The Homework Newsletter

The HomeWork: July 28, 2021

July 30, 2021

Welcome to the July 28, 2021 Main edition of The HomeWork, the official newsletter of California YIMBY — legislative updates, news clips, housing research and analysis, and the latest writings from the California YIMBY team.

News from Sacramento

Housing Research and Analysis

The Zoning Tax: $400,000, House Not Included

A new working paper from Gyourko & Krimmel (2021) analyzes new data on single-family housing construction and land use regulations, and finds that cities with restrictive zoning are in effect charging a “zoning tax” — and in some cases, the tax is over $400,000, more than the cost of a home.

Key takeaways:

1. Zoning that prohibits multifamily homes imposes an increased cost on housing that is highest in expensive coastal metros.
2. Restrictive zoning leads to higher prices, but higher prices don’t necessarily mean the zoning is restrictive.
3. More recent data finds that the “zoning tax” is highest in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle—in some cases, with land prices being bid up by the equivalent of an entire median household income or more.

Exclusionary Zoning and Exclusionary Schools: Two Sides of Same Coin?

A new dissertation chapter in Applied Economics by Jacob Krimmel at the University of Pennsylvania explores a novel connection between residential zoning and the broader landscape of segregation in the United States: school funding formulae.

Key takeaways:

1. When municipal governments in California lost control over school funding in the early 1970s, they resorted to exclusionary zoning to raise home prices and maintain segregated communities.
2. Their strategy worked: communities that implemented housing supply restrictions remained whiter and wealthier.
3. In the 20 years following school funding equalization, wealthier local governments continued to implement housing supply restrictions, even further exacerbating inequality.

Houser Headlines

• Editorial: The high cost of Bay Area zoning points to the same problem as a host of other stubborn facts
  
• SB 9 & 10: ‘Community Character’ Concerns Are a Veil – a Thin One
  
• AB 1401: Palo Alto Needs to House People, Not Cars
  
• SB 10: Allowing elected officials to increase housing supply is democratic
• SB 9 & 10: State Legislature’s Efforts are Necessary To End State’s Housing Crisis
• AB 1401: More Cities Rethink Parking Requirements
• AB 1401: Do cities devote too much space to parking? Some are changing the rules
• What happens if workers can’t find a place to live?
• Why Remote Work Might Not Revolutionize Where We Work
• Why are key California affordable housing bills bottled up?
• San Jose: The second most expensive place to rent in the country

YIMBY Social – Top Posts

We love this amazing video about the history of racist housing policy by Last Week Tonight host John Oliver — watch and share!