While zoning and permitting delays get much of the blame for high housing costs, building codes are an oft-overlooked contributor. These codes set minimum construction standards, such as for structural and electrical safety, and fire protection. And most U.S. apartment…
The Housing that Comes with a Bonus: More Housing
California has advanced several housing reforms over the past decade to tackle high costs, but one 1979 law—the Density Bonus Law—has become one of the most-used tools for homebuilders to get their housing approved by cities and counties. The Bonus…
California Cities Wanted Free Affordable Housing. Turns Out There’s a Huge Cost.
More than a third of California cities and counties, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and fast-growing suburbs like Dublin and Irvine, require private home builders to set aside a portion of the homes they build at below-market rents…
Lower Fees Lead to More Homes and More Revenues
One of the many levers that California cities control that directly influence housing production is the one-time fee they charge builders to help cover roads, parks, and other public infrastructure. A new RAND Corporation study by Lizhong Liu and Jason…
SB 79, One Month In: Taking Stock of California YIMBY’s Signature Bill
SB 79, California YIMBY’s signature legislation that legalized apartment buildings near transit stops throughout California, went into effect on July 1, 2026. Under the law’s provisions, jurisdictions throughout the state must now begin implementation, which includes various pathways to achieve…
Can Upzoning Lead to More Homes? The Data Says Yes.
More and more cities and states have concluded that a key way to lower housing costs is to loosen rules, such as upzoning that lets developers build taller, denser buildings, and that construction will follow. A new Urban Institute study…
Austin Added 120,000 Homes, and You Won’t Believe What Happened Next
Austin’s median rent is 4% below the national median today, down from a 15% premium above the national median in 2021. The shift follows a decade of zoning and permitting reforms that enabled the city to add 120,000 homes, even…
One Reason Why American Public Transit is More Expensive to Build than in Europe
America pays roughly 50 percent more per mile for public transit than comparable countries do, and a little-examined culprit is the community engagement process meant to improve projects. A new analysis from the Urban Institute finds that poorly structured public…
Why Building More Apartments is Good for the Planet
Building apartments in American cities is one of the most effective climate strategies available right now. While federal EV incentives are gutted and gas-ban building codes face litigation across the country, apartment construction continues to reduce climate pollution through four…
We lost on transfer taxes — but will keep fighting
For months, California YIMBY has worked on a state-level solution to fix bad transfer taxes that are crushing new housing construction in many cities. In the process, we also hoped to prevent the passage of an anti-tax ballot measure that would harm the finances of virtually every jurisdiction in California.