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Biden-Harris Win Opens Path to Federal Action on Housing
Biden wins! Good news is the Biden-Harris ticket has a great plan for federal action on housing. Bad news is continued obstructionism in a Republican-controlled Senate will stall affordability and housing security for Americans.Read more » -
Ballot Drop Boxes Loom Large in 2020
As states explore new ways to enhance vote-by-mail access during the pandemic, one resource has become an important piece of an Oregon county’s expansion of drop boxes—libraries. Multnomah County, Oregon, took libraries’ civic participation to the next level. It’s common for counties to use libraries as in-person early voting locations or ballot drop-off sites, often placing secure drop boxes in library parking lots. The American Libraries Association lists at least...Read more » -
The Path to Good Local Zoning Reform is State and Federal Zoning Reform
Should pro-housing advocates focus on making bad cities less bad, or on making good cities better? Here in Cascadia, we’ve just seen some interesting evidence that relatively modest state laws actually do both. That’s because state (and federal) laws that force anti-housing cities to welcome a bit more housing can also open up useful new debates in pro-housing cities. The trick is to override the universal bias toward the status...Read more » -
Good News! Vancouver’s Six-Homes-per-Lot Proposal Could Work
Can Vancouver BC’s six-homes-per-lot plan work? Re-legalizing smallplexes takes on expensive housing, segregation, and climate chaos. Ironically, sky-high land values make it possible to cap the price of two homes in a smallplex—if it’s built big enough.Read more » -
Will the Federal Hammer Come Down on Apartment Bans?
With a conversation about zoning to lift apartment bans going mainstream at the national level and households across the country suffering from COVID’s devastation, the stage has never been better set for Congress to act.Read more » -
Portland just passed the best low-density zoning reform in US history
Portland’s city council set a new bar for North American housing reform Wednesday by legalizing up to four homes on almost any residential lot. Portland’s new rules will also offer a “deeper affordability” option: four to six homes on any lot if at least half are available to low-income Portlanders at regulated, affordable prices. The measure will make it viable for nonprofits to intersperse below-market housing anywhere in the city...Read more » -
Five Steps to Prevent Displacement
Protect tenants. Upzone for reparations. And 3 more steps for communities to build abundant housing, invest in affordability, and avoid displacement.Read more » -
A Federal One-Two Punch to Protect Renters—Pandemic and Beyond
Together, these two strategies can turn around the coronavirus housing emergency, and set the course for long-term housing abundance and affordability.Read more » -
Washington Stops at Incremental Housing Steps
More and more Washingtonians can’t find homes they can afford. The housing squeeze has been especially hard on renters. For those stretched to the limit just to make rent every month, the dream of owning a home is a cruel joke. Allowing more missing middle homes like granny flats, duplexes, and triplexes in our communities would help. The urgency is escalating. The threat of COVID-19 conveys a stark reminder that...Read more » -
Washington Takes a Stand for Granny Flats
Granny flats won in Olympia this session. Yesterday, Washington lawmakers took action to address the state’s housing shortage, leading cities in a unified effort to curb home prices and congestion by allowing more homes of all shapes and sizes. Lawmakers passed SB 6617, waiving off-street parking requirements for backyard cottages, granny flats, and daylight basement apartments near frequent transit. Legislators haven’t required cities to legalize more housing so explicitly since...Read more »