YIMBY News for 2/27

[Eric Budd]

Oakland Figure Skater Alysa Liu’s Gold Medal Story Has a Surprising Lesson for Cities

Next City

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KEYWORD SCORE: 51.27. condo, construction, development, downtown, gentrified, housing, income, parking, parking garage, preservation, project, real estate, rent, transportation, urban, zone

It could have easily become a high-rise luxury condo complex. Or maybe a struggling office tower now being converted into luxury condos. Maybe a parking garage, or a data center. But instead, 30 years ago this spring, Alameda County Parcel Number 8-641-8-5 became home to the Oakland Ice Center — where recently-crowned Olympic gold-medalist figure skater Alysa Liu still trains. Located just north of downtown Oakland, in what the city considers the Uptown Retail and Entertainment Area, parcel 8-641-8-5 was just a vacant, privately-owned lot back in 1991. But in that year, Oakland’s now-defunct R

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New York City Hasn’t Built Artist Housing in a Decade. Should It?

Next City

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KEYWORD SCORE: 37.81. affordable, affordable housing, apartment, development, housing, housing crisis, housing discrimination, income, rent, urban, zoning

[image: Backyard] An affordable housing building for artists in Harlem, Jan. 23, 2026. (Photo by Samantha Maldonado / THE CITY) *This story was originally published by THE CITY. Sign up to get the latest New York City news delivered to you each morning.* A decade ago, a multimedia artist from The Bronx got a lucky break. She was one of the winners of a lottery — to which over 53,000 people applied — that allowed her to live in one of the 89 affordable apartments in a stately former public school in East Harlem. At the time, she was living in Staten Island, paying for a space that was smaller,

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Eastsiders Pack ‘Save Issaquah Light Rail’ Rally

The Urbanist

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KEYWORD SCORE: 27.05. bus rapid transit, downtown, growth, parking, parking garage, parking lot, project, rent, urban, walk

More than 100 people jammed into Issaquah City Council chambers Tuesday night to show support for building the city’s connection to the regional light rail network, in the face of potential budget cuts at Sound Transit this spring. The crowd attending the “Save Issaquah Light Rail” community meeting, hosted by incoming Mayor Mark Mullet, spilled into the reception area and up a stairwell, nearly reaching full capacity. Issaquah’s light rail station, the last stop on the future 4 Line extending to South Kirkland on its other end, was approved by voters in 2016 as part of the Sound Transit 3 (ST

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State awards grants to push dense developments near transit centers

Colorado Public Radio

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KEYWORD SCORE: 26.52. affordable, affordable housing, condo, development, downtown, growth, housing, infill, mixed-use, parking, project, rent, transit center, zoning

Upgrades to an affordable housing development for seniors in Fort Collins, a new transit and housing hub in downtown Longmont and a new pedestrian bridge in Denver over Interstate 25 are all receiving money among the first round of state grants to encourage communities to build denser developments. On Thursday, the governor’s office announced it had awarded $13.3 million in grants as part of a 2024 bill Gov. Polis championed at the Legislature to encourage and require some communities to allow dense development near transit. “Building more housing Coloradans can afford near transit centers is

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