YIMBY News for 8/15

[Eric Budd]

Chicago and Denver Just Ditched Parking Mandates—What Does That Mean?

Strong Towns

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KEYWORD SCORE: 53.03. affordable, apartment, density, development, downtown, homeowner, house, housing, housing cost, housing crisis, land-use, mixed-use, parking, project, rent, single-family, transit-oriented, transportation, urban, walk, zone, zoning

The Chicago skyline. On July 16, 2025, the Chicago City Council did something bold, overdue, and surprisingly straightforward: it got rid of parking mandates for most new development near public transit. Going forward, if you want to build housing or a business near a train station or bus line, you no longer have to set aside precious–and expensive–space for cars that may never arrive. The reform, introduced by 1st Ward Alderperson Daniel La Spata, passed with broad support. When it takes effect in September, developers building near Chicago Transit Authority train stations or within a quarter

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Lack of affordable housing pushing teachers out of the profession

Colorado Public Radio

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KEYWORD SCORE: 29.66. affordable, affordable housing, apartment, cost of housing, homeowner, house, housing, income, rent

Seventh-grade math teacher Greg Meshell started off a new school year in Cortez on Monday, knowing that every penny he earns keeps a roof over his head. Even with 27 years’ experience, even with a pay raise, his rent takes up 42 percent of his salary. Another Cortez educator, first year teacher Cassidy Proctor, who has a Master’s degree, needs her parents’ support to survive. She earns $44,000 a year. Teachers across Colorado, like Proctor and Meshell, are increasingly being priced out of the communities they serve. Their stories are among those featured in a new first-of-its-kind report showi

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Tough Challenges for Counties in a New Era of Fiscal Federalism

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 23.83. affordable, house, housing, income, mobility, rent

For decades, the federal government played a familiar role in the intergovernmental fiscal landscape: a partner that stepped in during times of extraordinary need. During natural disasters, agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency provided rapid emergency assistance. During economic crises, major legislation — most recently the American Rescue Plan Act — delivered flexible funding to help local governments respond, recover and rebuild. Today, we are entering a new phase of fiscal federalism, one in which local governments are not just shouldering more of the work but are increasin

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Rooftop Solar Power Is Struggling To Take Off in Hong Kong. What Went Wrong?

Next City

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KEYWORD SCORE: 23.67. affordable, apartment, density, development, homeowner, house, income, project, rent, urban

Hong Kong's skyline. (Photo by bady abbas / Unsplash) *This story was first published by The Xylom. Subscribe to The Xylom’s newsletter here.* Hong Kong is full of contradictions: As the city with the most skyscrapers in the world, it has 40% of its land designated as country parks. It is the city with the second-highest concentration of billionaires in the world, yet its local government has seen a budget deficit for five of the past six financial years. The average Hong Kong resident uses less than half the energy of the average American and one-fifth that of the average Singaporean. However

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Op-Ed: Tech Workers Must Challenge the Political Power of Their Bosses

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 20.22. gentrifying, house, housing, income, project, rent, urban

Tech workers are aware of how we’re perceived. We are mostly transplants who work for dubiously evil companies, and we can see how our presence is gentrifying and changing the landscape in Washington. After working in big tech for the last 10 years, I’ve started to make changes to feel like I belong in this place I really love — to put my heart where my feet are. Lately, I’ve been volunteering in policy areas like worker’s rights and immigration advocacy. Through those advocacy spaces, I learned that our state had a huge budget deficit. We were told it was unlikely that we would pass any of th

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Questions about the special session, answered

Colorado Sun

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KEYWORD SCORE: 20.16. affordable, affordable housing, house, housing, income, parking, parking lot, project, rent, walk

[image: The Sunriser logo] ------------------------------ Good morning, Colorado. In case anyone is wondering, I had to bail on my stargazing plans Tuesday night. I won’t go into details, but a dog with diarrhea derailed the night and, as much as I wanted to catch a bunch of meteors, it was much more important to take care of her. But Perseids, I’m coming for you next year! In other news, among the emails waiting for me in my inbox this morning was one claiming that, of all states, Colorado is “most excited about the return of the pumpkin spice latte” at Starbucks later this month. That’s base

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