As City Council president, Ben Stuckart passed legislation to facilitate apartments and limit parking requirements. He hopes voters see the additional housing as a benefit.
Spokane Mayoral hopeful Ben Stuckart says he read Donald Shoup's The High Cost of Free Parking and was convinced on the ills of parking minimums. In his time as a local politician, he's sided with restaurants that wanted to turn their parking lots into a patio and removing downtown surface parking lots before taking more sweeping action. "He passed an ordinance last week that would allow residential developers to build apartments in some dense areas of the city without any parking lots at all," Daniel Walters writes for Inlander.
None of that pro-density work was without opposition within the council and from people in Spokane. Stuckart acknowledges that trying to make a denser more walkable downtown Spokane may cost him politically in the mayoral election, but says its worth it because it’s the right thing to do for the future of city tax revenue, the environment, and for affordable housing.
Opinion: Unhoused People Need Housing, Not Law Enforcement
The sharp increase in the unhoused population calls for urgent action, not criminalization.
An Affordable Housing Model for Indigenous Americans
Indigenous people make up a disproportionately high percentage of the unhoused population, but many programs designed to assist them don’t reach those most in need.
UC Berkeley Says Supportive Housing ‘Inseparable’ Part of People’s Park Project
The park remains closed to the public as a court weighs a decision on the university’s proposed housing development.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
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Barrett Planning Group LLC
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
