YIMBY News for 10/2

[Eric Budd]

Columbus’ New World: Finding Success in the Midwest

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 46.38. affordable, affordable housing, bike path, bus rapid transit, construction, development, growth, house, housing, housing cost, nimby, project, rent, supply, urban, walk, zoning

Editor's Note: This article appears in Governing's Fall 2025 Magazine. You can subscribe here. Central Ohio is completely flat, leveled by a massive glacier some 20,000 years ago. Starting out from the state Capitol in Columbus, you can walk for many miles in any direction without gaining any noticeable elevation. The weather is humid year-round, leading to muggy summers and cold, often gray winters. “It’s not our mountains, our beaches or the ocean that’s driving success,” says Jason Hall, who leads the Columbus Partnership, a membership organization of the region’s leading corporate CEOs. De

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Issaquah Mayor Pushes to Pull the Plug on Metro Flex Microtransit Service

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 27.02. affordable, affordable housing, apartment, bus route, housing, mobility, rent, transit center, transportation, urban, walk, zone

Issaquah Mayor Mary Lou Pauly is recommending that the city not renew its contract with King County Metro to operate its Metro Flex shuttle within most Issaquah neighborhoods, shutting off on-demand transit access at the end of this year. That proposal met a skeptical city council Monday night, with councilmembers not ready to pull the plug on Metro Flex. The service has been operating throughout Central Issaquah, Squak Mountain, Talus and a slice of the Issaquah Highlands since late 2023. Around 40 people use the on-demand Metro Flex service every weekday in Issaquah, a usage rate that is low

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With Federal Grants in Chaos, Local Coordination Is Key to Sustainability

Next City

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KEYWORD SCORE: 27.00. development, house, housing, housing and urban development, preservation, project, rent, urban

(Photo by Kevin Gonzalez / Unsplash) Across the country, federal grants remain one of the most powerful tools communities have to address deeply rooted challenges, from child poverty to neighborhood disinvestment. Here in Dallas, for example, federal dollars have helped fund efforts to expand early learning, reduce maternal health disparities, stabilize housing, and strengthen neighborhood infrastructure. For nonprofits and the communities they serve, grants don’t just bring resources — they create a platform for collaborative planning and long-term alignment. Yet today, nonprofit leaders are

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Checkpoint 300 and the Architecture of Control

Next City

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KEYWORD SCORE: 27.00. construction, house, mobility, parking, parking lot, rent, transportation, urban, walk, zone

The Hebron Road between Bethlehem and Jerusalem has changed rapidly since the high-securitized Checkpoint 300 and the surrounding wall were first built along it in 2005. Bethlehemites who are old enough recall this northern part of the city with some affection. “It was the Beverly Hills of Palestine! A place where you could eat pizza, drink a beer, smoke nargileh,” recounted one person. “You could see families eating out, enjoying their time.” A shopkeeper spoke of the economic vibrancy of the area: “There was the busiest and most modern supermarket in Bethlehem, you could buy everything … The

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What the Federal Shutdown Means for States and Localities

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 25.27. affordable, affordable housing, development, housing, housing and urban development, income, rent, urban

In Brief: With the shutdown that began Wednesday, the federal government will stop providing funding for welfare for needy families and food assistance programs, among many other programs Residents will look to state and local governments to maintain support, but these entities may not be able to make up the difference. In contrast to past shutdowns, it’s less certain state and local governments will eventually be reimbursed for maintaining mandatory programs. State and local governments have endured federal shutdowns before, but this one is different in key ways. We may be in an era when shut

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Hundreds of societies have been in crises like ours. An expert explains how they got out.

Vox - Politics

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KEYWORD SCORE: 24.17. development, growth, housing, income, mobility, rent, supply, urban

Anti-establishment parties and politicians are surging in Western Europe and Japan. In the United States, the MAGA movement, led by President Donald Trump, has seized power. Political violence is rising and by several measures — violent riots, anti-government demonstrations — the US is now experiencing its highest level of social turbulence and political conflict in the last 100 years. What lies ahead? How do we navigate our societies through the turbulent waters without sliding into a bloody civil war? Our current predicament is not unprecedented. We can learn from how past societies survived

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