August 18, 2023
A vacant lot in Englewood, a South Side neighborhood in Chicago (WSJ)
Let’s talk about the perfect storm of empty lots and the housing crisis.
In an incredibly thoughtful piece this week, the WSJ explores the series of events that led to empty lots in poor neighborhoods that bring property values down, and leave housing unbuilt where it’s needed the most.
Launched by a gut-wrenching history of redlining, land owners of vacant lots in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Detroit (among other cities) are incentivized to keep their lots undeveloped for tax purposes. At the same time, cumbersome roadblocks of back taxes and unpaid bills keep developers away. This perfect storm comes together to keep empty lots empty, increasing crime and decreasing housing stock.
However, these cities are working to shift the tide. Through policy changes, city leaders are pushing and pulling the levers on incentives to encourage affordable, infill development.
Could this type of realignment help address the housing crisis — one vacant lot at a time? Feel free to hit respond, would love to hear your thoughts!
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MUST-READS
Downtowns are in decline, leading to the rise of ‘donut cities’ // FastCompany
Beijing’s Cemeteries Are Going Vertical and Digital to Save Space // Bloomberg CityLab
Inside the Slow, Yet ‘Incredible’ Installation of a $78,000 Tesla Solar Roof // WSJ
Cornell’s Circular Construction Lab Champions Building-Material Reuse // Metropolis
Harlem, Pummeled by the Pandemic, Experiences a Tourism Revival // WSJ
IHG Launches a Hotel Brand for the Middle Class // Skift
Marriott and MGM Resorts Announce New Partnership // Forbes
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IDEA SPOTLIGHT
The Swan: The World’s First Ecolabeled Kindergarten
Located in Copenhagen, The Swan was constructed out of upcycled materials reused from a former school on the same site. Saving over 6,200 tons of material and 178 tons of CO2, a new kindergarten in Gladsaxe, a municipality on the northwestern outskirts of Copenhagen, transforms the demolition waste of a former school on the same site. The Swan, designed by local firm Lendager, was named after the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, a third-party environmental certification, and Gladsaxe’s third institution to be labeled as such.
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