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  #1  
Old Posted Apr 11, 2021, 11:47 PM
C. C. is offline
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Lightbulb Feds seek to ease housing shortage caused by exclusionary zoning

Biden seeks to ease housing shortage with $5 billion 'carrot, no stick' approach
By Andy Sullivan, Jarrett Renshaw

Quote:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden is seeking to ease a national affordable housing shortage by pushing local governments to allow apartment buildings in neighborhoods that are currently restricted to single-family homes.

The proposal, which would provide financial incentives to local governments that change zoning laws restricting many neighborhoods to single-family homes, is an example of the sort of broad social policy changes Democrats are including in Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure bill.

Critics of the zoning laws say they drive up housing costs, contribute to urban and suburban sprawl and perpetuate racial segregation.

“It’s an enormous step forward,” said Richard Kahlenberg, a housing expert at the Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank. “Very few politicians have taken the next step to propose something really meaningful to change the system.”

The infrastructure bill would need to pass the narrowly Democratic-controlled Congress, where Republicans are already attacking it as not focused on roads and bridges.

Zoning laws were rare in the United States until the Supreme Court in 1917 struck down laws that prevented Black people from buying property in white neighborhoods, prompting local governments to adopt rules that set minimum lot sizes and barred apartment buildings from many neighborhoods.

Under pressure from politically active homeowners, urban areas with the tightest restrictions in place - coastal cities including New York and San Francisco - have increased them further since 2006, according to a University of Pennsylvania survey.

Younger Americans, civil rights groups and employers have pushed some cities in the opposite direction. In recent years, Minneapolis has allowed small apartments to be built in residential areas across the city, and Oregon made a similar change for all urban areas.

California last year allowed smaller living spaces to be built next to single-family homes. But its Democratic-controlled legislature rejected a bill that would have required cities to allow developers to build high-density apartment buildings near transit lines and job centers, even if they are located in single-family neighborhoods.

With the U.S. economy near full employment in 2019, roughly one in three U.S. households still spent more than 30% of income on housing, near record highs, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
50% cut

Full article here: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKBN2BV1CX
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  #2  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2021, 2:02 AM
Manitopiaaa Manitopiaaa is offline
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Thank God. Someone's finally fighting the NIMBYs!
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  #3  
Old Posted Apr 21, 2021, 7:27 PM
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I'm a little surprised this news article didn't generate any discussions. This is a big move into what has been previously seen as a local responsibility, but perhaps a necessary one to address a national housing shortage. I personally like the carrot approach. So it's not a heavy mandate, but an opportunity for a city to revamp their zoning codes in exchange for more infrastructure funding.

Some communities will pass, but it will help out communities that may be struggling all by unlocking their land values.
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Old Posted Apr 21, 2021, 9:18 PM
mhays mhays is offline
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A carrot approach certainly makes sense. A stick wouldn't be supported, as it would be seen as overreach even by many in his own party.
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  #5  
Old Posted Apr 21, 2021, 9:22 PM
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Pedestrian Pedestrian is offline
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I just hope there's a developer ready to build midrise "affordable" housing next to Joe's single family home.

The elite too often doesn't expect to be affected by the policies they want to foist on the rest of us.
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Old Posted Apr 21, 2021, 9:27 PM
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Pedestrian Pedestrian is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by C. View Post
I'm a little surprised this news article didn't generate any discussions. This is a big move into what has been previously seen as a local responsibility, but perhaps a necessary one to address a national housing shortage. I personally like the carrot approach. So it's not a heavy mandate, but an opportunity for a city to revamp their zoning codes in exchange for more infrastructure funding.

Some communities will pass, but it will help out communities that may be struggling all by unlocking their land values.
It is NOT necessary to address the housing shortage. I can point to large swaths of San Francisco, for example, which at least pre-pandemic had one of the nation's worst housing shortages, where midrise buildings could be built in 1-2 story commercial strips without breaking into areas of single family homes at all. For those who know the city, there's Geary, Clement, Third, Mission and just about all of SOMA. When every lot on those streets and neighborhoods have gone 9-12 floor, we can talk about busting into single family 'hoods. I don't expect to be alive then.
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  #7  
Old Posted Apr 22, 2021, 4:49 AM
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Nomad9 Nomad9 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedestrian View Post
I just hope there's a developer ready to build midrise "affordable" housing next to Joe's single family home.

The elite too often doesn't expect to be affected by the policies they want to foist on the rest of us.
There actually are *some* affordable housing complexes very close to Joe’s house. I know because I lived there for a time: Greenville Place. The rest of the area is very wealthy though.
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  #8  
Old Posted Apr 22, 2021, 11:08 AM
eixample eixample is offline
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You love to see this but is a $5 billion fund of incentives even close to enough? Is whatever piece of $5 billion that would be parceled out to each locale really going to be enough to convince Lower Merion Township (rich suburban municipality right next to Philadelphia border) to change their zoning code to allow more small apartment buildings?

What you'd like to see is zoning reform tied to the real federal pot of gold - funding for roads. I really think something could be done if the Congressional Black Caucus and social justice aligned democrats really pushed for it. Some republicans would naturally be in favor of this kind of action if targeted at the right areas - expensive cities and suburbs that are trending blue anyway. Encouraging more development within city cores would discourage sprawl into redder exurb areas.
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  #9  
Old Posted Apr 22, 2021, 12:28 PM
Crawford Crawford is online now
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$5 billion is nothing, really. And the problem is almost entirely in wealthy, suburban communities, probably none who would be willing to sacrifice their town's zoning in exchange for a few more federal dollars. So I don't see this initiative as having much impact.

I mean, you see this in practice, right now. A lot of suburban, wealthy communities have very high property taxes, because they actively refuse to zone for commercial entities and multifamily. The residents are saying they'll gladly pay more to restrict access.
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Old Posted Apr 22, 2021, 3:14 PM
mhays mhays is offline
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I think some of you miss the entire point of both incentives and bully pulpits / marketing. This is true regardless of the topic.

The targets aren't the people/places who are diametrically opposed to something. It's about the people/places that are in the gray areas, where a moderate incentive and shift in the discussion can tilt the result.

Will a program like this shift everything, or even a huge percentage? Probably not. But it can move the needle in many places. Of course we don't know the details yet.

So keep being surprised every time something like this comes up. But maybe ask yourself why they come up so often.
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  #11  
Old Posted Apr 22, 2021, 5:20 PM
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TexasPlaya TexasPlaya is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedestrian View Post
I just hope there's a developer ready to build midrise "affordable" housing next to Joe's single family home.

The elite too often doesn't expect to be affected by the policies they want to foist on the rest of us.
What an odd argument that can apply to just about any politician on either side of the aisle.
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  #12  
Old Posted Apr 22, 2021, 5:34 PM
jtown,man jtown,man is offline
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Yes
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  #13  
Old Posted Apr 23, 2021, 1:01 PM
IMBY IMBY is offline
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If any state that could benefit hugely from this is Califor-Nimby-a!

Minneapolis outlawed single family home zoning last year.
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