Interesting interview with Mayor Walker in the Vinegar Hill Magazine. Some good ideas, like calling for a system of accountability for outcomes of non-profit funding, and thoughts on the structure of City leadership. However, there was one line that I'd like to explore further.

So first off, developers are not a monolith, but one thing does undergird their work. If they don't turn a profit, they don't stay in business. How they choose to make a profit is bounded by a lot of factors, and Mayor Walker's weak statement leaves out a lot.

What does "the process" mean, and how are they abusing it? Right now, the process is generally bounded by zoning, and predominantly leads to developing single family housing, or by-right apartments where possible. Anything else is going straight into the maw of the SUP process.

So you're already setting up developers who want to be successful to go for the most expensive housing type, with a totally uncertain process to get anything more dense. Add to that things like parking minimums, and you see the history of what this "process" has produced.

My question is, what exactly are developers "abusing?" The system is working as our exclusionary zoning has intended - to make affordable housing types extremely difficult to develop. I'd rather see reflection on how our City's process could be changed to create new possibilites.

And if you want to know what "exclusionary zoning" means and where it comes from, @mnolangray just wrote this very helpful thread. https://twitter.com/mnolangray/status/1355039050336325632