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.”
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.
“Over the years, [cities have] just added more and more regulation. Now is the time to think about it differently,” Dallas Planning and Development Director Emily Liu said during the NLC panel. “The more restrictive you are, the more constraints you put on the housing supply.”
Here’s how Dallas rewrote its housing policies and how other local governments are following similar paths to spur housing production in 2026.
A Housing Construction Leader, Still Falling Short of Need
Dallas already issues permits for and sells more new homes than most other U.S. cities, but housing supply and affordability challenges persist.
According to the Dallas 2024 housing action plan, 72% of renters with mid-range incomes were cost-burdened in 2022, and fewer than 20% of renters — only those making $100,000 or above — can afford to buy a median-priced home in the city.
As of 2022, the city faced a shortage of nearly 40,000 rental homes affordable to those who earn 50% of the area median income, about $55,000.
“Without intervention, this rental deficit is projected to grow to 70,210 rental homes by 2033, as job growth continues to outpace home production,” the report states.
