YIMBY News for 6/5

[Eric Budd]

Op-Ed: Building Code Changes to Promote Better Multifamily Housing in Seattle

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 57.34. affordable, apartment, comprehensive plan, condo, construction, development, downtown, house, housing, income, parking, parking lot, planning commission, project, public hearing, rent, supply, transportation, urban, walk, zone, zoning

By allowing taller buildings, smaller elevators, more efficient stair configurations, cities can broaden housing options and boost homebuilding. In 1973, Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman tasked the Building Code Advisory Board with examining how the city’s building code could be modified to “encourage in-city living, redevelopment, and new construction.” Focused on reversing the city’s population decline and making city living more desirable, the Building Code Advisory Board’s recommendations were adopted into the 1977 Seattle building code and allowed apartment buildings taller than three stories to

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High-Density Housing Is for Families, Too — and We Need More of It

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 41.89. apartment, condo, density, development, house, housing, income, land-use, rent, single-family, transit-oriented, urban, walk, zoning

My family of five lives in a 1,100-square-foot, three-bedroom condo in one of the densest neighborhoods in the Washington, D.C., region. We chose the tradeoff of a smaller home in a walkable neighborhood rather than a bigger home in a farther-flung neighborhood, and we’re not alone. High prices in the country’s densest neighborhoods tell us that many people are willing to make the same choice. Unfortunately, not everyone who is inclined to live close to plentiful job opportunities, conveniences and culture — without the need for a daily drive down congested freeways or to water a large yard —

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A New Financing Model Could Help Nonprofits Buy Affordable Homes From Private Equity Investors

Next City

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KEYWORD SCORE: 37.91. affordable, affordable housing, development, homeowner, housing, income, project, real estate, rent, single-family, urban

[image: Backyard] The new Georgia Works building will serve more than 160 individuals transitioning out of homelessness. (Photo courtesy Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta) Institutional investors purchased hundreds of thousands of homes during the Covid-19 pandemic by leveraging debt other than mortgages, which gave them an advantage over traditional homebuyers. Now, investors are starting to offload those homes as debt has become more expensive. In turn, nonprofits are starting to capitalize on opportunities to buy back homes from institutional investors to create and preserve more aff

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The city is making a plan to stop ‘green gentrification’ around the Park Hill Golf Course

Denverite

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KEYWORD SCORE: 32.56. affordable, affordable housing, development, downtown, gentrification, house, housing, parking, parking lot, project, walk

Fears of “green gentrification” near the Park Hill Golf Course site have the city pushing for a plan around the 155 acres of Northeast Park Hill. The neighborhood has already faced rapid home price increases in recent decades, along with most of Denver. The community has lacked a grocery store for decades. And while it once was a home of the city’s Black community and entertainment, the area has lost many of its businesses and cultural gathering spaces. The arrival of a new park also brings fears that those changes will only grow. In 2022, when the planning department developed its most recent

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Fed Up With Red Tape, an Indiana Town Tries a New Housing Strategy

Strong Towns

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KEYWORD SCORE: 31.78. affordable, affordable housing, development, homeowner, house, housing, housing crisis, income, infill, parking, rent, renter, zone, zoning

An abandoned home in Gary, Indiana. In Lawrence, Indiana—where one in two renters is paying more than 30% of their income just to keep a roof over their head—the housing crisis isn’t abstract. It’s immediate and personal. And now, a newly formed group of local advocates is stepping up to find practical solutions that don’t require waiting years or navigating layers of government bureaucracy. Mayor Deb Whitfield announced the creation of the *Housing Ready Task Force* during her April State of the City address, citing a need for “more housing of all types” and a “more progressive approach” to s

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Lafayette Silo development moves forward; City Council wants to see more housing diversity

Daily Camera Boulder News

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KEYWORD SCORE: 29.42. apartment, density, development, housing, planning commission, project, rent, single-family

A neighborhood development process is moving forward after previously being sent back for further review by the Lafayette Planning Commission. But the city is still emphasizing that the should neighborhood have multi-family homes. The Lafayette City Council unanimously approved the appeal of the Silo neighborhood development sketch plan with the conditions that the developer look into more ways to add more diversity in housing options and price points, during the council’s Tuesday evening meeting. The Silo development is located south of Arapahoe Road and west of the proposed extension of Aspe

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One Small Town’s Special Sauce for Economic Revival

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 19.22. apartment, development, downtown, growth, mixed-use, project, rent

It’s common for a city, a corporate player, or a wealthy individual to take the lead in community or neighborhood revitalization. But Van Wert, Ohio, a town of 11,000 in Northwest Ohio, is demonstrating a different model. There, the community foundation is taking the lead in a large-scale renewal of the historic downtown. The Van Wert County Foundation has about $100 million in assets and is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Like many community foundations, it traditionally invested its money on Wall Street and used the returns to make grants totaling $4 million to $5 million per ye

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