Ep. 378
The Housing-Ready City toolkit, published by Strong Towns, addresses the pressing issue of housing affordability by advocating for local regulatory reforms. It presents six key policy changes that cities can implement to increase housing supply and affordability without waiting for external intervention. These policies focus on allowing diverse housing types like duplexes, backyard cottages, and starter homes in existing residential zones, eliminating restrictive regulations such as minimum lot sizes and parking mandates, and streamlining the approval process for new housing. The toolkit emphasizes that local leaders have the power to enact these changes, providing case studies and implementation steps for each policy to guide cities toward becoming “housing-ready.”