YIMBY News for 7/20

[Eric Budd]

Five Flaws That Would Destine WA’s TOD Bills to Backfire

Sightline Institute

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KEYWORD SCORE: 74.03. affordable, affordable housing, apartment, bus rapid transit, construction, development, downtown, house, housing, housing stock, income, market-rate, project, real estate, rent, renter, supply, transit-oriented, transportation, urban, walk, zone, zoning

Unfunded inclusionary zoning would do more harm than good in legislation to legalize apartments near the state’s transit investments. But there’s a way forward! | Mercy Othello Plaza opened in 2017 with 108 affordable homes and street-level commercial space by Sound Transit (Transit-Oriented Development Quarterly Status Report)Mercy Othello Plaza opened in 2017 with 108 affordable homes and street-level commercial space by Sound Transit (Transit-Oriented Development Quarterly Status Report)To dig out of the state’s deep shortage of homes and control the crisis of high prices and rents, Washing

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The Big Zoning Battle of Berkeley

Darrell Owens Substack

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KEYWORD SCORE: 44.63. apartment, condo, density, downtown, house, housing, income, planning commission, project, rent, renter, segregation, single-family, supply, urban, zone, zoning

[image: Image] This pre-WWII fourplex is illegal to build in Berkeley. On Tuesday, this type of housing will be allowed in every neighborhood once again after 50 years of prohibition. It’s two-stories or 28 feet, roughly the height standard the new proposal mandates. I’m postponing this week’s Substack for a major alert about perhaps the most important housing meeting in California this century. It may not appear to be a big deal on its surface, but the broader ramifications are huge. *Berkeley, California will vote on Tuesday, 7/23*, to replace single-family zoning (and other low density zoni

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President Biden’s proposal to cap rent increases reopens policy split among Colorado Democrats

Denver Post Politics

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KEYWORD SCORE: 42.36. affordable, affordable housing, apartment, construction, cost of housing, development, downtown, house, housing, housing price, income, real estate, rent, rent control, rent-control, renter, supply, zone

President Joe Biden’s proposal this week to cap rent increases in larger apartment buildings across America has elevated an idea that’s long been embraced by progressive housing advocates in Colorado — but, in a split among Democrats, is opposed by Gov. Jared Polis. What’s more, at the local level, rent-stabilization policies are essentially illegal under Colorado law. Unveiled by Biden as he’s sought to ward off calls to step aside in the presidential race, the plan would cap annual rent increases at 5% for properties with more than 50 units. That would cover more than 20 million units nation

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The Urban Doom Loop Could Still Happen

The Atlantic

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KEYWORD SCORE: 28.45. construction, development, growth, housing, mixed-use, project, real estate, rent, urban

“It’s another truly amazing gold rush!” Marc Benioff posted on X in September 2023. The founder and CEO of Salesforce was celebrating San Francisco’s AI-fueled revival, touting a report that pegged demand for new office space in the city at nearly 1 million square feet. By February 2024, *The Economist* was declaring that “San Francisco staged a surprising comeback.” It looked like quite a turnaround for a city whose epitaph had been written again and again since the pandemic. Just months before Benioff’s exclamatory post, Salesforce had reduced its office footprint, leaving the city’s tallest

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