Matthew Tuerk

I remember being in Tianjin in China in 2017, and you couldn't see as you were going across the bridge.

That's not what manufacturing really looks like anymore.

So you can kind of do that in cities.

So as cities are thinking about what type of manufacturing you might try to attract, I think high-value component manufacturer, light touch but high-tech.

Again, taking advantage of the resources that we have in American cities and taking advantage of the fact that

People now are choosing where they're going to be first and then what they're going to do second.

And the cities that have a locational advantage on cost or quality of life can attract those industries if they set themselves up to do it.

So a lot of cities, because of the housing crisis, are exploring more aggressive zoning policy that allows for denser housing, allows for different types of housing.

We just passed in the beginning of 2026 a reform to our zoning code and a reform to our zoning map.

That is a form based code.

So it's really focused less on what's happening inside the building and more on what the buildings look like.

So that can allow that's the type of thing that can allow for now in some city when you built and when you zoned industrial, you were going to get like the tire manufacturing plant.

Not a great idea for cities to have tire manufacturing plants in their downtowns, but.

Great idea to have like craft brewing or like small garment assembly, something that is kind of like bespoke manufacturing.

I think what cities can do it as they're investigating the limitations of their zoning code to build toward the cities that they want to be is dig in and understand exactly what you might allow.

I mean, in zoning.

You have to allow for all uses somewhere in the jurisdiction.

So if you can allow for certain types of manufacturing uses, you create flexibility that can add some vibrancy to the neighborhood.

I go back to like one of my big points when I was in the Urban Manufacturing Alliance that I don't know what it looks like now, but.

We talked about the lack of interest in young people working in manufacturing, and that's always been one of the challenges.