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…
Built-Out-Cities? How California Cities Restrict Housing Production Through Prohibition and Process
Published: 2020 | Paavo Monkkonen, Michael Lens, and Michael Manville | Terner Center for Housing Innovation Abstract Given high rents and prices in California, housing production is at a relative historic low. Scholarship has connected restrictive land use regulations to…
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…
Inclusionary Zoning: What Does the Research Tell Us about the Effectiveness of Local Action?
Published: 2019 | Kriti Ramakrishnan, Mark Treskon, and Solomon Greene | Urban League Abstract As real wages stagnate, racial disparities grow, and housing prices soar in cities across the US, local governments are increasingly adopting laws and regulations that aim…
Recalibrating Local Politics to Increase the Supply of Housing
Published: 2019 | Chris Elmendorf | CATO Institute Abstract State planning mandates and development-rights auctions can bolster pro-housing factions in local government.
California Zoning: Housing Construction and a New Ranking of Local Land Use Regulation
Published: 2019 | Salim Furth and Olivia Gonzalez | Mercatus Center Abstract New survey data on residential land use regulation in California have allowed us to create the Mercatus-Augmented Terner California Housing Regulation (MATCHR) Index, which characterizes formal restrictions on…
Auctioning the Upzone: A New Strategy to Induce Local Government Compliance with State Housing Policies
Published: 2018 | Chris Elmendorf Abstract States should confer on local governments the right to auction development rights created by upzoning pursuant to state policy. This is akin to a state subsidy, but it would come at no cost to…
Local Housing Politicies Across California
Published: 2018 | Sarah Mawhorter and Carolina Reid | Terner Center for Housing Innovation Abstract In order to better understand how local policies affect housing supply, the Terner Center conducted a residential land use survey in California from August 2017…
City NIMBYs
Published: 2018 | Vicki Been | Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law Abstract This article published in the Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law explores the growing trend of opposition to development in cities. It describes the academic…
Beyond the Double Veto: Land Use Plans as Preemptive Intergovernmental Contracts
Published: 2018 | Christopher S. Elmendorf | UC Davis Legal Studies Research Paper Series Abstract The problem of local-government barriers to housing supply is finally enjoying its moment in the sun. For decades, the states did little to remedy this…