By Calvin Welch, HANC Board
There is a new urban policy sweeping the nation: “density bonus.” A density bonus program is an urban development policy aimed at addressing the nation-wide shortage of affordable housing in urban America by allowing for-profit developers more units on smaller lots in hope that affordable prices will result.
The fact that the two most dense US cities—New York and San Francisco—have the highest housing costs in the nation does not seem to inform the support in governing circles for the approach.