YIMBY News for 8/4

[Eric Budd]

The case for turning golf courses into affordable housing

Vox - Policy

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KEYWORD SCORE: 51.05. affordable, affordable housing, apartment, construction, density, development, homeowner, housing, housing cost, housing crisis, nimby, project, real estate, rent, renter, urban, walk

[image: An aerial image of homes and a golf course in Las Vegas] In cities where space is tight, underused golf courses are, in theory, ideal canvases for new housing. | Patrick T. Fallon/AFP Maybe it was never a great idea to build so many golf courses in the desert. But in the 1990s, when Tiger Woods mania was at its peak, Las Vegas went on a fairway construction spree, dotting the city with dozens of pristine, water-gobbling green oases, most woven around upscale master-planned suburbs. One of those new fairways was the privately owned Badlands Golf Club, whose name now evokes huffs of frus

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Trump’s Proposed Reinvestment Rules Would Undermine New Housing Law

Next City

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KEYWORD SCORE: 35.52. affordable, affordable housing, development, house, housing, housing crisis, income, project, rent, urban

(Illustration by Katelyn Perry / Unsplash+) On Friday, federal banking regulators released a much-awaited proposal for a new set of regulations under the Community Reinvestment Act, the landmark anti-redlining legislation passed in 1977. Advocates and community development practitioners are sounding alarms that the proposal would undermine efforts to address the nation’s housing crisis, among other potential downsides. Every year, investors purchase upwards of $30 billion in federal low-income housing tax credits. Those dollars are a crucial layer in the capital stacks behind the production of

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In Seattle, a Tax Increase Is Pitched as an Affordability Measure

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 31.09. affordable, growth, house, housing, hud, income, project, rent, transportation

In Brief: Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has proposed doubling a sales tax to support expanded bus service and more free passes for low-income riders. The measure, which is estimated to raise $138 million a year, was approved by the city council in July. Other west coast cities are considering similar measures this year. This fall, Seattle voters will be asked whether they want to double the city’s current sales tax in exchange for more bus service. Given their past proclivities, they’re likely to say yes. The proposal from Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson would renew the Seattle Transit Measure, raisin

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Does San Francisco Need a Public Bank?

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 28.38. affordable, affordable housing, development, house, housing, income, project

In Brief: Voters in San Francisco will decide whether to give the city legal permission to create a nonprofit public bank. If approved, many more steps would follow before its creation. Supporters say the new bank would provide the city with new tools to support would-be homebuyers and small business owners, as well as advance other local goals. Opponents say creating a new bank is a slow, expensive process and will take too long to address problems that are pressing now. Supervisor Stephen Sherrill recommends the city focus on beefing up existing tools. Voters this November will decide whethe

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Oklahoma City Is Taking Transit Seriously (Which Is What Booming Regions Should Do)

Streetsblog Net

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KEYWORD SCORE: 24.17. bus rapid transit, development, downtown, growth, mobility, project, rent, transportation

With great growth comes great responsibility … to give residents better transit alternatives. That was the message coming from Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt in his recent 2026 State of the City Address introducing a proposed sales tax to fund the region’s vision for transit expansion. Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt He wants to avoid the mistakes of peer cities like Austin and Nashville that have grown precipitously in recent decades without accommodating additional travel capacity, resulting in hellish levels of congestion. He also knows that highway expansion isn’t an acceptable long-term so

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Map: A New Way to Measure Homeownership

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 23.22. homeowner, house, housing, housing cost, land-use, occupancy, rent, renter

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has developed a new way of measuring homeownership rates — and the numbers suggest that it’s less common among American adults than traditionally assumed. The method, which researchers published earlier this month, flips the traditional way of counting homeownership on its head. Typically, homeownership is measured by counting how many homes in a given area are occupied by their owners. By that measure, the national homeownership rate is around 65 percent. The new method, which the researchers call the homeowners-to-population ratio, or HPOP, instead cou

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The hidden cost of Mamdani’s plan for cheap groceries

Vox - Policy

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KEYWORD SCORE: 20.47. affordable, income, real estate, rent, urban, zoning

Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds up bananas labeled with a 30 percent off sticker during an announcement on municipal grocery stores at a Campaign for Hunger community food distribution center in Brooklyn, New York, on July 27, 2026. | Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images New Yorkers will soon enjoy a 30 percent discount on their meat, seafood, milk, and bread — so long as they shop at a city-owned store. Mayor Zohran Mamdani touted such bargains this week at a press conference detailing his plans to launch five public grocery stores, in a bid to lower New Yorkers’ food costs. Under the proposal, th

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