Idaho set to boost housing construction Two laws signed by Governor Brad Little should boost the supply of starter homes in Idaho, the second-least affordable state in the nation.

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...

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...

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...

Austin’s Surge of New Housing Construction Drove Down Rents 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....

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-...

👏 people over parking 👏

Funded Inclusionary Model Legislation - Metropolitan Abundance Project What is Funded Inclusionary Model Legislation? Inclusionary zoning policies require developers to reserve a portion of housing units for low- and moderate-income tenants. But without public subsidies,...

MAP partnered with @sightline.org to develop Funded Inclusionary model leg that uses a property tax abatement mechanism to bridge the gap between market-rate and subsidized rents to make it easier to build high-quality affordable housing.

Link to model leg:
www.metroabundance.org/legislations...

Portland’s inclusionary zoning shows the lesson clearly:

Unfunded mandates → fewer homes (projects shrank or didn’t get built).

Funded approach → projects pencil again + affordable units get delivered.

@sightline.org

Link: www.sightline.org/2026/03/05/o...

The Oregon legislature showed how to fix inclusionary zoning:

✅Ban unfunded mandates (SB 1521)
✅Fund mix-income housing through revolving loan funds (SB 1567)

Well done, Sen. Pham in Oregon, for leading the way. @sightline.org

@mnolangray.bsky.social @muhammadspeaks.bsky.social @theatlantic.com

The Great American Condo Crisis If the U.S. wants to remain a nation of homeowners, it has no choice but to start building condos again.

The U.S. once built condos as a path to middle-class homeownership. Today, we barely build them.

Financing rules, liability laws, & other policies have quietly shut down this path across the US.

Fixing condo policy must be part of the housing solution.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

To Cut Housing Costs, Some States Are Easing Fire Safety Rules

Six states – CO, CT, ME, MT, NH & TX – have legalized single-stair mid-rise apartments to cut costs and unlock infill housing.

@PewStates research shows modern single-stair buildings are just as safe, with shorter distances to stairs and quicker exits.

Who’s next?

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/b...

As Arlington booms, traffic drops Traffic on several Arlington roads is lower today than decades ago, despite huge increases in density and activity.

An oldie, but an important lesson: Arlington added 50,000 residents. Traffic fell.

Wilson Blvd (its main street): –23%.
Transit ridership: +34%.

When you build housing around transit, people drive less. @ggwash.org

ggwash.org/view/35122/a...

When people move into new housing, they free up older homes – and then those homes become available to others. That’s how more supply leads to more affordability.

A Honolulu study counted the vacancy chain: each market-rate home freed up ~1.6 others.

Pritzker to propose statewide zoning laws to spur homebuilding, limit local control Article Summary JB Pritzker will propose a plan during his State of the State address to drastically limit local governments’

Illinois needs ~142,000 more homes. When duplexes, four-flats, townhomes, and ADUs are allowed by right – approved if they meet objective rules – Illinois can cut the red tape and build the homes communities need.
capitolnewsillinois.com/news/pritzke...

"If they get back to basics and focus on results, they can win back Oregonians’ trust and more taxpayer dollars to fund transportation improvements."

Oregon’s transportation funding challenges offer a lesson for the nation - Transportation For America After a series of legislative failures, Oregon’s state transportation agency faces a financial crisis that could prompt a rethink of its approach. The situation offers lessons for the nation’s broken ...

Oregon’s transportation crisis is a warning for every state. @t4america.bsky.social details the crossroads Oregon leaders are facing and a path forward.

"Start focusing on the basics, like repair, safety, and connecting people to destinations."

t4america.org/2026/02/17/o...

Great analysis here from @edmendoza.bsky.social & @pewresearch.org correcting a poorly framed Georgetown report

New housing construction moderates Class C rents the most!

<60%AMI families will always need income supports

But YIMBYism helps all incomes
www.metroabundance.org/adding-more-...

The Research All Points in the Same Direction: Adding More Homes Curbs Rents for Low-Income Tenants - Metropolitan Abundance Project The Center on Poverty and Inequality at Georgetown Law made a surprising and contrarian argument in a new paper: adding more homes does not benefit low-income tenants. Three recent separate analyses o...

New from MAP: the research is clear — places that build more homes see the biggest rent relief for low-income tenants.
We break down 3 recent studies:
www.metroabundance.org/adding-more-...

More building code reforms going up 🛗 ⬆️ to make housing easier to build.

By a 41-7 vote, the Washington Senate just directed the state's building code council to adopt updated regulations for elevators in buildings with up to six stories or 24 units, "minimally sized to meet federal accessibility requirements."

The final version:
lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...

Want to improve affordability and lower rents? Build more housing, especially more apartments. Case in point: Austin, Texas--a building boom produced a precipitous decline in rents. www.apartmentlist.com/research/nat...

The ROOM Act - Metropolitan Abundance Project What is the ROOM Act? The ROOM Act (Restoring Options in Occupancy Models) expands access to inherently affordable housing by legalizing co-living / single-room occupancy (SROs) and shared dwelling mo...

The ROOM Act (Restoring Options in Occupancy Models) expands access to inherently affordable housing by legalizing co-living. www.metroabundance.org/legislations...

The Golden Girls in their apartment.

The ultimate Galentines Day gift is to re-legalize co-living! Our model legislation with @ij.org can help your state get it done.

Link to the ROOM Act Model legislation in the reply.

Legalize beauty!

Here’s a preview of California YIMBY’s new aesthetic agenda.

We can achieve broad-based housing affordability AND build beautiful buildings and neighborhoods.

What if NYC invested $1B/yr in building transit instead of free-fare buses? 41 miles of new subway, housing, and so much more. @usa.streetsblog.org looks at the Transit Cost Project's new 'expansive and audacious plan' to make the city more affordable.

1000 Friends has launched the Housing Solutions Center, a publicly accessible online hub designed to help advocates, policy makers, developers, and community members support affordable, accessible, and environmentally responsible housing solutions across Oregon. HousingSolutionsOregon.org

The Seattle Example for Unlocking More Housing, One Stairway at a Time By rethinking the building code and allowing single-stair apartment buildings, the city made small-lot, mid-rise apartments feasible — and sparked a wider reform movement.

Super Bowl AND single stair champs? @nextcity.org on how Seattle has been unlocking more homes in existing neighborhoods by allowing one staircase in 6-story buildings.

Helpful breakdown of the two housing bills moving through Congress:

The hidden double standards driving our housing crisis Apartments are safer and more affordable than single-family homes. Why do we treat them like a hazard?

"But in the US, a morass of construction codes, fire safety requirements, utility rules, and even tax policies, treat even small multifamily buildings fundamentally differently from the way they treat single-family homes." Nice to see the great work of @alexhrwtz.bsky.social and Pew in @vox.com.

Housing on Faith-Based Land - Metropolitan Abundance Project What is Housing on Faith-Based Land legislation? This bill, also known as Yes in God’s Backyard (YIGBY), streamlines the process for faith-based organizations to build affordable housing on underutili...

Check out our 'Housing on Faith-Based Land' Model Legislation that would make it easier for faith-based orgs to build homes on land they already own.