Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego has taken the unusual step of publicly calling on other Maricopa County cities to step up and do their “fair share” to address the Valley’s worsening housing shortage.
Leaders in various Phoenix suburbs have, in response, defended their efforts.
Using data from the National Zoning Atlas, Gallego and other members of the Phoenix City Council pointed out in a November meeting 20% of land in the city is zoned to allow for multifamily development, while most other cities had less than 8% of their land similarly zoned. Chandler, Buckeye, Surprise, Goodyear and Queen Creek were the worst of the surrounding cities with less than 2%.
Gallego said Phoenix is doing “more than our fair share,” and said other cities need to “step up and pick up the work.”
Tensions have risen as Phoenix leaders perceive the city is bearing most of the responsibility to handle what is, in reality, a regional problem.
Suburban leaders have said there is more to the story than just zoning percentages. They point out they are at younger stages in their development timelines than Phoenix. Some, such as Queen Creek, have said they will work to support, but not necessarily work to attract, multifamily development and will maintain a focus on what they perceive to be the best fit for their community.
Research from The Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University shows a statewide shortage of 270,000 homes. Phoenix has a shortage of 56,000 affordably priced units for people living at 50% of Area Median Income.
Maricopa Association of Governments statistics show more than 30,000 people accepted homeless assistance services in the form of emergency shelters, street outreach and transitional housing between October 2023 and September 2024.
State lawmakers have exerted increasing pressure on cities to increase their efforts. Some cities have enacted minimally required responses to these directives to comply while circumventing as much of the new laws’ intent as possible.
Unsuccessful earlier attempts by lawmakers would have stripped cities of their zoning discretionary powers in an effort to simplify project approvals for developments.
Phoenix and organizations representing municipalities have supported some legislation but have generally fought attempts to undermine local process control. Phoenix leaders want to get a leg up on the process as the newly seated legislature gathers momentum for its various agendas.
In the meeting late last year in which Phoenix leaders asked for more effort from local cities, they presented various ways Phoenix has worked to address housing and homelessness, including minimizing project approval timelines, advocating for grant funding, incentivizing low-income housing voucher participation by landlords, and other measures.
While most cities’ leaders defended their communities’ efforts on housing development, they agreed the legislature tends to put all cities together when considering policies and legislation, disregarding issues like community development cycles and process evolution. (Source)