What We’re Reading – October 18th 2022

Five articles curated by the Wagner Planner staff:

Parts of the YIMBY Movement Are Moving Left (Jacobin) – “The overall YIMBY movement understands that we need more market-rate and public housing, more subsidies for housing, zoning reform, and stronger tenant protections, especially around eviction. And while there are some moderates and neoliberals that don’t support rent control, they’re in the minority.”

New York’s Opportunity to Purchase: Help Stabilized Renters Buy Their Buildings (Gotham Gazette – Opinion) – “By addressing housing affordability and equity through affordable homeownership conversions, we as a city can build a more equitable New York, addressing several of our most pressing social and economic challenges at once.”

Rent Going Up? One Company’s Algorithm Could Be Why. (ProPublica) – “The company had been seeking occupancy levels of 97% or 98% in markets where it was a leader, Winn said. But when it began using YieldStar, managers saw that raising rents and leaving some apartments vacant made more money.”

A Housing Crisis Has More Politicians Saying Yes to Developers (NYT) – “While there is near consensus on the need for more homes, the debate over how to make them affordable and whether the real estate industry should play a central role remains fraught.”

As housing prices soar, a wealthy county rethinks the idea of suburbia (Washington Post) – “It’s an idea that would do away with single-family zoning, which remains central to the American idea of suburbia. And it’s being considered by more communities around the country as their housing stock has failed to keep up with all the people trying to live there.”

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