ULI San Francisco: Unlocking Housing Development - Strategic Solutions for Cities to Get Housing Built 2021 | Urban Land Institute (ULI) | 22 September 2021 | Virtual Event

With California’s housing crisis worsening and tensions around updated Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers, there is an opportunity to re-envision often exclusionary and restrictive zoning regulations for smart growth. This new ULI offering examines common conflicts between zoning regulations and the practicalities of housing construction, as well as the resulting impacts on housing costs. It also aims to identify key strategies designed to help move beyond the tension, enabling communities to advance solutions to their housing challenges.

The program has two separate components: 1) An educational webinar training hosted by ULI members with different expertise that will cover technical explanations of common code roadblocks in housing construction; and 2) A one-on-one Housing Opportunity Consultation, designed for public agencies, in which proposed code language can be reviewed and specific sites can be “test-fit”, resulting in a focused analysis and recommendations from a ULI team of experts.

For each area, the presentation will offer a technical summary, explain the resulting conflicts and impacts through diagrams and case studies, and offer recommended alternatives. Topics that will be discussed include, but are not limited to: density, parking, height limits, and open space. The goal of this educational offering is knowledge sharing between ULI members and the broader community - with an aim to help cities unlock how to build more housing.

2021 Speakers

Sarah Ahmadzai
Associate AIA, Associate, David Baker Architects

Jonathan Cohen, FAIA
Founder and Principal, Poplar Design Advisors

Elizabeth Seifel, AICP
Owner, Seifel Consulting

Lydia Tan
Principal, Tan Consulting

Jessica von Borck
Director of Land Use Planning, Stanford University