the recent example of cities like Vancouver, Austin, and Berkeley, Oakland, CA recently made it much easier for residents to create secondary units, also known as accessory dwelling units.
Toward a Better Understanding of Supply and Demand
A housing market analyst finds that traditional models do a poor job of measuring supply and demand, which makes it very difficult to know how much supply is needed to meet demand.
Does Wendell Cox Realize He Just Supported Smart Growth?
Smart Growth critic Wendell Cox recently endorsed White House Economic Advisor Jason Furman's criticisms of zoning codes that limit infill development, essentially endorsing Smart Growth policy reforms.
Krugman Argues the Supply Side to Combat Urban Inequality
Paul Krugman, one of the most influential voices of liberal policy in the United States, has identified a culprit in the U.S. affordability crisis: over-regulation.
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Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
