YIMBY News for 4/13

[Eric Budd]

Cheap Rooms Once Prevented Homelessness. We Need Them Back.

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 39.02. affordable, apartment, growth, house, housing, housing stock, income, occupancy, parking, project, rent, urban, walk, zone, zoning

Homelessness in America is at a record high. It may feel like an intractable problem, but our own history shows that extremely low rates of homelessness are not only possible but prevailed here just 50 years ago. The reason? Back then, millions of small, cheap housing units were available, but overregulation put in place decades ago decimated them. We can bring back a better-quality version of that housing, but only if policymakers cut the unnecessary red tape and take action. Until the late 1970s, hardly anyone in the nation lacked a home, because even someone living below the poverty line co

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A Massachusetts Town Converted Old Offices Into Schools

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 23.72. construction, development, downtown, growth, parking, parking lot, project, rent, urban, walk

Lynn, Mass., a city of roughly 103,000 that lies about a half-hour drive from Boston, has tried an unusual approach to create more space in its schools. The city has long needed more physical space for its growing number of public school students. While enrollment across the state fell 6 percent over the past decade, it rose 8 percent in Lynn. But building a new school isn’t easy, or cheap. The city opted instead to convert a former bank headquarters into space for two schools — a collegiate academy founded in 2022, and a high school success academy — giving them room to grow. That shift also

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