Many cities are facing economic challenges as a result of the pandemic, but there are many ways that cities can support growth. Santa Monica and Glendale in the Greater Los Angeles market make a good case study. Santa Monica has notably supported affordable housing in new developments and Glendale has instead fast tracked new projects.

"Santa Monica is a leader in requiring new development to shoulder responsibility for affordable housing and mobility issues through inclusionary housing policies and transportation impact fees," Alan Loomis, principal of urban design at PlaceWorks, tells GlobeSt.com. "Glendale would have been well served to have followed this model when it experienced a significant building boom during the 2010s. Thousands of new housing units were built in this decade and Glendale received relatively little public benefit from this growth." Loomis has worked at both Santa Monica and Glendale as a city planner, giving him intimate insight into the operations of both cities.

While Santa Monica has focused on growth, Glendale has instead supported new development by expediting the review process. "The development review process in Glendale is significantly simpler and less time-consuming than in Santa Monica. Santa Monica has a process wherein almost every project requires a separately negotiated development agreement, ostensibly to generate public benefits out of each project," says Loomis. "But it is debatable whether that process has generated better results than Glendale's expedited review process. Glendale has done a much better job than Santa Monica in aligning its various departments and divisions responsible for development review into a stronger unit with a clearer chain of command amongst city staff and commissions." Either of these are potential strategies that cities can leverage to support growth following the pandemic.