In this episode, Abby is joined by Chicago aldermen Matt Martin and Andre Vasquez to discusses the Western Avenue corridor study, one of the most ambitious planning efforts Chicago has seen in decades. (Transcript included.)
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Parking regulations impose unnecessary restrictions on adding new housing. Many cities recognize this problem but struggle with how to address it effectively. Dubuque, Iowa, offers a real-world example of both the problems and an effective response.
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On a recent Upzoned episode, I joined Abby Newsham to discuss Massachusetts’ effort to sue a city over exclusionary zoning near transit stations. After it aired, we received some thoughtful critiques from listeners who felt the conversation missed key historical and legal context. I’d like to address those critiques today.
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In this episode, Abby and Chuck discuss a recent court ruling that confirmed Massachusetts has the authority to sue cities and towns that don’t comply with its multifamily zoning requirements near transit stations.
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Spencer Coyne is the mayor of Princeton, British Columbia. He joins this Bottom-Up Short to explain how he’s implementing the Strong Towns approach in his city, including how to incrementally reform a zoning code and how to do a lot with a small amount of funding.
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Allowing housing units to be built on small or irregular lots is a gamechanger for cities that are fighting the housing crisis. Here’s why that allowance is so important and how three developers are using small units and creativity to bring more housing options to their communities.
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Today, host Abby Newsham is joined by Norm Van Eeden Petersman, the director of membership and development for Strong Towns, to discuss a recent resurgence of interest in mixed-use neighborhoods that has led some cities to allow for small corner stores even in residential-only neighborhoods.
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The evolution of a parking lot in Harrisonburg, Virginia, shows how cities allowing land usage to shift alongside community needs creates more productive and appealing places.
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In this episode of Upzoned, host Abby Newsham is joined by small-scale developers Alli Quinlan and Bernice Radle to discuss their experiences as advice as incremental developers.
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Land use reform is gaining momentum and laws are evolving rapidly across North America. Here are some changes that are likely coming in the future and what impacts they might have.
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Since enacting broad housing reforms in 2019, Durham, North Carolina, has been experiencing an explosion of missing-middle housing and housing affordability. Here are the main reforms the city enacted and how they're helping it fight the housing crisis.
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The practice of "grandfathering in" old buildings — letting them exist without meeting current building codes — is a good one. However, buildings lose this protected status if their owners perform renovations or additions, resulting in many buildings declining or sitting empty. It doesn't have to be this way.
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Regulatory reform doesn’t always mean replacing or changing zoning codes. Great designers are experts at working within existing codes to increase housing options, and this method is often more attainable and scalable than actually changing the code. Here’s one such example of using existing code to create incremental housing.
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Change can be scary and off-putting, and the construction of houses that don’t fit into an existing neighborhood — in this case because of size — can be a source of tension. But a change in neighborhood scale can be a good thing, as larger houses allow for important flexibility in housing options, like multigenerational and multifamily living.
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When protesting zoning code reform, many people cite concerns about the character of a neighborhood changing. However, many neighborhoods only have their unique, treasured character because they were built before zoning ordinances were enacted.
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Can your city escape the housing trap simply through blanket rezoning? How should your city handle historic designations that are blocking housing development? Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn answers these questions and more in this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast.
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Incremental development is a low-risk, high-reward method of building a strong town. Here’s some do’s and don’ts to get you started.
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Connecticut is trying to reform state and local zoning laws to allow diverse and affordable housing production. However, their efforts still rely on the suburban approach — accruing large amounts of debt in anticipation of future growth — so they may be doomed to failure.
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In 2017, California passed a law that was supposed to open up new levels of incremental development. But in many cities, zoning codes still make that development near-impossible. The city of Ukiah is working to change that.
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A bill to legalize certain forms of “missing middle” housing statewide in Minnesota appears dead in the legislature. Yet, here are 4 reasons why it’s still not a total loss.
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