National links: Drive-thrus siphon wealth from neighborhoods

The hidden, and not-so-hidden costs, of drive-thrus. Cities take action against Airbnb to address the housing crisis. Condo construction has dramatically slowed over the last decade.

Drive-thrus are great for big chains, bad for cities: Half of Americans use a drive-thru at least once a week according to the American Restaurant Association. Fast food chains saw an increase in business from drive-thrus over the pandemic. But the supersizing of this popular, auto-centric land use sucks the value out of all the potentially productive land around them, too. (Marina Bolotnikova | Vox)

Cities cracking down on Airbnb: The initial idea of Airbnb and short-term rentals was to share extra bedrooms for a fee. But for many cities, it has become an existential crisis, pulling housing off of the long-term market and leaving many workers without places to live. To combat the loss of housing, many cities are getting creative in how they regulate short-term rentals, banning stays shorter than 30 days or increasing taxes on owners. (Corey Buhay | Reasons to be Cheerful)

The condo construction collapse: Condominium construction has dropped off a cliff after 2010. Salim Furth wonders if it has to do with condos in multi-family buildings appreciating less than single-family homes over time, or if condo defect laws that create liability for builders have made them much less popular. It’s fertile ground for new research and may give insight into one of the many drivers of the housing crisis. (Salim Furth | Market Urbanism)

Houston mayor stuck in the 20th century: Houston’s new mayor, John Whitmire, was told by the city’s police chief on a ride along that a new road diet was a problem so the mayor had it ripped out without consulting the council member of that district. Now journalists can’t get access to communications related to the removal because the Homeland Security Act has been invoked. It’s just one of many questionable decisions on traffic safety Whitmire has made that makes it seem like he’s stuck in the 1990s. (This article may be behind a paywall). (Michael Hardy | Texas Monthly)

Building deconstruction and recycling: To achieve its climate goals, Tacoma, Washington approved a resolution to promote the deconstruction of buildings to recycle their materials. Cities like Portland, Oregon, have deconstruction ordinances that require buildings built before 1940 to be taken apart and recycled. Deconstruction is different than salvaging in that it is meant to maximize the reuse of all building materials, not just valuable, surface-level ones. (Ysabelle Kempe | Smart Cities Dive)

Quote of the Week

“Until now, we have conceived and managed Barcelona’s vast metropolis as an urban conglomerate, bringing together the 36 municipalities of the metropolitan area. However, it’s long been evident that the actual city has outgrown these confines, evolving into a broader economic and demographic entity – the metropolitan region – that encompasses over a hundred municipalities. What has transpired over the last four decades transcends a mere process of urban concentration; it represents a change in model.”

Spanish journalist Milagros Pérez Oliva in Barcelona Metropolis introduces a series of articles focused on the region’s strategic planning process.

This week on the podcast, we’re sharing a San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR) forum on how a statewide coalition of California transit advocates were able to organize a funding bridge to avert a fiscal cliff for transit operators in the state.