Lexington advocacy group wants 30,000 new housing units built by 2030
A Lexington group known for pushing the city to expand the urban service boundary now has a new ask for government officials.
Lexington for Everyone has launched its 30by30 campaign, pressuring the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to set a goal of building 30,000 new housing units by 2030.
“If we’re going to make a meaningful difference on the affordability and availability of housing, then we must do things differently,” said Ray Daniels, chair of the organization’s board.
A 2024 study from EHI Consultants found that Lexington is short over 22,000 housing units, causing people to look elsewhere for housing. That same study estimates that, barring significant policy and construction changes, the shortage will exceed 30,000 by 2030.
The same study showed rents in Lexington rose 47% from 2019 to 2024.
Lexington for Everyone wants the city to set the 30,000-unit goal and create an online tracker for residents to monitor progress.
An annual review of vacant land and a study identifying underutilized city-owned property that could be used for housing should also be done in an effort to meet the goal, the group said.
Past work by Lexington for Everyone focused on service boundary
Lexington for Everyone was formed in 2021 and advocated fiercely for the city to expand its urban service boundary by 5,000 acres.
The boundary was expanded in 2023 by the Urban County Council, which authorized the Urban County Planning Commission to approve expansion areas anywhere from 2,700 to 5,000 acres.
The commission adopted a plan to expand the boundary by 2,800 acres — about 56% of the amount of land the group was pushing to include.
The new expansion areas could add as many as 24,508 housing units, enough to close the existing gap.
But how quickly land in those areas can be developed depends on how the city and developers agree to pay for necessary sewer, water and transportation infrastructure. The city is slated to adopt an infrastructure funding plan for the expansion areas sometime this year.
Lexington for Everyone is also asking the city to create a new development liaison position to help developers get required approval from different divisions like urban forestry and waste management, which all have to sign off on various parts of a project’s plan.
The Urban County Council’s general government and planning committee is currently scheduled to discuss the idea for this position in its March 10 meeting.
In a Feb. 12 meeting to discuss budget priorities, the council highlighted the development liaison position as a top priority for the upcoming city budget.
Citing concerns about increasing expenses and slowing revenue growth, staff from Mayor Linda Gorton’s administration told the council that the mayor does not plan to create any new positions in the upcoming budget proposal.
The mayor will propose a draft budget on April 14. The council will then discuss and revise the budget throughout April and May before approving it on June 9.
The council has final say over the budget document.
This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 2:45 PM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that Lexington For Everyone is an advocacy group.
