> Mr. Romem said ideally cities would relax regulations and build upward rather than outward. But, he said, promoting development on empty fields is more politi

> Mr. Romem said ideally cities would relax regulations and build upward rather than outward. But, he said, promoting development on empty fields is more politically feasible than building apartment towers in single-family neighborhoods, and thus likely to ease affordability pressures more quickly. That's the key line for me. As an urban planner, I'm bought in on the idea of growth management--at least much of it. But every policy has its unintended consequences. As far as planning is concerned, I think it's pretty incontrovertible that more upward development is needed. Getting there politically is an unsolved problem.