California YIMBY

Think Vertically, Act Horizontally: Affordable Homeownership in Tennessee

While supply-focused housing policy reforms in coastal states usually focus on expanding the stock of multifamily rental housing, cities in the south have pursued a different strategy: making it easier to build and sell small-lot single family homes for ownership. …

Did Someone Say … Housing Policy is (Still) Climate Policy?

Can infill housing reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help California achieve its climate goals? In US urban land-use reform: a strategy for energy sufficiency, Terner Center associate research director Zack Subin and his coauthors argue that it can: by concentrating…

Unrepresentative Sample: How Public Meetings Weaken Fair Housing Outcomes

The practice of inviting the public to comment on proposed projects in long, often-contentious meetings is a hallmark of American urban planning practice in the post urban renewal age. However, recent research out of Boston suggests that the public that…

Cruel Musical Chairs: How to Talk About Housing Supply (HINT: use video)

Image from Video: Cruel Musical Chairs (or Why Is Rent So High?), by Dan Bertolet, Copyright 2017 Sightline Institute; used with permission. Despite the expert consensus that building more homes reduces housing prices, a significant portion of the public remains…

VIDEO: The California Dream of Home Ownership

For millions of Californians, the vision of owning their own home is at the heart of the California dream. The sense of stability that comes with owning your home, along with the ability to provide for your family while having…

When Wages Prevail: Assessing the Cost of Construction

In California, legislation to streamline housing production and to fund the construction of deed-restricted affordable housing often requires builders to pay “prevailing wages” to the construction workers who work on the resulting project. These requirements are based on the idea…

The Roots of YIMBYism: A Journey Through Housing History

When did the YIMBY movement really begin? In The Uneven March of Progress: The Past, Present, and Future of Zoning Reform in the United States, Stephen Menendian draws historic parallels between the modern YIMBY movement, which arose during the aftermath…

Governor Newsom Signs AB 1820 – Building Fee Transparency

Law Will Help Homebuilders Plan, Budget for More Homes This is about fairness – our cities know how much they will charge builders for new homes; builders deserve to know, too SACRAMENTO – Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into…