Your roundup from RaleighForward

Twenty-eight articles we found interesting this week:

Editor’s Note: We usually try to limit the number of articles in each newsletter, but we found too many relevant to the Raleigh environment over the last two weeks. Hopefully, you will find them as interesting as we did.

1. How a ‘Golden Era for Large Cities’ Might Be Turning Into an ‘Urban Doom Loop.’ What seemed like a transitory step to avoid infection has become a major force driving the future direction of urban America. Read more in the New York Times.

2. Housing Breaks People’s Brains: Supply skepticism and shortage denialism are pushing against the actual solution to the housing crisis: building enough homes. Read more in The Atlantic.

3. Luxury Homes in the Triangle Keep Selling. Read more from WRAL.

4. Though not legal in North Carolina, this is an interesting article about how Portland, Maine passed a rent control ordinance. Read more from Shelterforce.

5. These NC cities rank among the nation’s best places to work remotely. Here’s why, from the News & Observer.

6. Home Prices Drop for Third Straight Month as US Market Cools, via Bloomberg.

7. US Housing Enters Deep Freeze With Sellers and Buyers Sidelined, via Bloomberg.

8. Including On-Time Rental Payment History in Credit Scoring Could Help Narrow the Black-White Homeownership Gap, via The Urban Institute.

9. Influencers, Bias, and Equity in Rezoning Cases, also via The Urban Institute.

10. First Time Buyers Face Brutal Housing Market, via the New York Times.

11. "Collapse" in home prices is coming, experts say, Axios reports.

12. Millennials are flocking to Raleigh, according to the Greensboro News & Record.

13. The US Needs more Housing than Almost Anyone can Imagine, via The Atlantic.

14. The Racists Next Door: Black Homebuyers Face Discrimination After Purchasing, Too. Read more from Shelterforce.

15. Department of Justice Opens Investigation Into Real Estate Tech Company Accused of Collusion with Landlords, ProPublica reports.

16. Recycling Our Cities One Building at a Time, via Bloomberg.

17. Raleigh’s Skyrocketing Rents are Finally Cooling Down, reports the News & Observer.

18. Real Estate Investors are Fleeing Pandemic Boomtowns, from Business Insider.

19. With a long local waitlist, ‘portability’ of Section 8 vouchers from other states draws concern, Hawaii News Now reports.

20. Is Raleigh More Affordable than Charlotte? Via TBJ.

21. Community Reflects on Effort to Preserve Raleigh’s Seaboard Station. Read more from INDY Week.

22. Here is an Interesting Study from Fannie Mae Comparing Various Local Housing Markets with Respect to Affordability and Supply Issues. Read it here.

23. The Urban Institute recently released a report exploring how to make community land use planning more accessible and equitable. Read it here.

24. Bike share programs prove resilient. Read more from Bloomberg.

25. What comes next after abolishing parking mandates? Read more.

26. The NIMBYs come for North Carolina, in the Carolina Journal.

27. Multigenerational living is likely to become more prevalent in coming years. Here is an interesting article about the history of exclusionary zoning practices and how zoning codes used the definition of “family” to make it difficult for multigenerational families to live together. Read it in the Washington Post.

28. Potential Federal legislation could target the growing challenge of “corporate” landlords, “The Stop Wall Street Landlords Act.” More in Vox.

Here is what we will be watching this week:

• The recently elected City Council will be sworn-in at 6:00 pm on Monday, December 5 at Union Station. Click here for all the details. It’s always an enjoyable way to begin a fresh Council term.

• For those interested in the New Bern Avenue Bus Rapid Transit project, there will be an “Ask a Planner” event on December 8 from 3:00-6:00 pm at Roberts Park. Click here for details.

• With the recent controversy surrounding the City’s Missing Middle regulatory reform efforts, staff has scheduled various meetings and workshops starting in January to inform residents about how these reforms fit into the City’s overall effort to provide more housing choices and opportunities to all Raleigh residents. If you are interested in learning more or participating, you can find additional information here.

The first City Council Meeting with the 4 newly elected Councilors is scheduled for Tuesday, December 6 starting at 1:00 pm. Here are a few of the more interesting agenda items:

1. Typically, the Mayor will announce Council Committee assignments. It’s worth paying attention to how the Mayor structures the Committees and who she appoints to each committee.

2. Council will take public comment on the City’s Annual Housing Action Plan - Fiscal Year 2023-24. This is the first of several opportunities for residents to provide input to Council on the housing needs facing City residents. To review the agenda material, click here.

3. The North Hills rezoning (Z-67-21) public hearing will be continued on Tuesday, but it will be the first time it has been before the new Council. It will be interesting to see what the outcome of the case will be since Council did not act on the case before the new Council was sworn in. Click here for the agenda materials.

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