Chicago's narrow 25-foot lots could hold a lot more homes — but current rules require two staircases, making it impossible to build enough units to pencil out. Single stair reform would change that.
citythatworks.substack.com/p/small-lots...
How do you plan transit, roads, and housing together — instead of in silos?
Minnesota legislators are trying. A bill moving through the House would require the Twin Cities metro to align all three.
www.house.mn.gov/SessionDaily...
Metropolitan Abundance Project
👏 people over parking 👏
Childcare shortage 🤝 housing shortage.
4M homes short. 4.2M childcare slots short. 1 in 5 parents delay buying due to childcare costs. Rising rents are pushing out family care providers — the cheapest option.
More home choices means more families can afford both.
fortune.com/2026/05/03/a...
Parking reform lowers the cost of housing.
Minneapolis: rents up 1% vs. 14% statewide.
Austin: built at nearly triple the national rate.
NYC and Chicago still require parking in their most walkable neighborhoods. Time to catch up.
@ebwhamilton.bsky.social @parkingreform.org
Only 5.6% of Idaho homes are affordable to first-time buyers.
Idaho just passed two laws to help fix that — allowing smaller starter homes on smaller lots, and giving homeowners the right to build a backyard ADU.
More home choices for more families.
www.newsweek.com/idaho-set-to...
Revolving loan funds are among housing's most cost-effective production tools: fill the financing gap on stalled projects, collect repayment, repeat. Montgomery County, MD pioneered the model in 2021 — five states have since launched their own.
www.remappingdebate.org/article/revo...
Austin's housing recipe:
✅ Targeted upzoning near jobs and universities
✅ Eliminated parking minimums
✅ ADUs allowed on nearly every lot
✅ Streamlined permitting
Result: steepest rent decline of any large U.S. city.
@pewstates.bsky.social
www.pew.org/en/research-...
Parking takes up 30% of downtown Spokane's core.
Not only has Spokane eliminated parking mandates — their new downtown parking policy incentivizes redevelopment of surface lots into housing or commercial space.
Less land for cars. More land for people. 🏘️
www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
4 states have passed measures to reduce vehicle miles traveled — and a new Brookings report says this year's elections could be a turning point for more.
@brookings.edu
www.brookings.edu/articles/why...
We need to stop prioritizing parking lots over people.
Today, I assembled a roundtable to discuss our Building Up Illinois Developments Plan — and the consensus was that we need to act fast.
Looking forward to passing it and getting to work in our neighborhoods.
Which states have VMT mitigation laws, why some efforts have failed, and where VMT mitigation policies could become law.
After decades of explosive growth, Austin, Texas, in the 2010s was a victim of its own success. Lured by high-tech jobs and the city’s hip reputation, too many people were competing for too few homes....
