Webinar Recap: Perspectives on the Housing Crisis: A Roundtable Discussion with City Planners

We recently hosted a webinar "Perspectives on the Housing Crisis: A Roundtable Discussion with City Planners," featuring a panel of experts from across the U.S. to discuss the challenges and potential solutions to the ongoing housing crisis. 

Featuring insights from Bryce Bierman, Terry Satterwhite, and Rick Barry, all seasoned professionals in the field of city planning, this discussion offers a variety of viewpoints on the complexities of the US housing crisis.

Key Issues Explored

• The Impact of NIMBYism: The panel addressed the challenges posed by NIMBYism ("not in my backyard"), a common obstacle to development that can limit housing supply.    
• Zoning and Land Use Regulations: They examined how zoning and land use regulations, often favoring single-family zoning, can hinder the development of more affordable housing options.
• The Role of Auto-Centricity: The discussion explored how the historical emphasis on car-dependent development has shaped housing patterns and contributed to urban sprawl.
• Economic Factors: Panelists also considered the impact of rising building material and labor costs on housing affordability.
• Financialization Trends: The increasing role of large institutional investors in the housing market and its effects on accessibility for individual buyers was also a key point of discussion. 

Solutions and Strategies

The roundtable discussion also highlighted potential solutions and strategies for addressing the housing crisis:

• Inclusionary Zoning as a Tool: Panelists weighed the pros and cons of inclusionary zoning, a policy that requires developers to include affordable housing units in new projects.    
• The Potential of ADUs: Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) were identified as a valuable means of increasing housing diversity and affordability within existing neighborhoods.    
• Addressing Homelessness Through Housing: The link between housing affordability and homelessness was a key theme, with panelists emphasizing the need for proactive solutions to prevent housing insecurity.    
• The Importance of Community Engagement: Effective strategies for engaging residents in the planning process and addressing concerns about new development were discussed.    
• Innovative Approaches: The roundtable also touched on innovative solutions such as modular/factory home construction and alternative property tax systems.

The Path Forward: Collaboration and Conversation

A central theme of the webinar was the importance of collaboration and open dialogue. Panelists emphasized the need for communication and cooperation among various stakeholders – from government agencies to developers to community members – to forge effective solutions to the housing crisis.

Connect and Learn More

While this particular webinar was product-agnostic and didn't provide insights on Ordinal, there is a lot of potential for our software to help. Ordinal is designed to make planning departments more efficient and eliminate busy work so that planners can more easily collaborate with developers and spend more brainpower on bigger, systemic issues like this.  

If you want to learn more about us, check out our YouTube channel to see previous webinars and other videos. Likewise, we'd love to walk you through a demo of Ordinal and answer any questions you might have — let us know if you're interested.

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