Zoning

Lot Sizes: When the Bare Minimum is Way Too Much

Minimum lot size requirements are a common tool used by cities across the United States to ensure that homes are not built on parcels that are deemed aesthetically “too small” for housing. Available evidence suggests that these requirements also drive…

Housing Underproduction in California – Up For Growth

Published: 2019 | Up for Growth Abstract However, this recent imbalance continues a much longer trend in California, where restrictive local development and land-use policies have curtailed housing production for decades. These policies, enacted by local jurisdictions to maintain walkable,…

Sustainable Communities or the Next Urban Renewal?

Published: 2020 | Moira O’Neill, Giulia Gualco-Nelson, Eric Biber | Ecology Law Quarterly Abstract California has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to address climate change. But in California, the sector that produces the largest share of greenhouse gas…

It’s Time to End Single-Family Zoning

Published: 2020 | Paavo Monkkonen, Michael Lens, and Michael Manville | Journal of the American Planning Association Abstract Local planning in the United States is unique in the amount of land it reserves for detached single-family homes. This privileging of…

Affordable housing in Los Angeles

Published: 2019 | Jonathan Woetzel, Shannon Peloquin, Steve Kling, Tim Ward, and Sucheta Arora | McKinsey Global Institute Abstract This does not have to involve placing high-rises on every open space. Higher density is a given, but much of the…