#231: The Strong Towns Interview

Communities across the Finger Lakes and Upstate New York all say they need housing — but approvals still take months or years, small projects stall, and the shortage keeps growing. This week on In Focus, I talk with Strong Towns Chief Technical Advisor Edward Erfurt about the gap between acknowledging the problem and actually fixing it. We discuss the “housing trap,” local regulatory friction, why so many projects require variances, and how incremental development could reshape neighborhoods without large-scale disruption. The conversation also explores the fiscal reality behind growth and why the future of affordability may depend less on large policy changes and more on local decision-making.