Luke Vargas

speaker

95 appearances 2 recordings 1 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 26 Jun

Luke Vargas’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 2.

Appearances

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WSJ Your Money Briefing · How a Parking Lot Fight Explains America's Housing Shortage · 22 Jun 2026 podcast

I met up with Leora Tanwatko-Ross, the California director of Yimby Action, Menlo Park's Lot 3. matched

Proposals from three developers envision replacing Lot 3 with a multi-story car park with apartments at the top. matched

But many local businesses aren't buying it. matched

We are very, very dependent, of course, as a grocer, on parking. matched

Third-generation grocer Richard Draeger supports affordable housing at alternate sites, saying that shoppers put off by years of construction and parking disruptions would take their business elsewhere. matched

Outside his supermarket and in shop windows around Menlo's distinctively old-school downtown are signs to save downtown Menlo, backing a November ballot measure aimed at stopping any repurposing of the parking lots without a public vote. matched

Should it pass, Tenwatco Ross predicts a lengthy fight with Yimby Group suing if development plans are delayed again, wasting time and money as the housing shortage remains unaddressed. matched

Well, to help us unpack zoning's role in the U.S. matched

housing shortage, I'm joined now by Journal residential rental market and housing policy reporter Rebecca Picciotto. matched

Rebecca, what is the outlook around getting housing built at the local level? matched

Some big cities obviously have been trying to tackle their longstanding barriers to new construction. matched

Obviously, California there. matched

I came across plenty of groups that have YIMBY in their name. matched

It's a moniker that's kind of in vogue now. matched

New York's mayor proudly embraces it. matched

And yet matched

I also heard from campaigners that there are basically more avenues than there have ever been for people to object to new housing as well. matched

Rebecca, it's a great example, that Portland one, a reminder that unless cities are actually the ones building the housing themselves, they're reliant on developers who need to see it to be financially worth their while to be putting in proposals. matched

Just staying with the factors maybe favoring more development, what kinds of policies are more immediately actionable if a city or town is trying to get more projects built? matched

ADU is kind of the same thing, right? matched

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