WITH ZONING AND REGULATORY CHANGES, CITIES AIM TO SPUR HOUSING GROWTH Opening Lines In the 2010s, in the wake of the Great Recession, the U.S. produced the fewest single-family homes since the 1960s.The result of that drought has been severe, including an unprecedented rise in homelessness. In 2025, the nation’s median home price soared to a record high, while the proportion of first-time homebuyers plunged to a record low. Last year, the median first-time homebuyer age also hit a record high of 40. The housing crisis has local governments re-evaluating longstanding municipal codes and decades-old housing restrictions and permitting processes that housing advocates, builders and others say can choke development. Dallas epitomized such efforts last year. In 2025 alone, the city slashed its parking requirements for new developments and rewrote its building code to make it less burdensome to build small multifamily buildings. Source: www.smartcitiesdive.com, Ryan Kushner, Editor, First Published Jan 16, 2026 The goals include increased housing density and quicker and cheaper construction. Read how Dallas’ approach stacks up against what experts see coming this year. The housing crisis, defined by a lack of supply and affordability, has touched nearly every corner of the U.S. “There is no region that’s immune from this discussion,” Jason Jordan, principal of public affairs for the American Planning Association, said during a National League of Cities panel on zoning in Salt Lake City last year. “What was … pigeonholed as maybe a problem mostly focused in high-cost metros in previous years is now a workforce housing challenge in smaller regions.” 7 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 07, ISSUE 01
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