With the help of New York’s environmental review law, local NIMBYs halted an approved housing project, adding to delays and costs in a city facing a housing shortage.
Plus: Democrats' housing-lite postelection recriminations and yet another ballot box defeat for pro–rent control forces in California.
Justice Gorsuch shows more interest in property rights challenges than his colleagues on the Court.
Golden State voters decisively rejected progressive approaches to crime and housing.
As skyrocketing costs and mass exoduses define the Golden State, Democrats face a crucial reckoning.
A related initiative preventing the state's most prolific rent control–supporting nonprofit from funding future initiatives is headed for a narrow victory.
Victory in the fight for cheaper housing, a more liberal land-use regime, and greater property rights won't come from the White House.
In this Texas Law Review article, Josh Braver and I argue that most exclusionary zoning violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
California would benefit from building more housing and having more experimentation with how public services are delivered.
Links to all my writings on these topics.
Plus: Kamala Harris' closing argument, the FTC's harassment of Musk-owned Twitter, and more
Proposition 33 would repeal all of California's state-level limits on rent control. It's passage could prove to be a disaster for housing supply in the Golden State.
The state's powerful coastal land-use regulator is arguing its awesome development-stopping powers applies to rocket launches as well as housing.
Urban renewal efforts should recognize that existing businesses and new residents can coexist.
Advocates unconvincingly argue that repealing California's limits on rent control will open up more housing for people with disabilities.
These policies may sound good on paper—but they would be disastrous in reality.
Despite homelessness being on the rise, local governments keep cracking down on efforts to shelter those without permanent housing.
Instead of focusing on the ways a rollback of zoning laws could lower housing costs for everyone, Vance wants to zealously enforce zoning codes to keep Haitians out of town.
A free market for housing is one that benefits both renters and landlords.
Federal housing officials allege a New Hampshire landlord violated the Fair Housing Act for refusing to show a unit to two women with emotional support dogs.
Plus: Massachusetts NIMBYs get their day in court, Pittsburgh one-step forward, two-steps back approach to zoning reform, and a surprisingly housing-heavy VP debate.
To give storm victims the best chance at recovery, let local knowledge and markets guide decisions.
Harris rightly calls out regulations for causing the housing shortage, but she also supports rent control policies that will make it worse.
Housing is unaffordable because regulations have prevented its commodification.
Both candidates mentioned the importance of new supply to bring down housing costs. But their focus was firmly on their chosen boogeymen.
Plus: the transformation of California's builder's remedy, the zoning reform implications of the Eric Adams indictment, and why the military killed starter home reform in Arizona.
The ruling highlights need for state-level zoning reform and stronger judicial protection of constitutional property rights.
Revised versions of both publications are now up on SSRN.
The New York City Council takes up the mayor's City of Yes for Housing Opportunity reform package the same day Adams is indicted on federal corruption charges.
Javier Milei’s repeal of restrictive rent control laws increased housing supply and stabilized prices.
Economist Jeremy Horpedahl breaks down the economic outlook for Millennials and Gen Z and assesses how the 2024 presidential candidates' policies stack up against reality.
Plus, a look at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Tina Smith's plan to resurrect public housing in America.
It provides an overview of several major issues in land-use policy.
Increasing the supply of housing requires looser rules and fewer bureaucratic delays.
Columnists keep trying to find a coherent philosophy behind Harris' confused and contradictory policy agenda.
Plus: An alleged slumlord gets a "tenant empowerment" grant, Seattle's affordable housing mandates lead to less housing, D.C.'s affordable housing crisis.
Bobby Debelak, new host of this podcast, interviewed me about a variety of topics related to eminent domain and property rights.
New data shows that "housing supply skeptics" can be persuaded by evidence showing that allowing more construction reduces prices. But not clear this is a good road map for addressing the problem of public ignorance in the real world.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been dogged by accusations that it operates dangerous, dilapidated housing. Now, it'll distribute taxpayer dollars to tenant groups fighting for better living conditions.
Plus: The Montana Supreme Court rescues zoning reform, and a new challenge to inclusionary zoning.
The Dutch government's radical expansion of rent control is displacing tenants and aggravating a preexisting housing shortage.
Housing costs, job availability, energy prices, and technological advancement all hinge on a web of red tape that is leaving Americans poorer and less free.
Both propose awful economic policies that appeal to public ignorance.
Harvard economist Edward Glaeser, a leading expert on housing policy, offers some ideas on how Congress can use conditional spending to break down barriers to housing construction.
Plus: The feds come for RealPage, a YIMBY caucus comes to Congress, and tiny Rhode Island enacts a big slate of housing reforms.
There would seem to be little added fairness, and little added incentive for illegal immigration, in letting more people draw from a well that's already run dry.
Economist and author Kyla Scanlon discusses inflation, economic narratives, and the housing market.
Kamala Harris' promise to end the housing shortage and adopt rent control shows that YIMBY ideas are just one of several competing housing policy agendas within the Democratic Party.
