YIMBY News for 4/28

[Eric Budd]

What you need to know about controversial redevelopment plans for the Asia Center on Federal

Denverite

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KEYWORD SCORE: 38.08. affordable, affordable housing, bus rapid transit, construction, development, gentrification, growth, housing, mixed-use, parking, parking lot, project, real estate, rent, walk, zone, zoning

A proposal to redevelop a strip mall along Federal Boulevard has set off alarms in southwest Denver’s Asian community, leading to questions about how and if large-scale development is appropriate for the neighborhood. The Asia Center at 1000 S. Federal Blvd. is home to a variety of Asian-centered businesses, with many operating for decades in the mall. But their futures may be at risk. A concept plan submitted by the mall’s landlord to the city proposes converting the mall into a four-story mixed-use housing complex. While the proposal is still in its early stages and could change considerably

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Cities Confront Fallout as Emergency Housing Vouchers Expire

Governing

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KEYWORD SCORE: 35.56. apartment, development, house, housing, housing and urban development, housing authority, hud, market-rate, preservation, rent, renter, urban

A New York City mom and domestic violence survivor felt a flashback of fear when she received a notice in March that the emergency housing voucher she and her son have relied on since 2023 will run out soon. “It felt like the rug was pulled out from under me,” said Nyla B., who did not want her last name used to protect her safety. “I remember how hard it was to get housing when I left. I didn’t want to go back to a shelter with my son, who has health needs. The thought of being homeless again — or going back to my abuser — came rushing back.” Nyla and other renters housed through the federal

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Democrats’ dueling data center bills have stalled as opposition to the industry mounts

Colorado Public Radio

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KEYWORD SCORE: 26.86. affordable, affordable housing, apartment, construction, development, house, housing, income, public hearing, rent, zone

*This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at coloradosun.com.* *By Taylor Dolven, The Colorado Sun* Dueling data center bills at the Colorado Capitol are stalled as the legislative session nears its end. An amended version of the industry-backed bill to offer tax incentives to data center companies, House Bill 1030, was supposed to be heard in committee on Thursday, but was pulled off the calendar. An environmentalist-backed bill, Senate Bill 102, to more aggressively regulate the industry’s energy and water use was heard in committee in March, b

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Join The Urbanist for May Eastside Tours and Socials

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 24.11. complete street, comprehensive plan, development, downtown, growth, project, transit-oriented, urban, walk

[image: Join The Urbanist for May Eastside Tours and Socials] The Urbanist is hosting two tours on the Eastside this month, one in Redmond led by Redmond Mayor Angela Birney, and a biking tour in Kirkland, led by city planning director Adam Weinstein. Both will explore transit-oriented development, with the Redmond tour focusing on the 2 Line and Kirkland focusing on the Cross Kirkland Corridor, a former railroad that was converted to a recreational trail. Beyond the events The Urbanist is hosting, the second annual Seattle Super Saunter is set for May 16th. Walk from the northernmost point to

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ICE Bought a Warehouse in a Conservative New Jersey Town. Locals Are Now Fighting Back.

BOLTSmag

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KEYWORD SCORE: 24.03. construction, development, house, income, preservation, project, real estate, rent, supply, urban

On Christmas Eve, residents of Roxbury, New Jersey, a township 50 miles west of Manhattan, learned from a *Washington Post* article that the Department of Homeland Security had plans to purchase a vacant warehouse on the outskirts of town and convert it into an ICE detention facility. The news was part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s larger plan to buy up warehouses across the country to house 92,600 new detention beds for expediting deportations, a scheme acting ICE director Todd Lyons likened to “[Amazon] Prime, but with human beings.” By mid-January, Roxbury’s Township Council

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Urban Truth Collective: The One-Hour City Conspiracy

Streetsblog Net

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KEYWORD SCORE: 24.03. apartment, construction, house, mobility, parking, rent, transportation, urban, walk

“I want to be the mayor of hyperproximity,” said newly elected Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire, differentiating himself from the mainstream urban planning mindset of hypermobility. He’s also providing a strong endorsement of the 15-minute city — an idea under attack in tin foil hat circles (or *complotiste* in French). But there are fake conspiracies, and there are real conspiracies. SpyCops, Iran-Contra, the Phoebus cartel, Operation Berkshire, and the Tuskegee experiment – these are real conspiracies. In these cases, coordinated and/or aligned interests secretly worked together for years again

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Eight reasons the Interstate Bridge project shouldn’t–and can’t legally–move forward

City Observatory

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KEYWORD SCORE: 23.64. construction, downtown, parking, project, rent, transportation

After six years of deliberation and *$270 million* in consulting fees, the Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) program has finally released its 10,000-page Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). But far from providing a roadmap for construction, the document reveals a project that is legally insolvent, physically truncated, and built on a foundation of flawed “Highway Department math.” Here are eight reasons the IBR project shouldn’t—and legally can’t—move forward: - *Half a project:* The FEIS evaluates a massive $15.5 billion build-out, but ODOT and WSDOT only plan to build a $7.6 billi

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The surprising reason why pedestrian deaths are down in the US

Vox - Policy

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KEYWORD SCORE: 23.52. growth, house, income, parking, parking lot, rent, transportation, urban, vision zero, walk

[image: Three people walk along a sidewalk beside a wide, quiet suburban street lined with trees and houses.] There are many ways you could measure the health of a city — its air quality index, its population growth, the number of jobs it added last year. My favorite is one not often high on the priority lists of city governments in the US: How safe is it to walk? The US has the grievous distinction among peer countries as being one of the most dangerous places in the developed world for walking down the street. American pedestrians are killed by cars at three times the rate of Canadians, four

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How To Organize an Assembly-Based Movement

Next City

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KEYWORD SCORE: 22.33. affordable, house, housing, housing crisis, parking, project, rent

Angelines’s daily life used to be like that of many other housewives: looking after the children at home, taking the eldest to school, then shopping, cooking and tidying the house while looking after her youngest. The first time she saw an eviction being stopped was on television, although it was happening in the very district she lived in, Usera in Madrid. “Lots of people were talking about it, because the police got quite violent with the people who are now my *compas*,” she remembers. “But back then, I watched and thought: How can they be throwing people around like that?” Angelines soon go

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Pike Place Market Pedestrianization Pilot Boosts Sales and Visits

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 19.34. development, parking, preservation, project, public space, transportation, urban, walk

[image: Pike Place Market Pedestrianization Pilot Boosts Sales and Visits] Limiting car access to Pike Place to better welcome foot traffic has been a boon to Pike Place Market visitation and sales, according to newly released data. Commercial tenant sales rose 6.5% in 2025 compared to 2024, after the implementation of a "test and learn" pilot vehicle access strategy at Pike Place Market early last spring. Sales at retail stores within the Market rose 9.2%, with restaurants seeing a 10.2% boost between May and September, the busiest season at Seattle's most popular public market. The number of

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As AI license plate readers spread across Colorado, grassroots movements push back

Colorado Sun

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KEYWORD SCORE: 18.47. homeowner, parking, parking lot, project, rent, walk

[image: A solar-powered security camera is mounted on a pole in a parking lot outside a Home Depot store, with cars parked nearby under a blue sky with scattered clouds.] The cameras went up quietly over a few months — placed high above the road, blending into traffic infrastructure. About the size of a soda can with a small solar panel mounted above it, they sit angled toward traffic with their dark lenses pointed at passing cars. On a cold Saturday morning in early March, small groups of people gathered beside traffic poles across the state. Some stood in the median near a highway exit in Fi

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