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Memo to Ezra Klein: Check Out Wichita and Boise by Robert Kuttner
The other day, The Wall Street Journal ran a fascinating feature piece titled “Wichita Is a Rare Mecca of Affordability for America’s New Middle Class.” As the Journal explains it, housing is a bargain in Wichita. According to Zillow, the average apartment rental in Wichita goes for just $950 a month and the average home purchase price is about $235,000. The regional economy is strong, based on health care, energy, and both legacy industries and new manufacturing. Unemployment in the metro area is 4.1 percent, below the national average.
I immediately thought of our former colleague, Ezra Klein, who has pointed to plentiful housing in Sun Belt cities like Houston and has argued that an absence of zoning and other planning restrictions helps developers get housing built.
So Wichita has no zoning or other planning obstacles, right?
Uh, no. In fact, Wichita uses extensive zoning and a “multi-tiered” planning process. When a developer wants to build housing, the developer first meets with city planning officials, then with neighborhood panels. The point isn’t just to set conditions, but also to help builders get through the process.
“We have a policy of rolling out the red carpet and cutting red tape, especially on projects that add much-needed housing to our community,” says Megan Lovely, the city’s communications manager. “We balance that with a multi-tiered approach to ensuring we receive robust citizen impact. Overall we’ve seen this process be positive and collaborative for both residents and developers and it sets a strong foundation for strong neighborhoods.”
Wichita’s planners target development to the urban core where possible. The city’s 2016 master plan, titled “Places for People,” includes an “Urban Infill Strategy” intended to encourage population and employment growth, residential and commercial development, and reinvestment in the older mature neighborhoods of Wichita.
I immediately thought of our former colleague, Ezra Klein, who has pointed to plentiful housing in Sun Belt cities like Houston and has argued that an absence of zoning and other planning restrictions helps developers get housing built.
So Wichita has no zoning or other planning obstacles, right?
Uh, no. In fact, Wichita uses extensive zoning and a “multi-tiered” planning process. When a developer wants to build housing, the developer first meets with city planning officials, then with neighborhood panels. The point isn’t just to set conditions, but also to help builders get through the process.
“We have a policy of rolling out the red carpet and cutting red tape, especially on projects that add much-needed housing to our community,” says Megan Lovely, the city’s communications manager. “We balance that with a multi-tiered approach to ensuring we receive robust citizen impact. Overall we’ve seen this process be positive and collaborative for both residents and developers and it sets a strong foundation for strong neighborhoods.”
Wichita’s planners target development to the urban core where possible. The city’s 2016 master plan, titled “Places for People,” includes an “Urban Infill Strategy” intended to encourage population and employment growth, residential and commercial development, and reinvestment in the older mature neighborhoods of Wichita.
https://prospect.org/2026/05/22/memo-to-ezra-klein-wichita-boise-housing-affordability-planning-zoning/]
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