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☆ A homebuilder-association CEO told us the 4 obstacles keeping America from having more housing
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-20 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementUS home prices and rents have soared in part because of a shortage of housing. These are the cost of land, a shortage of construction workers, regulations, and NIMBYism. The US is suffering from a deep shortage of homes, and it's driving sky-high home prices and rents. Advertisement"We just hear more and more that it's harder to find affordable pieces of land to develop for housing," Tobin said. Fewer construction workers means less — and slower — residential construction and higher wages for workers, which in turn leads to higher home prices.

Persons: Jim Tobin, Tobin, —, ANDREW CABALLERO, REYNOLDS, NIMBY, Donald Trump Organizations: National Association of Home Builders, Trump Locations: Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Brambleton , Virginia

In Japan, for example, most people are actually quite satisfied with housing costs. In recent years, rising rents and home prices driven by a severe housing shortage — coupled with elevated mortgage rates — have caused Americans' housing costs to soar to near-record levels of unaffordability. Some experts have pointed to Japan, where housing costs are lower than peer countries, as a potential model for solutions the US could adopt. While Japan's abundance of housing isn't entirely a positive story, when it comes to Tokyo, housing experts say there are many lessons the US could learn from its ally. AdvertisementWhile a population slowdown could help moderate housing costs, some experts believe a substantial population decline would have big economic consequences in the long run.

Persons: —, aren't Organizations: Service, Business, Housing, Gallup Locations: Japan, Israel, Turkey, Slovenia, Portugal, United States, Tokyo

☆ Megabus, Coach USA Bankruptcy: Wall Street Wrecked Discount Bus Option
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-11 | by ( Emily Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Stagecoach Group, a UK-based travel company, first launched Megabus in the UK in 2003 and then brought it to the US in 2006. Along with Greyhound, Megabus became one of the two mega-carriers in the United States. The intercity bus industry is not in complete disarray, but things are not going great there. Bus industry insiders also note that they're often treated as an afterthought by policymakers even though they carry tens of millions of people each year. He emphasized that bus travel can be environmentally sustainable, too, compared to everyone driving their own cars or flying.

Persons: Megabus, Andrew Savikas, Peter Pan, John Stepovy, FlixBus, Joseph Schwieterman, Schwieterman, hadn't, Scott Michael, it's, Michael, Kai Boysan, BoltBus, Fred Ferguson, who's, Ferguson, It's, They've, They're, I'd, Wanderu, Stepovy, Emily Stewart Organizations: Coach USA, Equity, USA, Stagecoach Group, Greyhound, North America, DePaul University, Stagecoach, Fullington Trailways, US, United Motorcoach Association, FlixMobility, Flix, American Bus Association, Lake Holdings, Alden Global Capital, Atlantic City, Day, Labor, Business Locations: Los Angeles, Chinatown, Busbud, United States, Asia, Flix North America, Wanderu, Philadelphia, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, New York, FlixBus

☆ A Swiss city cut red tape and ended up with many more homes. It's a model for the US.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-07 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewAs part of her housing policy agenda, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has promised to "cut red tape and needless bureaucracy" to build millions of additional homes and bring down costs. Zurich, Switzerland offers the latest model. AdvertisementApartment buildings behind farm houses in Affoltern, just outside Zurich, Switzerland. One of the study's key findings is, "if you upzone, upzone a lot," said Simon Büchler, coauthor of the study and an assistant professor of finance at Miami University. A whopping 64% of Swiss residents live in apartments, compared to just 28% of US residents, and the country also has an especially comprehensive and well-connected public transportation network.

Persons: —, Kamala Harris, Michael Buholzer, Simon Büchler, upzoning, Büchler, Christian Hartmann, Matthew Maltman, who's, There's, Maltman Organizations: Service, Democratic, Business, Miami University, Reuters Locations: Zurich, Switzerland, Swiss, Canton of Zurich, Affoltern, New Zealand, Küsnacht, Lake Zurich, Canada, Europe, Australian

☆ Canada's First Nations are building the densest neighborhood in the country by reclaiming their ancestral land and defying NIMBYs
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

AdvertisementMindy Wight, CEO of the Squamish development group building Sen̓áḵw, called it "the creation of a modern Squamish village" in an interview with Business Insider. Canada's federal auditor general recently condemned a "distressing and persistent pattern of failure" by federal programs designed to support First Nations housing and infrastructure, among other services. The housing projects aren't the only major developments underway on indigenous land in Canada. There are no housing or infrastructure developments on US tribal land that match the scale of the First Nations projects in Canada. While some Native American tribes have spearheaded significant housing projects, most indigenous-owned land in the US isn't in the most valuable housing markets.

Persons: —, it's, Mindy Wight, Sen̓áḵw, Brennan Cook, Cook, Heather, reaps, Elisa Campbell, Jericho, Campbell, Heather Lands, Sen̓áḵw, Gordon Price, Price, Tyler Harper, aren't, Michelle Cyca, Alex Armlovich, Armlovich, Noah Smith Organizations: Service, Nations, First Nations, Business, Nation, MST, Corporation, MST Development Corporation, Vancouver City, Canada Lands Company, Energy, Technologies, British Columbia, CBC Vancouver, Bates, Niskanen Locations: Canada, Vancouver, Squamish, Squamish Nation, Wight, Jericho, British, American, MacLean's, Canadian

With anti-immigrant rhetoric on the rise and a contentious election ahead, some donors see the Girl Scouts as wading too readily into politically controversial waters. “It’s our job.”While Troop 6000 has found plenty of sympathetic supporters, “there are some donors who would prefer their dollars go elsewhere,” says Maskara. So, when the mayor’s office floated the idea of starting a troop at the Midtown shelter, the Girl Scouts were ready. The Girl Scouts have not been immune to the backlash, nor is it the first time they’ve shouldered criticism from conservative donors. While Troop 6000 has not been deterred, Maskara says that many of her peers in the nonprofit world have been fearful to publicly support newcomers.

Persons: —, it’s, ”, Meridith Maskara, “, that’s what’s, Giselle Burgess, Burgess, Maskara, Horace W, Steven, Alexandra Cohen, who’ve, “ We’re, That’s, Beatriz de la Torre, they’ve, Eve Stotland, Marissa Tirona, ” _____ Sara Herschander Organizations: Girl Scouts, of, New, Girl Scout, Girl Scouts —, Central America, Scouts, New York Times, Trinity Church Wall, Goldsmith Foundation, Alexandra, Alexandra Cohen Foundation, Scout, Trinity Church and Brooklyn Org, New York Community Trust, New York City, Immigrants and Refugees, Associated Press, Philanthropy Locations: midtown Manhattan, New York, South, U.S, New York City, Greater New York, Midtown Manhattan, Queens

☆ A fight over sewage is preventing Long Island from solving its crippling housing crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The people of Suffolk County, Long Island, need to start considering it. Like most of the suburbs surrounding New York City, Suffolk County is suffering from a major shortage of homes. In December, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced she'll send $59 million to Long Island to deal with water contamination and sewer upgrades. “The governor has said she wants to see more housing on Long Island. Last year, Long Island public officials led the charge against Gov.

Persons: —, Hunter Gross, “, ” Gross, Long, Suffolk County’s, Ed Romaine, Kathy Hochul, you’ve, ”, Joe, Edmund Smyth, ” Smyth, ” Long, Kathy Hochul’s, who’ve, boomers, can’t, that's, Ian Wilder, Nathan Cummings, ” Cummings, Cummings Organizations: Service, Hamptons, Business, Newsday, Republican, ” Long Islanders, Gov, New, Housing Services, Yale Law Locations: Suffolk County, Long, New York City, Huntington, Suffolk, New York, Huntington , Suffolk County, Levittown, Black, Old Lyme , Connecticut

☆ Americans ditched big cities during the pandemic. Now many are regretting it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Kelli María Korducki | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Susan, a 30-something artist, lived in New York City when the pandemic struck. The pair had talked about moving to a smaller town someday — the pandemic just shortened their timeline. As rent prices in big cities shot up and jobs went remote, cash-strapped people were quick to take advantage of an unprecedented situation and try someplace new. It was also a favor to her husband, who never felt at peace in the bustle of the big city. A few months ago, she and her husband found a renter for their house and returned to the city.

Persons: Susan, Eager, Riordan Frost, Millennials, Frost, Alex Gatien, he's, Gatien, Alexander von Hoffman, von Hoffman, Sandro Galea, Galea, Kelli María Korducki Organizations: Harvard's, for Housing Studies, National Association of Realtors, New, Boston University School of Public, Boston University School of Public Health Locations: New York City, McMansions, Toronto, St, Lawrence, Canada, New York

☆ Make America Build Again
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +37 min

America is the sixth-most-expensive place in the world to build subways and trolleys. The solutions will cost trillions of dollars and require a pace of building unseen in America since World War II. Perhaps the single most pressing question we face today is: How do we make America build again? "For this class of projects, federal environmental laws are more the exception." The prospect of overhauling our hard-won environmental laws might feel like sacrilege to anyone who cares about the Earth.

Persons: Anne, Marie Griger's, Griger, —, They're, Obama, I'm, we've, We've, I'd, It's, Matt Harrison Clough, Jamie Pleune, AECOM, Joe Biden's, There's, David Adelman, David Spence, Spence, James Coleman, NECA, Coleman, everyone's, Danielle Stokes, Nobody, Bill McKibben, Mother Jones, McKibben, Michael Gerrard, Columbia University —, they've, David Pettit, it's, Zachary Liscow, That's who's, Adam Rogers Organizations: RES Group, Environmental, Infrastructure Investment, Jobs, Land Management, Forest Service, University of Utah, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Brookings, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, White, University of Texas, Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council, Act, NEPA, Berkeley, University of California, University of Southern, Southern Methodist University, Ecosystems Conservation, GOP, Biden, Motorola, Telecommunications, Conservatives, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, University of Richmond, UC Berkeley, USC, Star, Sabin, Climate, Columbia University, Natural Resources Defense, Republicans, Democrats, Management, Budget, Yale Law School Locations: Panama, Colorado, . California, Los Angeles, San Francisco, China, America, Washington, , Wyoming, Nantucket, New England, San Francisco ., University of Southern California, California, New York, Florida, Southern California, Las Vegas

(AP) — As the United States injects hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy through its signature climate law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, criticism is growing louder about where, how and whether new development should be allowed. MIT is offering a first-of-its-kind course that trains students to be mediators in conflicts over clean energy projects. Students get academic credit and hands-on experience addressing real-world dilemmas, while the community and developer get free help resolving conflict. In one recent Friday afternoon class, students debated everything from environmental justice concerns to misinformation to oil companies. He hopes to create a similar national consortium of universities serving communities and projects in their respective regions regarding clean energy.

Persons: ”, Larry Susskind, Susskind, stokes, ” Susskind, ” Leyla Uysal, “ It’s, “ We’re, ” It’s, Abraham Silverman, he’s “, Silverman, Larry, Patrick Field, ” Chaudhuri, Sarah Mills Organizations: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, Cipher News, Associated Press, Washington D.C, Cell, MIT Renewable Energy Clinic, Harvard University, Power, Google, Columbia University, New, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Consensus, “, ”, University of Michigan, AP Locations: CAMBRIDGE, United States, Washington, New York, California, Chicago, Michigan, New Jersey, Cambridge, loggerheads

☆ The sure-fire way to save America’s cities? Do what Tokyo does.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

But affordability isn't an issue in the world's biggest city, Tokyo. In collectivist Japan, housing policy is designed to benefit the most people possible. Earthquakes and small homesAnother feature of the Japanese housing market is purely situational: The country is a hotspot for earthquakes. Could the US import Japanese housing policy? Japan's housing policy "is now quite well understood" among American housing advocates and scholars, he says, "whereas it was not even three years ago."

Persons: metropolises, Eric Adams, Alan Durning, Durning, Jiro Yoshida, NIMBYism, Jenny Schuetz, Yoshida, Schuetz, André Sorensen, there's, Sorensen, Nolan Gray, Impermanence, Gray, tradeoffs, Eliza Relman Organizations: US, America it's, New York City, Sightline, Pennsylvania State University, Brookings Institution, University of Toronto, Earthquakes Locations: Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, it's, America, Paris, Japan, inequity, Montana, California, United States, Vienna, Amsterdam, California , Oregon, Washington

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Persons: Dow Jones

☆ YIMBY Movement Is Winning: Build More Houses, Lower Home Prices, Rents
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Eliza Relman | Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The adherents of the "Yes In My Backyard," or YIMBY, movement believe that America's housing crisis comes down to the fundamental tension between supply and demand. Today, nearly 75% of residentially-zoned land in the US is restricted to single-family housing — detached homes designed for one family. Folks are like, 'Oh, we're in a housing crisis for the very first time. Ground zero for the modern YIMBY movement was California, where sky-high home prices forced people to reconsider their attitudes toward development. The city didn't allow new multiunit buildings to be taller or wider than the single-family homes they replaced, making construction less financially attractive to developers.

Persons: Nolan Gray, YIMBYism, Sonja Trauss, Trauss, YIMBYs, NIMBYs, Gray, I'm, —, Bill, They've, Tayfun Coskun, Muhammad Alameldin, Emily Hamilton, We're unwinding, Jenny Schuetz, Greg Gianforte, California YIMBY, Republican Sen, Todd Young, Democratic Sen, Brian Schatz, Eliza Relman, Kelsey Neubauer Organizations: San, San Francisco Bay Area, Urban Institute, Twitter, of Regional Planning, Public, Cato Institute, University of California, Berkeley Terner Center, Housing, George Mason University, Conservative, Brookings Institute, Republican, Todd Young of Indiana, Democratic, Hawaii Locations: California, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, I'm, Los Angeles County, Florida, Utah, Minneapolis, Oregon, Austin, Dallas, Seattle, Portland , Oregon, Denver, New York, Texas, YIMBYism, We're, Bozeman, Montana, Miami

☆ Why it's so hard to build homes in your neighborhood
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Single-family homes in Arlington, Massachusetts. Around 75% of residential land in the United States is zoned for single-family homes only. This has had the effect of encouraging ever-larger single-family homes and limiting housing options, like smaller houses. “You can’t just do it all with zoning reform,” Walla Walla City Manager Elizabeth Chamberlain told CNN. The second wave of single-family zoning laws spread during the 1970s, historians say, and the policies became more restrictive.

Persons: Suzanne Kreiter, ”, Jenny Schuetz, “, —, Ben McCanna, Joe Biden’s, Richard Kahlenberg, Kathy Hochul’s, Elizabeth Chamberlain, “ It’s, Nancy Kaye, William Fischel, Fischel, Carlos Avila Gonzalez, Yonah Freemark, we’re, ” Freemark Organizations: New, New York CNN, Boston Globe, Brookings Metro, Republicans, Portland Press Herald, Getty Images, ”, CNN, Homes, “, Dartmouth University, Homeowners, San Francisco Chronicle, AP, Pew Charitable Locations: New York, Arlington , Massachusetts, United States, “, Maine, Getty Images Minneapolis, Arlington , Gainesville, Charlotte, Walla Walla , Washington, Oregon , California, Washington , Montana, Connecticut , Arizona, ” Walla Walla City, Cities, Louisville , Kentucky, Flushing , Queens, America, San Francisco, Los Angeles , New York City, Seattle, Chicago , Philadelphia, Portland, Washington, Walnut Creek , California, Minneapolis, Portland , New Rochelle , New York, , Virginia, Towns, Walla, Walla Walla

☆ Opinion | Governor Murphy of New Jersey and Others, on New York’s Congestion Fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:I was surprised to read Paul Krugman’s characterization of my opposition to New York’s congestion tax proposal as “An Act of Vehicular NIMBYism” (column, July 25). The supposed goal of this plan is to keep vehicles out of Midtown and downtown Manhattan. That sounds like vehicular NIMBYism to me. Now, to be clear, I don’t begrudge Manhattan residents their desire to reduce congestion in their neighborhoods. But unfortunately the proposal seeks to reduce congestion in Manhattan while increasing congestion in a number of North Jersey communities, especially those near the George Washington Bridge.

Persons: Paul, George Washington Organizations: New Locations: Midtown, Manhattan, Jersey, George, New York

☆ Opinion | An Act of Vehicular NIMBYism
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Paul Krugman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At 7:50 a.m. on Monday, July 24, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reported that cars driving east through the Lincoln Tunnel to Manhattan were taking 30 minutes to make the crossing, compared with only seven minutes earlier that morning. According to the authority, traffic was actually “light” compared with normal: The tunnel has limited capacity, so during the morning rush, cars always back up on the infamous Helix, the corkscrew approach to the tunnel. If you choose to drive into Manhattan during that rush, you add to that backup. And of course, the congestion you create by driving into the busiest part of Manhattan is just beginning when you’ve exited the tunnel. Your presence slows city buses, the taxis and other for-hire vehicles that make up more than half of Midtown traffic, the delivery trucks that keep the city’s economy functioning.

Persons: you’ve Organizations: Port Authority of New Locations: Port Authority of New York, New Jersey, Manhattan, Midtown

☆ How on-demand delivery services hobbled America's biggest city
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But even the largest city in the country isn’t designed to handle the rise of online ordering and the influx of delivery workers. The way New York City handles these issues will shape the response in other major cities. “People view delivery workers as dirty, smelly and taking up too much space,” said Wood, a member of Workers Justice Project, an advocacy group for delivery workers in New York City. The growing dependency on e-bikes has been driven by demands on delivery workers, including faster delivery and bigger areas to cover. “But delivery workers are on the front lines of this and it’s even more necessary for them.”

☆ How Strong Is the Economy?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Conservatives sometimes respond to this data by trying to separate the economy from the rest of society. But I think it’s a mistake to imagine that the economy is somehow distinct from living standards. To over-generalize only somewhat, blue America believes in NIMBYism (“not in my backyard”), while red America is more comfortable with YIMBYism. That combination helps explain why our economy looks so good by some measures and so bad by others. Liberals have been hobbling government and the economy, Nicholas Bagley of the University of Michigan explained on Ezra Klein’s podcast.

☆ Democrats who want to 'stop Wall Street landlords' and rein in the $4.4 trillion single-family-rental industry will likely be foiled by Republicans who will soon run the House
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A recently introduced bill promises to rein in corporate owners of single-family rental homes. They scooped up thousands more during the COVID-19 pandemic as interest rates dropped and demand for rental housing soared. The introduction of the Stop Wall Street Landlords Act marks the latest escalation. "Low- and middle-income families in my district and across the country are being pushed out because of profiteering and unfair practices by large corporate landlords." But the watchful eye of federal lawmakers is sparking concern among large SFR companies.

☆ If you can't afford to buy a home right now, a 'renter for life' Yale economist explains why renting forever might be the smarter option anyway
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A Yale economist says, for some Americans, renting might be the better financial decision anyway. That's according to Yale economist James Choi, who said on a recent Freakonomics Radio podcast that he's a "renter for life." It comes as rent prices are also beginning to fall across the US. This makes it difficult to assess a home's "financial risks," Choi says. While Choi is a "renter for life," he acknowledges that for many Americans, owning a home is about more than just the investment itself.

☆ Climate Change Is Real. Markets, Not Governments, Offer the Cure. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Bret Stephens | Mr. Stephens Is An Opinion Columnist. Mr. Winter Is A Staff Photographer On Assignment In Opinion. | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +32 min

worse-case, highest-carbon-emission scenario.” (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the U.N. body that assesses climate change.) How do we weigh the risks of underreacting to climate change against the risks of overreacting to it? While he’s not an expert on climate change, he has spent decades thinking deeply about every manner of risk. That’s particularly true if climate change is akin to cancer — manageable or curable in its earlier stages, disastrous in its later ones. Maybe, I realized, in assessing my newfound concerns about climate change, my long-held beliefs might provide a solution — look to the market.

☆ Sorry, millennials, you're never getting a good home
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Like a lot of millennials, Enrique Gonsalves is a victim of poor timing. For most millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, the path to homeownership has been fraught with pitfalls and false starts. Add it all up, and the homeownership rate among millennials is lagging that of previous generations. Compared with these generations, millennials have more debt, a lower net worth, and a worse chance of making more than their parents. Those factors, particularly the rise in student debt, have prevented millennials from getting a home.

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