By 2030, some estimates suggest Lexington will need more than 30,000 new units just to meet the existing need. It's a complicated problem that's nothing new to city leaders and candidates for office, but Wednesday offered them a chance to dig down into the fine print with builders, strategists, and consultants in the industry.
"What I really want to find out more about is what are the obstacles," Vice Mayor Dan Wu said. "We know it's financing, labor, the cost of materials, (and) interest rates, but we also know it's zoning codes that maybe need to be updated. We know it's regulations and approval processes that could be streamlined and approved. So there are so many different elements to it."
Consultant and member of the Lexington for Everyone board Carla Blanton said, with the scale of the problem, what's often missing from the conversation is a sense of urgency.
"So we really wanted to sound the alarm bells and say we've got to be thinking about this intentionally, creatively, and collaboratively every day," she said. "It's got to be a priority because it's a difficult issue and we've all got to come to the table to solve it."
Lexington recently launched a city-backed housing search tool in partnership with City Wise, which is meant to serve as a vetted source for housing information and assistance.
On the state level, the General Assembly did attempt to craft a large-scale affordable housing package but failed to get the legislation across the finish line on the final day of the 2026 session.