What if the housing shortage was behind Western nations’ most difficult political and social problems today? Such is the compelling argument advanced in a brilliant recent article by Sam Bowman, London YIMBY founder John Myers, and Ben Southwood at Works…
California YIMBY Joins Sen. Scott Wiener to Announce SB 886
SB 886 Will Streamline Student Housing Approvals at UC, Cal State Campuses, Where 5-10% of Students Experience Homelessness “Students represent the future of our state – they are not pollution” SACRAMENTO – Today, California YIMBY joined State Senator Scott Wiener…
It’s Only a Housing Market if You Can Move: Evidence from Helsinki
A new study by researchers in Helsinki confirms prior research showing that new market-rate housing construction can reduce local rents by making it easier for people to move. Key takeaways: Bratu et al. (2021) at the VTT Institute for Economic…
The Compounding Hazards of Housing Stasis
What happens when Americans can no longer afford to move? A new paper by psychologists Buttrick & Oishi (2021) argues that a U.S. national decline in residential mobility – our ability to move to different regions of the country for…
“If you build it, they will bike” – the infrastructure – e-bike nexus
Why do people buy cargo e-bikes, and how can more commercial operations be encouraged to make the switch from gas-guzzling automobiles to planet- and city-friendly, battery-powered bicycles? A new study from scholars in Munich and Berlin offers some insights. Key…
E-bikes show massive potential for climate action
A new study from the United Kingdom estimates the vast economic and environmental benefits of switching from gas-powered automobiles to electric bicycles (e-bikes). Key takeaways: The researchers estimate that e-bikes could reduce emissions in the UK by as much as…
New Zealand Goes Full “YIMBY” With Nationwide Upzoning
An independent cost-benefit analysis of the New Zealand government’s new legislation to allow three-story multifamily housing by-right, commissioned by the Ministry for the Environment, finds that it could have a major impact on housing affordability, gradually but increasingly delivering “a…
Housing Policy is Climate Policy: How Local Zoning Regulations Hurt the Environment
A new study by UC Berkeley and UC Irvine scholars, commissioned by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) examines the impact of local zoning, permitting, and environmental review on housing development and sprawl —…
Black suburbanization is changing Black neighborhoods
A new working paper by Bartik & Mast (2021) at the W.E. Upjohn Institute finds that patterns of Black households moving to suburbs in the US are key to understanding increased spatial segregation since 1970. Key takeaways: Black households pursued…
Get a Good Job With More Pay, the Landlord Takes It All Away
Cities with job growth attract new residents and develop a more productive workforce, but the workers who move to growing cities will see their wage gains eaten up by the urban housing shortage. A new paper, aptly titled “Location, Location,…