The Shortline 9-20-24
Harrisonburg's housing development pipeline tables • Roanoke (again) legalizes a diversity of housing types across the city • Jerusalem Demsas on the US housing shortage
If you’d like to join a Friendly City Urbanist bike tour but haven’t signed up yet, there are only a few spots left. Weather-permitting, we’re doing it tomorrow afternoon, Saturday September 21, again next Saturday the 28th, and the last one is on Wednesday, October 2 at noon. Register here (click “get tickets”).
The Valley
Of the 2,886 residential units Harrisonburg City Council has approved as part of new developments since January 2021, 55 units are under construction and just 25 have been completed. (The Citizen)
City staff recently gave a presentation to Harrisonburg City Council about housing inventory, affordable housing developments, and the development pipeline tables. You can read the memo here.
The City of Harrisonburg is applying for a grant to help pay for a study to determine the feasibility of rerouting the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks away from the city and create safer roads and shared-use paths for city residents. (Daily News-Record)
HRMPO is set to begin the small area study focusing on the Port Republic Road, Peach Grove Avenue, and Neff Avenue corridor. This analysis aims to create a forward-thinking framework for managing growth, improving multimodal transportation options, and enhancing safety in this vital area of Harrisonburg. (CSPDC)
The CSPDC is updating its Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan in collaboration with our local government appointees and community partners. Some examples of hazards and threats to consider include flooding, drought, wildfires, extreme temperatures, and critical infrastructure failure. Take the survey.
A new housing development could soon be built in Rockingham County, just outside Harrisonburg city limits, as a developer plans to build over 200 homes on more than 90 acres on the western edge of the city. (WHSV) It’s not clear in this TV3 story, but this property in the county was rezoned in 2005. Read the staff memo here.
The Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the county’s new 2045 Comprehensive Plan, which aims to keep the county rural while allowing for necessary growth. (WHSV)
Virginia
Roanoke has (again) legalized a diversity of housing types across the city. City Council on Monday voted 6-1 to readopt essentially the same package of zoning reforms approved in March that make it easier to build duplexes, triplexes and small apartment buildings throughout Roanoke’s residential neighborhoods. (Roanoke Rambler)
More than 2.3 million adults in Virginia are struggling to pay for their living expenses, according to recent Census data. 35% of the state's adult population is facing the impact of high and rising prices of housing, food, child care, transportation and utilities. (Axios Richmond)
A judge in Alexandria effectively will entertain the argument that the city in abstract is a nuisance. It may feel weird to see change happening in a city, but the sum of those changes, over time, is the process by which all of the places we love came to exist. (The Deleted Scenes)
New legislation is necessary for local governments in Virginia to levy higher transfer fees for more expensive homes — the so-called “mansion tax” that is gaining popularity in some other states. (HousingForward Virginia)
Fairfax County is considering several new local taxes worth an estimated $225.6 million per year that could be realized following passage of recent General Assembly legislation. (Gazette Leader)
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted to approve two, 80-foot-tall data centers on land that once held an African American horse show grounds. (Prince William Times)
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted to rezone 504 acres from agricultural to light industrial to allow a 5.5 million square foot data center campus with 23 buildings and six electric substations. (Fredericksburg Free Press)
Virginia’s largest county passed new restrictions for data centers, requiring they be at least 200 feet away from residential areas, and at least a mile away from a Metro station. (DC News Now)
A 12-year-old girl in DC was hit by a man driving a car. He had 94 unpaid tickets. Victims of traffic violence in D.C. say the city needs to get drivers who rack up tickets off the roads. (The Washington Post)
The city of Richmond presented a $3 million check to its residents to spend how they want — both metaphorically and literally. Richmond’s participatory budget process, called the Richmond People’s Budget, allows residents to vote for what they would most like to see the city fix or construct. (Virginia Mercury)
Elsewhere
In spite of what many engineers will tell you, those awful 45 mph, 4/6/8-lane speedways can be calmed down. Local planning rules like zoning are the ultimate reason that we have to deal with car-oriented arterial stroads. (Urbanism Speakeasy)
Americans in communities across the US landed themselves in a housing crisis in the first place by voting for it. Demsas makes the case that solutions to the housing crisis will have to come from states, not cities. (Bloomberg)
The Maplewood housing development in Ithaca, New York, was an exercise in new urbanist design that also meets aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals. The project’s energy strategy aligns with Tompkins County’s “Energy Roadmap” to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent over the next 40 years. (CNU)
Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announced that the city of Norwalk has received a notice of violation and a possible lawsuit warning if they don’t reverse their city-wide moratorium on emergency shelters, single-room occupancy (SRO) housing, supportive housing, and transitional housing. (California Globe)
Long school drop-off lines highlight a failure of community planning in the US. Solving it would not only build community but also make schools more accessible to those who rely on them most. (The Atlantic)
Until we confront the cultural and psychological forces behind our windshield biases, it will be challenging to shift policy to make cities better for people outside cars — especially when those biases are buried in the brains of decision-makers, engineers, and voters. (StreetsBlog USA)
Americans’ cars and trucks are getting bigger and taller, while roadway fatalities have also climbed sharply over the past decade. Now Congress is expected to introduce a bill that would require federal standards for hood height and visibility to protect pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. (NPR)
This Adam Conover interview with Jerusalem Demsas on America’s housing shortage is worth listening to, but fair warning: there are a few F-bombs in here.