In a new report on the state of housing in the U.S., the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University finds that inequality and housing insecurity have been exacerbated under the COVID-19 pandemic, and urges government officials to step…
The White House Says YIMBY
It’s official: Juneteenth is now a national holiday. While the historic recognition of the end of Black slavery is worthy of celebration, the White House Council of Economic Advisors isn’t pausing for the festivities: In a powerful review of the…
How Density Shortens Commute Times in the US and Mexico
A new study by Guerra and Li (2021) compares 100 of the largest urban regions in the United States and Mexico. Their models mapping the transportation choices and socioeconomic trends from a sample size of five million commuters have important…
The High Cost of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)
A new study from the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation tackles a thorny question in housing policy: how does the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program actually work to produce low-income housing? And to what extent is…
The Limits of Inclusionary Zoning
A new paper by Cassola (2021) examines the costs and consequences of inclusionary zoning policies across the globe. Does requiring a portion of new private, market-rate development to be set aside at limited prices for lower-income households actually improve affordability…
New Market-Rate Housing — It Lowers the Rent
The W.E. Upjohn Institute is back with a paper studying the impacts of new market-rate housing development on local rents in low-income neighborhoods. Long-time readers of this newsletter may recall when we covered the working paper by Asquith, Mast, &…
Black Housing Heroes: Tunua Thrash-Ntuk
My work in housing goes all the way back to riding the bus from South Central Los Angeles to the Westside of LA as an elementary school student. On that bus ride, I started to see that my community looked…
Transit Blues in the Golden State: How the Housing Crisis Hurts Transit Ridership
A new research brief from UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies finds more compelling evidence linking land use and transportation equity by unpacking California’s jobs-housing balance. Blumenberg & King (2021) analyze the “self-containment” of workers in California, or the ratio between…
The Need for More Renters in our Representers
It’s no secret that homeowners are dramatically overrepresented at all levels of elected government, with profound consequences for political culture and public policy. A recent paper from Boston University investigates the contours of this problem in greater detail. Key takeaways:…
Mobility and Climate Justice: It’s Not Just About Electric Vehicles
A new report from the Greenlining Institute evaluates the effectiveness of California’s clean transportation programs and proposes several important areas or reform. Key takeaways: The government should increase funding for community-driven, anti-racist clean mobility programs with a holistic approach to…