Very interesting article. Nice counternarrative on DC housing prices. And good point that what’s holding back urban development is largely legal. Baltimore is rushing to alter laws at the moment to make the city more development friendly. Including removing parking minimums and speeding up the rezoning process (among other things).
The Seattle stat about single-family zoning is WAY off. There have been significant upzones since the 2018(!) reference. Some have expanded the areas that allow real density. Another big one allowed two ADUs on most SFR lots. I won't even count the new land use code update that allows four/six-plexes, following a new state mandate.
thanks for flagging this! That was my oversight. The recent upzoning to allow four and sixplexes byright citywide is very exciting, especially in terms of testing the strength of state preemption. TBD how this plays out, but it definitely deserves a call-out in the article.
Might SF and NYC’s respective growth relative to their exurban communities be explained by the extreme anti-housing policies driven by a very high wealth constituency in those communities?
Very interesting article. Nice counternarrative on DC housing prices. And good point that what’s holding back urban development is largely legal. Baltimore is rushing to alter laws at the moment to make the city more development friendly. Including removing parking minimums and speeding up the rezoning process (among other things).
I like the name of your Substack. It does feel like the tide might finally be turning, but time will tell.
Thank you! Yeah I hope so.
The Seattle stat about single-family zoning is WAY off. There have been significant upzones since the 2018(!) reference. Some have expanded the areas that allow real density. Another big one allowed two ADUs on most SFR lots. I won't even count the new land use code update that allows four/six-plexes, following a new state mandate.
thanks for flagging this! That was my oversight. The recent upzoning to allow four and sixplexes byright citywide is very exciting, especially in terms of testing the strength of state preemption. TBD how this plays out, but it definitely deserves a call-out in the article.
Focusing growth on urban villages has resulted in quite a few units there (see p4 especially): https://seattlecitygis.maps.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/11a0e019ae3740c0ad01daec6963b0b3/data
Quite a few ADUs have gotten permitted too, under the legislation from a few years ago: https://aduniverse-seattlecitygis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/data
Might SF and NYC’s respective growth relative to their exurban communities be explained by the extreme anti-housing policies driven by a very high wealth constituency in those communities?