Healthy Communities- housing, walking & biking, commerce & culture

(This page will hopefully be continually updated with new reports and information. Your support would help make this possible. Last updated July 2025.)

  1. The Crisis
  2. Zoning, Discrimination, Reforms
    1. Reforms
    2. Inclusionary Zoning and Rent Control, Point/Counterpoint
  3. Barriers
  4. Affordable Housing, Gentrification
    1. The Squamish Nation, Vancouver
    2. “Vacancy Chains”
    3. ADUs
    4. Private Equity
  5. Cars, Culture, Walking & Biking
    1. Cars
    2. Not Cars
    3. Parking and Housing are Inextricably Linked
    4. Community Building
  6. The Hudson Valley
  7. Politics, Policies in Practice
    1. New York State…
    2. …And Beyond
    3. Taxes and Finance
    4. Winning Strategies, Bridging the Political Divide
  8. Published Papers, Studies, Data
    1. Housing Affordability, Supply, Market Rate
    2. Land Use, Zoning
    3. Transportation, Parking
  9. Additional Resources
  10. In Closing
    1. Your Support Matters.

The Crisis

“We have enough housing” denialism answered in one graphic.
Single no kids: 220% of prior.
Married w/ kids: just 46% of prior.
Single parents: 168% prior.
We have a housing variety problem. Leaders are not meeting the demographics, and it shows repeatedly in negative ways.

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Zoning, Discrimination, Reforms

Upzoning increases, not decreases, diversity.
Currently, 33% of NYC land (exclusive of parks, cemeteries, and airports) is used for one- and two-family homes. (vacant, buildable land is another 8%). Such use of land, especially near public transit, is what makes housing so scarce and unaffordable.

Reforms

Inclusionary Zoning and Rent Control, Point/Counterpoint

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Barriers

 “Local interest groups and affluent homeowners wield environmental reviews and zoning restrictions as tools of exclusion, stalling new developments under the guise of community protection…The result? A housing crisis that grows worse every year. Families are priced out, homelessness rises, and younger generations are left struggling for stability—all while the people most invested in maintaining this broken system are the ones who already own their homes. The political generation that once championed reform now often stands in the way of the changes necessary to make their cities livable for the next.”

Boomers Love Progress—Until It Moves Next Door

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Affordable Housing, Gentrification

“As an affordable housing developer, each dollar saved on constructing parking could go towards building more housing for the lowest-income New Yorkers.”

Op-ed: Removing parking mandates is a plausible trade off to increase affordable housing

The Squamish Nation, Vancouver

“Vacancy Chains”

ADUs

Private Equity

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Cars, Culture, Walking & Biking

Cars

In the US, the majority of trips under half a mile are by driving. (This is bad.)

Not Cars

Parking and Housing are Inextricably Linked

Every unnecessary parking space constructed ($40,000+ per space) due to parking minimums is a lost opportunity to build more housing.

“…cities aren’t throwing out parking altogether. They’re just refusing to let it dictate the shape of every new building, block, or neighborhood. As Bothell’s mayor put it, “I want there to be more Bothell in Bothell.””

Ditching Parking Mandates- Strong Towns
Minimum parking requirements destroy communities.

Community Building

A majority of Americans want to live in vibrant, walkable neighborhoods.
In 1947, a proposal was made to extend the existing MBTA rapid transit network in Greater Boston to “give speedy electric-train service to the surrounding 29 cities and towns largely populated by Boston workers.” Massive federal highway expansion in the 1960s shelved the plans. (This is your cue to read up on Robert Moses and the Car and Gas lobbies.)

Air pollution has dropped significantly in Paris the last 15 years. Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s leadership has traded car space for green space, safe bike space, kid space…and traded pollution for people.

Progress in Providence. Which do you prefer? Which is better for Community?

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The Hudson Valley

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Politics, Policies in Practice

NY is slated to lose 2 electoral seats by 2030 due to net population loss, almost exclusively due to the state’s high cost of living.

New York State…

“Democrats face a simple truth: Without decisive action on housing, New York will continue losing residents, power, and most of all, federal funding. The time to act isn’t next year or after the next election – it’s now, before it’s too late.”

When residents leave, power follows – City & State New York
Both the average and median heights of all buildings in NYC outside of Manhattan is about 2-stories. Even in MN, the median is 5-stories. Remember this the next time someone mentions NYC density and how it’s still so expensive. (There is not enough housing compared to the need.)
Looking at Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens, 90% of the buildings are 3 stories or less. NYC is a mostly 2-story city. It only needs to be a 5- to 6-story city to make a big dent in affordability. This does not necessarily mean building high-rises; ADUs combined with bringing the 90% average number up to 5- or 6-stories would make a huge difference.

…And Beyond

Massachusetts has seen consistent population growth while new housing continues a decline from 20,000 – 50,000 units permitted annually in the ’50s – ’80s, to less than 20,000 units since 1990. During the same time, average household size has decreased from 3.3 to 2.48.

What are these eight graphs telling us?

When vacancy rates are low, rent growth is high; when vacancy rates are high, rent growth is low (or negative). To lower housing costs for your community, build more housing.

Taxes and Finance

Winning Strategies, Bridging the Political Divide

“People who claim to be progressives but resist efforts to solve the housing problem are hurting their own stated values—and risking their descent into political irrelevance.”

The Biggest Myth About the YIMBY Movement – The Atlantic

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Published Papers, Studies, Data

Housing Affordability, Supply, Market Rate

Land Use, Zoning

Chapter 9, Land Use Regulation and Housing Affordability- Emily Hamilton

Transportation, Parking

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Additional Resources

“Housing policy is inextricable from social, economic, and environmental policy.”

A growing, curated collection of videos on many of the issues covered on this page.

In Closing

“Agnostic of style, we will never be able to solve the housing issues of the 21st century and beyond if we do not collectively relieve ourselves of the programmed fear we have towards “density”…because at the end of the day if we want nice things, we have to pay for them. And you do that by creating a supporting tax base i.e. density.”
-Marques King, RA, NCARB

Remember…

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(thee brian o dot com)

Disclaimer

I am passionate about finding effective, meaningful ways to address the housing, affordability, and social crises we’re facing but have only curated this content. Absolutely none of the writing, images, or research are mine. I didn’t even compose most of the captions (just some light editing for clarity).