YIMBY News for 7/10

[Eric Budd]

Why YIMBYs Should Support BAHFA

Darrell Owens Substack

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KEYWORD SCORE: 70.91. affordable, affordable housing, construction, density, development, house, housing, housing cost, housing crisis, impact fee, income, infill, market-rate, mixed-use, nimby, parking, preservation, project, rent, renter, segregate, single family, transportation, yimby, zone, zoning

*Disclaimer: This guest article was written by BAHFA advocate Derek Sagehorn. I thought it was great and decided to publish itr. I’ve already heard grumblings about the upcoming $20 billion low income housing bond measure being put up amid tax fatigue. I’ve long been a supporter of BAHFA from its early stages and now. Its a rare oppertunity to make job-heavy parts of the West Bay and Silicon Valley to help fix the affordability and homeless crisis they thrusted upon the East Bay. Moreover, it’ll create low income housing in wealthy neighborhoods that have long shut them out throughout the Bay

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It’s Time For Commercial Landlords and Cities to Face the Music

Next City

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KEYWORD SCORE: 34.72. apartment, development, downtown, housing, mixed-use, occupancy, real estate, rent, supply, urban, walk

(Photo by Nicholas Kampouris / Unsplash) *A version of this op-ed was originally published on PostAlley.org and has been adapted with permission.* Blank street walls and empty storefronts have become a crisis in American downtowns, attracting undesirable activities and driving away customers who no longer feel safe traversing sidewalks. How did we get here? A decade ago, economists became alarmed by the vast increases in retail space being built and marketed in urban centers following the Great Recession of 2008. By 2017, this was widely recognized as a gross oversupply. Every building owner h

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After Supreme Court Allows Penalties for Homelessness, Not Everyone in Law Enforcement Is Applauding.

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 29.81. downtown, house, housing, income, project, supply, urban

In Brief: Last month, the Supreme Court upheld laws that criminalize sleeping in public. Some state and local officials welcomed the authority to clear out encampments. But many leaders in law enforcement say they have no interest in arresting individuals for being homeless. Advocates for the homeless insist that the solution lies in providing housing, not criminal penalties. The Supreme Court’s ruling last month in a major homelessness case may have set the stage for fines or jail time to play a greater role. So far, however, there aren’t clear signs that this is coming. California Gov. Gavin

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What Gardens of the Future Should Look Like

The Atlantic

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KEYWORD SCORE: 27.44. affordable, affordable housing, development, growth, house, housing, project, urban

On a Sunday afternoon in May, the Elizabeth Street Garden, a serene public park wedged between Manhattan’s SoHo and Little Italy neighborhoods, was filled with people undeterred by the gray sky and spitting rain. Visitors sat at tables among fuchsia azaleas and yellow irises, and in the shade of loping old trees, talking, eating pizza, and drinking iced coffee. A painter faced an easel at the back of the garden and composed a watercolor. As with most public green spaces in New York City, it is remarkable that the Elizabeth Street Garden exists at all. It thrives on a portion of a previously ab

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In Praise of Traffic Congestion

Streetsblog Net

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KEYWORD SCORE: 26.08. bike lane, construction, development, downtown, growth, infill, parking, parking garage, parking structure, rent, urban, walk

*Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Carbon Upfront and is republished with permission.* The world is apparently agog that musician Niall Horan recently had to walk to his gig at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, saying, “Traffic’s too bad in Toronto so we’re walking to the venue.” Buzzfeed is on it: “I’m talking about TRAFFIC, baby! Traffic so bad that the pop star had to walk through the city to get to the venue where he was performing that night.” It’s shocking! As Anna Fitzpatrick writes in the Star, “Based on the coverage, it seemed a real affront. A person — a rich and famous on

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Metro Charts Slow RapidRide Expansion, with R Line Slipping to 2031

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 24.45. construction, development, downtown, project, rent, transportation, urban

A new report detailing progress on King County Metro’s RapidRide program has revealed that Seattle’s R Line won’t be delivered until 2031 at the earliest. The RapidRide R Line, long-planned to replace today’s Route 7 along Rainier Avenue, has been subjected to numerous funding-related delays, but last year, Metro was still saying a 2028 opening was potentially doable. The delay illustrates the incredibly long timelines that have become inherent in Metro’s biggest transit corridor improvement program, even as the upgrades consistently bring increased ridership and system efficiency. The R Line

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A Grand Junction family shelter is expanding their services to a growing homeless population: older women

Colorado Public Radio

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KEYWORD SCORE: 21.05. affordable, affordable housing, apartment, house, housing, rent

A Grand Junction shelter focused on older women experiencing homelessness is expanding in what the program’s director said demonstrates the growing challenges for older adults struggling with housing. The Golden Girls program is a product of the Joseph Center, a Grand Junction nonprofit that works with homeless families with children. In 2023, the Grand Junction City Council approved a grant of nearly $1 million to help fund an expansion of those services. Nicki Tarr, who runs Golden Girls, said the need for emergency housing for unhoused senior women “has just gotten worse.” The driving facto

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Seattle’s Dual Dispatch Civilian Crisis Responder Program Expands, Despite Obstacles

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 19.64. development, downtown, house, project, rent, urban, walk

At the end of June, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the expansion of the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) department first responder team, which provides dual dispatch alternative crisis response from behavioral health specialists. The CARE department, which also houses 911 dispatch, is Harrell’s implementation of the oft-discussed idea of a third public safety department working alongside police and fire. The CARE team first launched in October and currently consists of six first responders who work in teams of two. Thus far they have mainly operated downtown, but with

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Where Would the Bay Area Be Without BART?

Streetsblog Net

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KEYWORD SCORE: 18.03. downtown, homeowner, rent, transportation, urban, walk

*Note: GJEL Accident Attorneys regularly sponsors coverage on Streetsblog San Francisco and Streetsblog California. Unless noted in the story, GJEL Accident Attorneys is not consulted for the content or editorial direction of the sponsored content.* The pandemic changed rider patterns and transportation demand. No longer are the majority of trips between downtown San Francisco and the rest of the region. That was just one of the findings confirmed by *BART’s Role in the Region*, a new 60-page study conducted by BART staff and the consultants at Fehr & Peers to figure out how the system can bes

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