AB 1893 makes the Builder’s Remedy a more effective tool for housing production by providing greater legal clarity and certainty for home builders who use it in localities that are out of compliance with state housing law. The bill moves…
We Can’t Build, and it’s Very, Very Bad: On the Politics of Urban Growth
Leaving aside the specific policy barriers to building—strict zoning, onerous permitting processes, environmental review laws that empower litigious neighbors, and so on— most jurisdictions and states across the United States struggle to build housing and infrastructure, and most policymakers fail…
The Tradeoffs of Inclusionary Zoning: A Closer Look
Inclusionary Zoning (IZ), the practice of requiring home builders to set aside some units in new housing construction to be rented at below-market rates (BMR) to low-income households, is a popular strategy to increase the production of affordable housing while…
Movin’ On Up: How Costly New Homes Create Affordable Old Homes
In housing policy, a common theory of how to provide the maximum number of affordable homes to the greatest number of people is known as “filtering:” the process through which aging homes depreciate, and become less costly as higher-income residents…
By-Right Approvals: The Better Part of Housing Valor
Most housing and commercial developments in California cities go through a series of reviews by various government bodies before they are approved for construction, or “entitled” – and those processes differ dramatically. In many cases, projects are approved “by right”…
Small is Beautiful … and Expensive: Removing Barriers to “Middle Housing” in California
When Senate Bill 9 passed in 2021, it represented a sea-change in California state housing policy. By allowing up to four units on all single-family zoned parcels statewide, SB 9 represented a significant step toward achieving housing abundance. But some…
Warding Off Development: Local Control, Housing Supply, and NIMBYs
Published: 2020 | Evan Mast | The Center for Growth and Opportunity Abstract Local control of land-use regulation creates a not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) problem that can suppress housing construction, contributing to rising prices and potentially slowing economic growth. I study how…
To Understand a City’s Pace of Gentrification, Look at Its Housing Supply
Published: 2020 | Laurie Goodman, Ellen Seidman, Jun Zhu | Urban Institute Abstract Gentrification is a hotly debated subject, with conversations centering around what happens to neighborhoods’ income and racial mix as new buyers move in and how that affects…
Planning for the Future
Published: 2020 | Anthony Breach | Centre for Cities
The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes
Published: 2020 | Andrew Aurand, Dan Emmanuel, Diane Yentel | National Low Income Housing Coalition Abstract A large-scale, sustained commitment to affordable housing for people with the lowest incomes, through such programs as the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF), Housing…