YIMBY News for 4/10

[Eric Budd]

How Austin’s stunning drop in rents explains housing in America

Vox - Policy

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KEYWORD SCORE: 69.20. affordable, apartment, condo, construction, cost of housing, density, development, downtown, gentrification, growth, house, housing, housing crisis, housing price, housing stock, income, market-rate, nimby, parking, project, rent, single-family, supply, yes in my backyard, yimby, zone, zoning

[image: Aerial view of apartment buildings and other low-rise development in Austin, Texas, with the downtown skyline in the background under a partly cloudy sky.] Apartments and condos in Austin. | Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images Here is one narrative violation in the usual drumbeat of doom that we’re used to hearing about housing in America: The rent, in many cities across the US, is getting cheaper. After soaring to Covid-era highs, rents have cooled. Last month, the national median rent was down 1.7 percent from one year prior, according to research from the renta

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Wilson, Housing Advocates Rally for Bolder Seattle Growth Plan

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 64.19. affordable, affordable housing, apartment, comp plan, comprehensive plan, cost of housing, density, development, growth, homeowner, house, housing, housing crisis, housing stock, income, public hearing, rent, renter, urban, walk, yes in my backyard, yimby, zone, zoning

[image: Wilson, Housing Advocates Rally for Bolder Seattle Growth Plan] On Monday, housing advocates gathered on the steps of Seattle City Hall to rally support for broader zoning changes in the Seattle Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Katie Wilson spoke and called the City's "Centers and Corridors" plan to allow apartments within a half-block of frequent transit a "stingy" approach. She reiterated her "taller, denser, faster" vision for overhauling Phase 3 of the plan. "Last week, you heard me announce my administration's taller, denser, faster housing growth plan," Wilson said. "Now what that means

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Long-Promised 1 Line Infill Stations Get Advocates on the Sound Transit Board

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 43.00. affordable, construction, density, development, growth, house, housing, income, infill, parking, project, rent, transportation, urban, walk, zone, zoning

[image: Long-Promised 1 Line Infill Stations Get Advocates on the Sound Transit Board] Light rail extensions to Ballard, West Seattle, Tacoma, and Issaquah have been front and center in the debate around reconfiguring Sound Transit's system expansion plans. But several smaller-scale projects have been getting attention from Sound Transit board members recently, in what looks to be good news for advocates wary of seeing them fall through the cracks. Two infill stations along the 1 Line – at Graham Street in Seattle and near Boeing Access Road in Tukwila – could be on the table for deferral as S

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Capitol Hill Landlords Lobbied Hard Against Crisis Care Center, Records Show

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 40.09. downtown, house, housing, parking, project, real estate, rent, transportation, urban, walk

[image: Capitol Hill Landlords Lobbied Hard Against Crisis Care Center, Records Show] Last year, King County chose the site of *Seattle’s new crisis care center*, purchasing the old Polyclinic building on the corner of Broadway and E Union in Capitol Hill. Public records obtained by *The Urbanist* show strong resistance to the siting decision stemming from a small cadre of well-connected Capitol Hill landlords and business owners. One group effort to resist the siting decision appeared to be led by Jill Cronauer, the Chief Operating Officer of Hunters Capital, a local real estate company, and

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Philadelphia Is Building a Playbook for Fixing ‘Tangled Titles’

Next City

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KEYWORD SCORE: 37.05. affordable, affordable housing, development, homeowner, house, housing, income, preservation, project, rent, walk

*This story was produced as part of Next City’s joint Equitable Cities Reporting Fellowship with Resolve Philly’s Germantown Info Hub.* ------------------------------ Germantown native Cathy Brown lived in her grandmother’s home throughout her childhood. So when her grandmother passed, she and her mother expected it to be straightforward for Brown to take ownership of the property left behind. Then, in 2001, Brown learned that the city was planning to knock down their family home as part of its blight-finding Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. The property had sat vacant for six years, ha

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Trump Wants to Slash Federal Funding for Public Transit, Rail (Again)

Streetsblog Net

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KEYWORD SCORE: 20.22. affordable, house, mobility, project, rent, transportation

The Trump administration wants to cut billions of dollars for shared, active and sustainable transportation from the next federal budget — unless advocates convince Congress to stand up for livable streets. As part of his recent official request for fiscal year 2027, President Trump called on Congress to defund several major transportation programs, a move that would slash 23 percent of federal public transit funds and a staggering *82 *percent of passenger rail dollars. Among other recommendations, the document urges Congress to freeze funds for the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sus

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Thursday’s Headlines Are the Taxman

Streetsblog Net

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KEYWORD SCORE: 20.11. bus route, downtown, housing, parking, parking lot, project, supply, vision zero, walk

- When states like Georgia suspend the gas tax in response to high prices, it doesn’t work because gas stations don’t lower the price and just pocket the money instead. That’s illegal, but challenging to prosecute ( Jalopnik). Nor does suspending gas taxes change the fact that taxpayers are eventually going to have to pay for infrastructure and road maintenance somehow (Morningstar). - Autonomous vehicle companies are being stingy with information about how often remote drivers intervene. (The Verge) - The U.S. DOT is accepting applications for $686 million in grants to improve accessibility a

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