2021CP&DR News Briefs April 7, 2021
Biden Infrastructure Plan Addresses Housing Inequity & Exclusionary Zoning
President Biden’s recently released $2 trillion infrastructure plan addresses, among many other needs, exclusionary zoning laws – like minimum lot sizes, mandatory parking requirements, and prohibitions on multifamily housing – have inflated housing and construction costs and locked families out of areas with more opportunities. California cities have already begun to reassess this type of zoning; a national movement could hasten California’s efforts. Biden is calling on Congress to enact an innovative, new competitive grant program that awards flexible and attractive funding to jurisdictions that take concrete steps to eliminate such needless barriers to producing affordable housing.
Wall Street Journal April 7, 2021
A roughly $213 billion affordable-housing initiative in the $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan unveiled last week includes a competitive grant program to target so-called exclusionary zoning laws that the administration says have inflated housing and construction costs and locked families out of areas with more opportunities. The grant program will be at least $5 billion, according to an administration official.
Local zoning and land-use regulations have proliferated since the 1970s. Housing shortages have also extended beyond expensive coastal areas like Boston and San Francisco to places like Grand Rapids, Mich., and Austin, Texas.
Housingwire.com, March 31, 2021
Biden is also calling on Congress to eliminate exclusionary zoning laws, which he says inflates housing and construction costs – an issue that has crippled home builders across the country for more than a year.
Biden wants homes upgraded through “block grants” – annual sums awarded by the federal government to a state or local body to help fund a specific problem – and through extending and expanding home and commercial efficiency tax credits.
Biden Infrastructure Plan Addresses Housing Inequity & Exclusionary Zoning
President Biden’s recently released $2 trillion infrastructure plan addresses, among many other needs, exclusionary zoning laws – like minimum lot sizes, mandatory parking requirements, and prohibitions on multifamily housing – have inflated housing and construction costs and locked families out of areas with more opportunities. California cities have already begun to reassess this type of zoning; a national movement could hasten California’s efforts. Biden is calling on Congress to enact an innovative, new competitive grant program that awards flexible and attractive funding to jurisdictions that take concrete steps to eliminate such needless barriers to producing affordable housing.
Wall Street Journal April 7, 2021
A roughly $213 billion affordable-housing initiative in the $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan unveiled last week includes a competitive grant program to target so-called exclusionary zoning laws that the administration says have inflated housing and construction costs and locked families out of areas with more opportunities. The grant program will be at least $5 billion, according to an administration official.
Local zoning and land-use regulations have proliferated since the 1970s. Housing shortages have also extended beyond expensive coastal areas like Boston and San Francisco to places like Grand Rapids, Mich., and Austin, Texas.
Housingwire.com, March 31, 2021
Biden is also calling on Congress to eliminate exclusionary zoning laws, which he says inflates housing and construction costs – an issue that has crippled home builders across the country for more than a year.
Biden wants homes upgraded through “block grants” – annual sums awarded by the federal government to a state or local body to help fund a specific problem – and through extending and expanding home and commercial efficiency tax credits.
