Per a 2017 state law, all cities and towns must submit plans for providing enough housing in their jurisdictions, but a lack of clarity and enforcement mechanisms gives the law little real power.

According to an article by Alex Putterman in The Register Citizen, 11 Connecticut cities failed to meet the state’s deadline to submit affordable housing plans. “Under a state law passed in 2017, towns and cities must submit affordable housing plans to the state at least once every five years and post them publicly online. The plans must ‘specify how the municipality intends to increase the number of affordable housing developments in the municipality,’ the law states.”
However, the law doesn’t include penalties for jurisdictions that don’t comply. “The law also provides few details on how towns should create their plans or how much affordable housing the plans should seek to generate, leading to wide variance in depth and quality from one town to the next.” Some of the 11 towns with missing plans are finalizing their strategies, while others have not committed to adopting a plan at all.
FULL STORY: Two years after deadline, these 11 CT towns still haven't submitted affordable housing plans

New Florida Law Curbs HOA Power
The legislation seeks to cut down on ‘absurd’ citations for low-level violations.

New Tennessee Law Allows No-Cost Incentives for Affordable Housing
Local governments in the Volunteer State can now offer developers incentives like increased density, lower parking requirements, and priority permitting for affordable housing projects.

Planners’ Complicity in Excessive Traffic Deaths
Professor Wes Marshall’s provocatively-titled new book, "Killed by a Traffic Engineer," has stimulated fierce debates. Are his criticisms justified? Let’s examine the degree that traffic engineers contribute to avoidable traffic deaths.

Study: Housing Crisis is About Affordability, not Supply
New research shows that there is no overall shortage of housing units, but all U.S. metropolitan areas face a severe lack of affordable units for low-income renters.

Are Race-Based Lawsuits Affecting Community Lenders?
Shelterforce spoke with community lending leaders and experts about the current mood across the sector. What, if anything, are organizations doing to avoid becoming the next target of conservative activists?

New Park Promotes Community and Connectivity in Lewisville, Texas
The city of Lewisville just celebrated the opening of Glory Park/Parque la Gloria, helping to improve park access and the quality of life for residents.
City of Madera
City of Santa Clarita
Borough of Carlisle
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Colorado Energy Office
Pima County Community College District
City of Piedmont, CA
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