The Latest from CommunityScale
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Our approach to open source mapping
Like many planners and geospatial professionals, the CommunityScale team was curious about an alternative to Esri’s ArcOnline platform. While Esri offers a full suite of products that make it easy to publish analysis, some…
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CommunityScale kicks off comprehensive rezoning for Lowell, MA
The City of Lowell selected CommunityScale to lead a citywide comprehensive zoning rewrite. This work follows Nels and Sarabrent’s contribution to Lowell’s transit-oriented multifamily overlay zone. The process is starting with an audit of…
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CommunityScale in the news: Johnson County looks to expand its non-metro area, while balancing growth
“Johnson County is in the midst of a study that began in April, and has included a series of public meetings and focus groups held throughout the county. The consultants, CommunityScale, plan to deliver…
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Housing Library
Many communities today are searching for ways to create more housing options that are both attainable and fit within the character of existing neighborhoods. The challenge often lies in the gap between large-scale apartment…
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CommunityScale in the news: Study and forthcoming report analyzes needs and impacts in small towns and rural areas
“Housing needs in and around Solon have been a topic of discussion approached from various angles such as affordability, the need for various types of housing, where to put new housing, and impacts, both…
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Working with household income, HUD Income Limits, MFI, and AMI
CommunityScale uses HUD’s Income Limits as an anchor for grouping households into income groups for the purpose of identifying income-aligned and affordable housing demand. However, there are several key terms and methodologies embedded in…
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Muskogee Comprehensive Housing Study
CommunityScale completed a Comprehensive Housing Study for the City of Muskogee, OK Economic Development Department to assess current housing conditions, identify needs, and recommend strategies for future development. The outcome is intended to guide policy…
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CommunityScale in the news: New study says rural Johnson County towns need 950 new homes to meet rising demand
“A smattering of rural Johnson County towns are in need of nearly 1,000 new homes to keep up with demand in the next decade, a new study says. “Johnson County’s 2025 Housing Assessment Study aims…
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Housing shortage and equilibrium calculations
This post takes a look at housing shortage calculation methodologies through the lens of a recent whitepaper by Moody’s Analytics and their partners “Bringing the Housing Shortage Into Sharper Focus” about the national housing…
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Stowe Housing Needs Assessment
CommunityScale completed a housing needs assessment for the Town of Stowe, VT as the culminating deliverable of a 12-month planning process led by the Stowe Housing Task Force. The Stowe Selectboard approved the report…
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Housing fingerprint visualizer
We collaborated with artist Roni Kaufman, who used code to visualize our housing data. The work explores three key metrics: the relative share of housing by structure type, the share of structures built since…
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Downtown Syracuse Housing Needs Assessment and Market Study
In early 2025, the Downtown Committee of Syracuse engaged CommunityScale to lead a comprehensive Housing Needs Assessment and Market Study to guide future housing development strategies for Downtown Syracuse. This project responds to the…
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Sherborn Multifamily Zoning Overlay
CommunityScale supported the Town of Sherborn compliance with Massachusetts’ MBTA Communities zoning mandate with a multifamily zoning overlay. CommunityScale created an overlay map, authored compliant zoning language, managed communications with staff and boards, and…
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Nesting zoning use definitions into functional groups
Working on comprehensive zoning rewrites, we wanted to avoid overwhelming users with lists of hundreds of land use definitions, many of which are very similar and similarly applied across the districts, while maintaining a…
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CommunityScale in the news: Lone Tree and Hills housing expansion emerges in JoCo housing study
Preliminary findings from CommunityScale’s housing study for Johnson County, Iowa highlight Lone Tree and Hills as top candidates for new development, thanks to existing water-and-sewer capacity. Our team projects a need for roughly 950…