Zak Yudhishthu

@zyudhishthu.bsky.social

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Sidewalk enthusiast at Macalester, writing about housing policy in the Twin Cities
https://streets.mn/author/zyudhishthu/

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@zyudhishthu.bsky.social has numbers from the non-triplex parts of Minneapolis's famous zoning reform: 1,000 homes over 3.5 years. Townhomes, small apartment buildings & a few big ones www.metroabundance.org/minneapoliss...

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New on the @metroabundance.bsky.social blog, a fascinating post by @zyudhishthu.bsky.social looking at where upzoning got big results in Minneapolis and where it didn't. Some important lessons here for other cities looking to add more housing. www.metroabundance.org/minneapoliss...

Minneapolis's Natural Upzoning Experiment - Metropolitan Abundance Projectwww.metroabundance.org Side by side in Minneapolis, we get to compare the effects of a very modest upzoning with those of stronger changes.

What really happened when Minneapolis upzoned its neighborhoods in the 2040 Plan? We didn't get a lot of duplexes/triplexes, but rezonings enabled more housing than you might think in low-density neighborhoods. My new article at @metroabundance.bsky.social www.metroabundance.org/minneapoliss...

Today in the Strib, you can read my time-honored message: zoning changes, both local and statewide, really can help address our housing problems. m.startribune.com/counterpoint...

OPINION EXCHANGE | Counterpoint: Actually, zoning changes are an answerm.startribune.com The land use status quo has long served to allow some cities to exclude affordable housing, in both explicit and implicit ways.

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Great to have @zyudhishthu.bsky.social writing for us again. Such credibility on housing issues.

What New Statewide Polling Teaches Us About Housing and Land Use Policy: https://streets.mn/2024/05/10/new-statewide-polling-about-housing-and-land-use/

This is gonna be a fun one. I'm really excited to have Daniel talk about his new book with us. I hope to see lots of Twin Cities folks there!

We invite you to join us for our upcoming event: Tuesday, May 7th, we'll be hosting author, advocate, and Saint Paulite Daniel Herriges at Lake Monster Brewing to talk about his new book, Escaping the Housing Trap. Don't miss this one! RSVP here: actionnetwork.org/events/escap...

Escaping the Housing Trap: Book Talk with Daniel Herrigesactionnetwork.org Join us for a conversation and Q&A with Daniel Herriges, co-author of the brand-new book "Escaping the Housing Trap." Daniel is currently the Policy Director for the Parking Reform Network, and an aut...

I'm excited to have a brief story up on the @metroabundance.bsky.social blog about the success of ending parking mandates in Minneapolis — a lesson that more cities should learn from. www.metroabundance.org/parking-refo...

Parking Reform is Working in Minneapolis - Metropolitan Abundance Projectwww.metroabundance.org Since 2021, developers in Minneapolis have started to build new housing with significantly less parking, suggesting an untapped demand for parking-free or parking-light housing options.

In a new commentary for the Minnesota Reformer, I describe how local zoning and land use policies are used as tools to block affordable housing, while giving us less bang for our public buck — and how current statewide efforts could address the issue. minnesotareformer.com/2024/04/02/m...

Minnesota lawmakers aim to stop cities from killing affordable housing • Minnesota Reformerminnesotareformer.com A few years ago, Solhem, a Minneapolis-based developer, sought to build some market-rate apartments in Edina. After interest rates spiked and market conditions shifted, the project started to look inf...

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The Saint Paul Downtown Alliance just released their new investment strategy. Do you have questions or thoughts about it? Join Sustain Saint Paul on Monday, March 25th for a special presentation and discussion with SPDA's Joe Spencer! Event link -> www.sustainstpaul.org/events/downt...

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Eager to get outside during this warm winter? Join us for our Spring Warm-Up Slow Roll this Sunday, March 10th! We'll meet at Lowertown Bike Shop for coffee at 10am, and take an 8-mile loop at 10:30. www.sustainstpaul.org/events/march...

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Zoning Reform Takes a Positive First Step at the Legislature: https://streets.mn/2024/02/29/zoning-reform-takes-positive-first-step/

If you read one thing today, read this new public history by my friend Joe, and learn about the old neighborhoods destroyed by I-94 that you might not have heard much about. streets.mn/2024/02/14/h...

How Freeway Construction Reshaped Two Vibrant Twin Cities Neighborhoodsstreets.mn Highway expansion has severed Twin Cities neighborhoods from one another. Can new planning proposals begin to heal these historic harms?

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“We're in this little bit of a state of limbo. The court order also essentially prevents us from taking further legislative steps to further implement the plan.” www.southwestvoices.news/posts/whats-...

What’s to come with or without the 2040 Planwww.southwestvoices.news The Minneapolis 2040 Plan is now held up with a lawsuit but the plan’s successes has influenced state-wide discussion of land-use reforms.

Recently approved rezoning in St. Paul: this billboard is gonna be replaced with 46 apartment units and 29 parking spots. Before we eliminated parking minimums, this building would’ve required at least 46 parking spots (1 spot per 1-2 BR unit).

www.southwestvoices.news/posts/whats-... Today is my final story in a five-part series on housing affordability in Minneapolis for Southwest Voices. I write about the 2040 Plan challenge and efforts to address it, plus state land use reforms on the docket (in part, inspired by the 2040 Plan).

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Good to be writing for the Minnesota Women's Press again. With thanks to @zyudhishthu.bsky.social for help on sourcing. www.womenspress.com/the-state-of...

The State of Minnesota Housing in 2024www.womenspress.com “The only way to close those disparities is to be as intentional as we were in creating them.”

Two recent additions to the shelf!

Pretty excited that Senator Omar Fateh is working to end parking minimums in Minnesota. The vibes are good and the Shoup copies are plentiful

Support eliminating parking minimums to help allow abundant housing for all! TUESDAY AT 10:00 AM. Join Neighbors for More Neighbors, and partnering organizations, in welcoming the Minnesota People Over Parking Act. actionnetwork.org/events/the-i...

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Don't miss this upcoming event to support ending parking minimums in Minnesota. St. Paul and Minneapolis have led the way in eliminating parking minimums, getting more housing built more affordably, with less reliance on cars. It's time for the rest of the state to join the fun!

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@zyudhishthu.bsky.social and my coauthor Sarah West wrote an excellent opinion piece on how land uses surrounding stations - and their demoralizing effect on would-be riders - are holding transit back: www.startribune.com/counterpoint...

OPINION EXCHANGE | Counterpoint: To save LRT, make stations more welcomingwww.startribune.com Safety concerns are not the sole factor discouraging ridership.

Had a lot of fun reporting this for Southwest Voices, taking a look at how regulatory policy is allowing more housing to get built — and built more affordably — in Houston, Portland, and Seattle www.southwestvoices.news/posts/whats-...

What Housing is Getting Built In Other Cities?www.southwestvoices.news In one year, Portland built 270 housing units with its residential infill project that includes cottage clusters and building four-plexes on single-family lots.

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Local election day is around the corner — want to know where city council candidates stand on 9 key housing, transportation, and urbanism-focused questions? Take a look at Sustain St. Paul's City Council Candidate Questionnaires! www.sustainstpaul.org/news/blogs-c...

2024 City Council Candidate Questionnaires — Sustain Saint Paulwww.sustainstpaul.org

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Men only want one thing for Christmas and it's disgusting:

New map and quick story today: check out the duplexes and triplexes built in Minneapolis since the 2040 Plan passed streets.mn/2023/10/24/m...

A little something for everyone in my latest article, taking the broad view of the Minneapolis 2040 Plan — which included a lot of pretty under-discussed changes to rules around housing in Minneapolis www.southwestvoices.news/posts/2040-p...

2040 Plan Can Deliver on Denser Housingwww.southwestvoices.news In this five-part series, housing reporter Zak Yudhishthu breaks down the different challenges to building affordable housing in Minneapolis. In this article, Zak looks at how the 2040 Plan has impact...

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I wrote about downtown Minneapolis, my issues with the focus of boosters on attractions and events, and the way that it’s discontinuous built form makes it less than the sum of its parts:

The Short And Long View Of Downtown Minneapoliswww.downtownvoices.news What do we want Downtown to be?

Best part of Open Streets events: the guy always giving out free seltzer water. The Jamaican ribs were, of course, also delicious

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We were so proud and thrilled to see the huge stream of pro-housing testimony for proposed zoning changes, both in-person at the city council today and in the written comments. Thanks to everyone who's supported our work on this — we're making real progress! www.startribune.com/public-shows...

Wanted to share a summer project of mine, at the Minneapolis Fed, that just went live online: It's about how Bloomington, MN crafted an inclusionary zoning policy that works surprisingly well. www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2023...

Striking the right balance to attract affordable housing | Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapoliswww.minneapolisfed.org For our <em>What works in housing affordability</em> series, we explore how the Bloomington, Minnesota, Opportunity Housing Ordinance both mandates more affordable units and satisfies developers

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Learn from @zyudhishthu.bsky.social connecting all the pieces that shape Mpls housing crisis, with quotes from @moreneighbors.bsky.social volunteers @britvulcan.bsky.social and Alex S

Zak Yudhishthu looks at how local policies can impact the costs of land, labor, and building materials for housing projects. Read about it here! www.southwestvoices.news/posts/its-no...