Moody's CRE’s Post

Los Angeles is preparing to rezone over 250,000 new homes, but 72% of the city—largely zoned for single-family homes—could remain off-limits. A new city report reveals how these zoning practices, designed initially to exclude non-white and lower-income residents, still reinforce racial and economic inequalities. ~ By leaving these areas unchanged, LA risks deepening the housing crisis and limiting opportunities for affordable housing in wealthier, high-resource neighborhoods. 🏠 The decision could redefine the city’s future—will LA preserve the status quo or prioritize inclusive, equitable development? #LosAngeles #AffordableHousing #HousingCrisis #CityPlanning #UrbanDevelopment #RealEstate

Haltom City, a working-class suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth, is experiencing a population decline, bucking the growth trend in North Texas. According to World Population Review, the city's population fell 2.03% to 45,051 in 2024 from 45,983 in 2020. Local business leaders attribute the drop to the city's outdated zoning laws and lack of a revitalization plan for older commercial corridors. 'Current city leadership is focused on growth in the newer north side, while neglecting South and Central Haltom City,' said Ron Sturgeon of @MakeHaltomCityThriveAgain. Stringent parking regulations deter redevelopment of vacant buildings, forcing potential businesses to look elsewhere. 'I have heard from several owners who could not remodel older buildings because of parking minimums,' Sturgeon noted. The @HUBAgroupFB, which advocates for local businesses, believes revising the use matrix to attract startups is crucial. 'When unnecessary zoning regulations are in place, they can hurt everyone and slowly destroy a community,' said Communications Director Joe Palmer. Haltom City boasts a capable city government eager for diverse business development. However, prioritizing inner-city land and vacant buildings, particularly along major corridors, could reverse the population slide. As Palmer stated, 'The damage can be undone, but city leaders must revise harsh zoning laws.'

📉 San Diego sees a significant exodus! Nearly 31,000 more people left the county than moved in from July 2022 to July 2023, marking one of the highest outflows in decades, second only to the first pandemic year. Experts cite soaring housing costs as the main driver. Is this a new trend or an anomaly? Caroline Freund weighs in with The San Diego Union-Tribune. Read more: https://ow.ly/4Ysn50RkjcV #SanDiegoExodus #HousingCrisis #PopulationShift #UrbanMigration #SanDiegoRealEstate #CaliforniaHousing #HousingMarket #AffordableHousing

Investing in affordable housing is crucial for the future of Dallas. Cities lacking affordable housing options risk losing residents, resulting in a workforce shortage, negative health impacts, and impeded economic growth. Housing accessibility is a key factor influencing people and companies relocating to other cities. #AffordableHousing https://bit.ly/3S8Vgtp

This tool from the Atlanta Fed (https://lnkd.in/e273ZfPp) gives you a really nice way of viewing how housing affordability disappearing coincided with the pandemic(migration, remote work, etc). According to the same data, ownership cost as a share of income in Wilmington is almost 50% and 42% nationally and the divergence starts right around 2021. Affordability is rough everywhere but seems to be even more pronounced here. #affordability #housing #Atlantafed #wilmington #uncw

San Francisco is worst-run city in the United States, study finds KTVU Staff Tue, June 18, 2024 at 5:49 AM PDT·2 min read SAN FRANCISCO - These are not words that San Francisco Mayor London Breed wants to hear: The City is the worst-run in the United States. Well, that's at least according to a new WalletHub study evaluating the effectiveness of local leadership, which calculated a "quality of city services" score, comprising 36 criteria compared against the city's total per-capita budget. WalletHub's ranking, the personal-finance website said, tries to show how well city leaders manage and spend public funds by comparing the services that residents receive. San Francisco ranked 148th – the bottom of the list. Nampa, Idaho got the best ranking. While Breed did not specifically address WalletHub's rankings, she did tout San Francisco's successes in her State of the City address this spring. She highlighted the lower crime rate, the deterrence of open-air drug markets, housing for more than 15,000 people, and community-business partnerships in San Francisco as some examples. "I’m tired of the people who talk about San Francisco as if our troubles are inevitable and our successes a fluke. Our successes are not a fluke, and they’re not fleeting," Breed said at the time. "They’re the product of years of hard work, collaboration, investment, creativity, and perseverance. They’re the output of thousands of people, in government and out, who believe in service not cynicism." While San Francisco got dinged, Fremont was lauded for having the country's lowest share of its population living in poverty, the same WalletHub study found. Earlier this month, WalletHub named Fremont the best city in the United States to raise a family. Top 20 Best-Run Cities in America  1. Nampa, ID, 2. Lexington-Fayette, KY, 3. Boise, ID, 4. Nashua, NH, 5. Oklahoma City, OK, 6. Durham, NC, 7. Provo, UT, 8. Fort Wayne, IN, 9. Sioux Falls, SD, 10. Wichita, KS, 11. Raleigh, NC,12. Columbus, GA, 3. Warwick, RI, 14. Las Cruces, NM, 15. Missoula, MT, 16. Billings, MT, 17. Huntington, WV, 18. Manchester, NH, 19. Bismarck, ND, 20. Baton Rouge, LA https://lnkd.in/gzrtgAaW

New York City is the costliest city in the U.S. for renters. Development of dynamic, supply-side affordable housing solutions could stabilize population trends and support long-term economic growth. Read our report: https://okt.to/zcJ69M

No one should have to choose between a roof over their head and basic necessities in the city that never sleeps. Yet, skyrocketing housing costs are forcing too many New Yorkers onto the streets It’s time to recognize affordable housing as a HUMAN RIGHT, not a luxury. Here’s why: -Homelessness isn’t an individual failing, it’s a systemic issue. When minimum wage can’t cover rent, even a part-time job doesn’t guarantee stability. -Stable housing is the foundation for everything. Without it, accessing healthcare, education, and employment becomes incredibly difficult. -A city thrives on diversity, not displacement. Pushing out low-income residents weakens the very fabric of what makes New York special. What can YOU do? Raise your voice! Contact your elected officials and demand investments in affordable housing. Support organizations working to end homelessness and provide housing resources. Educate yourself & others! Share information and spark conversations about this critical issue. Together, we can build a city where everyone has a place to call home. #HousingJustice #EndHomelessnessNYC #NYCForAll P.S. Share this post to show your support and keep the conversation going!

🏠 Across the globe, people living in major cities are struggling to find affordable housing options. Within the U.S., San Jose, California is the least affordable housing market. California is home to four of the 10 least affordable housing markets, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, according to a new report by Chapman University and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Canada. But compared to the rest of the world, Americans looking for more affordable housing options are in luck. The report found that nine of the 10 most affordable cities are located in the U.S. Get into more details about #housingmarkets: https://lnkd.in/eEMm-zpn 

Boston has a crisis of its own making. And it's the single, biggest challenge to our city and regional economy. The price of housing is too damn high. Too many smart, talented people are leaving the region. Too many employers can't find enough workers to fill jobs. Too many residents are stretched thin to pay for housing. And there's a simple reason for it. ⬇️ The City of Boston's zoning code is needlessly complex and the process is far too cumbersome. There are too many local neighborhood groups with a #NIMBY-first mindset run by unelected people, or as Matt O'Malley humorously called them, "self-appointed guardians for a neighborhood". 😂 They wield far too much power with no public accountability. This adds a major cost and time burden to good, needed projects - if they get built at all. Affordable housing advocates often spend too much time arguing for the wrong policies (ie. rent control) instead of working to solve the root problem - a lack of supply of housing. "Community benefits" handouts are the pay-to-play name of the game. This is all possible because the Zoning Code is 4000+ pages long and absurdly complex. #Zoning is broken. This means housing projects take far too long to permit and cost far too much to develop - which limits supply and drives up the cost of housing. Yes, Boston has always been a "city of neighborhoods" - and there's a beauty and history to that, which can and should continue to be celebrated and enhanced. However, our #housingcrisis is a city-wide (and regional) crisis. Neighborhood-by-neighborhood politics led by a vocal minority is a fundamental roadblock to solving it. It's just plain selfish thinking. Selfish to young people. Selfish to people with less means. Selfish to my own children's future in Boston. And it's sabotaging Boston in the long run. It's not acceptable anymore. I've seen it myself firsthand, serving as a commissioner on Boston's Zoning Commission for the past 7 years. The excessive public process and contorting most development projects have to go through to (maybe) get built is borderline absurd. There are a lot of very smart, dedicated urban planners who work for the city. We're lucky to have such talent, usually working for far less than they could earn in the private sector. They're working thoughtfully to develop a strong future-facing zoning code & simplified process. All they often get is blowback from neighborhood groups that they are "in cahoots with developers." Ugh. So tiring. Everybody is not going to agree to every piece of a modernized code. That's life. But a simplified, predictable zoning code for #Boston is in ALL of our best interests. Time to turn NIMBY to #YIMBY. We need to support this effort and encourage Mayor @wutrain to push forward. Don't let a vocal minority speak for the majority who wants a sensible plan for the future. A must read: 👇 Emma Platoff & Catherine Carlock wrote a great article about this in the Boston Globe Media today.