Housing Policy
Oakland Uses SWAT Force With Tanks and an Armored Vehicle To Evict Squatting Activists
A group of homeless mothers moved into an Oakland, California, home they didn't own.
Gavin Newsom's Solution to California's Homelessness Problem: Throw Another Billion Dollars at It
But the underlying problems remain unaddressed.
Adding Jobs but Not Housing Is a Recipe for Urban Unrest
New York City has failed to zone for enough housing to keep pace with growth.
Abolishing Single-Family-Only Zoning Expands Freedom and Choice
And it might make housing more affordable in many places. Conservative NIMBYs should not stand in the way.
Maryland Housing Package Combines Upzoning With Vienna-Style Social Housing
Del. Vaughn Stewart (D–Montgomery County) says a mix of new private and public housing is needed to combat Maryland's housing affordability problems.
A Major California Upzoning Bill Is Back, but Faces an Uncertain Future
Despite amendments to make the bill more palatable to local governments and community activists, Sen. Scott Wiener's (D–San Francisco) SB 50 faces an uphill battle.
New Trump Administration Regulations Say That Affordable Housing Is Fair Housing
The Trump administration's proposed rewrite of fair housing regulations would ditch lengthy Obama-era reporting requirements in favor of a laserlike focus on housing affordability.
Virginia Bill Would End Single-Family-Only Zoning in the Old Dominion
The legislation would allow duplexes on any residential plot in the state.
Progress on Exclusionary Zoning, Regression on Rent Control
Many jurisdictions are alleviating housing shortgages by cutting back on zoning. Unfortunately, there is also a trend towards expanding rent control, which is likely to have the opposite effect.
The 2010s Were a Terrible Decade for Housing Construction
NIMBYism has dominated housing policy for the last ten years. Will the 2020s be any better?
Activists vs. One Man's Skee-Ball Arcade: How Red Tape Is Ruining San Francisco
Joey Mucha wanted to convert his warehouse into a restaurant, bar, and arcade. Then community activists intervened.
When Shelters Are Full, Can Cities Herd Homeless People Into Jails?
The Ninth Circuit says no, and the Supreme Court isn't weighing in.
Supreme Court Declines To Hear Challenge to Local Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance
The decision leaves intact local governments’ power to force private developers to build affordable housing.
Los Angeles Bans Developers From Making Campaign Donations
In the midst of a housing crisis, L.A. politicians have decided to limit their own incentives to allow more housing construction.
Los Angeles Is Spending Over $1 Billion To House the Homeless. It's Failing.
Los Angeles County saw disease outbreaks and 1,000 homeless deaths last year.
Feds Sue California City Over Law That Mandated Evictions for Criminal Activity—Even When No One Was Arrested or Charged
A Department of Justice lawsuit argues Hesperia’s rental ordinance amounts to illegal racial discrimination.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Right to Oppose This NYC Mega-Development
But she's wrong about why it's bad.
Ilhan Omar's $1 Trillion Housing Proposal Is an Expensive Joke
The Homes for All Act misdiagnoses the roots of the country's housing problems, then adds a boundless faith in the feds' ability to solve them.
Democratic Candidates Acknowledge Poor Housing Supply, but Not How Government Causes It
More federal spending won’t make housing more accessible as long as regulations and zoning drive up prices.
Pete Buttigieg Has a $1 Trillion Plan to Drive Up Housing, College, and Labor Costs
Dramatic increases in federal spending will not “unlock access” for the poor. It will only help those with the right connections.
DACA Has Its Day at the Supreme Court
Plus: New York's rent control expansion has predictable effects, people are boycotting Uber again, and violence continues in Hong Kong.
Is New York City Barreling Toward Its Own Housing Crisis?
A report from the city's Department of Planning finds that housing construction has not kept pace with job growth.
Bernie Sanders Blames Apple for Silicon Valley's Government-Created Housing Crisis
Development restrictions and NIMBYism, not tech sector success, explain Silicon Valley's housing costs.
Hannibal Buress on Bernie Sanders' National Rent Control Proposal: 'Wrong'
The actor and comedian is the owner of a three-unit rental property in Chicago.
California's Wonky Insurance and Land Use Regulations Make the State's Wildfires Deadlier and More Destructive
The state has made it exceedingly difficult to build in fire-safe cities, while also making insurance rates in high-risk areas artificially cheap.
Facebook's Plans To Spend $1 Billion on Housing Development Is a Drop in the Bucket
The source of the state's housing affordability problems are onerous government regulations and fees that artificially drive up the costs of housing.
Legislator Who Argues Housing Is a Human Right Also Suing to Stop Affordable Housing in Her District
New York Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou is a plaintiff in a lawsuit to stop a Habitat for Humanity housing project.
Californians Are Fleeing the State's Progressive Policies
California's progressive political imperatives are having such glaring real-world repercussions that it's hard to keep ignoring them.
Audit Finds Cost of Building Supportive Housing in L.A. Exceeds Median Price of a Market-Rate Condo
Los Angeles is spending $600,000 per unit on building affordable and supportive housing for homeless residents.
When Mandating Affordable Housing Makes Housing Less Affordable
A new study of inclusionary zoning policies in the D.C. and Baltimore metro areas finds that the policy ends up raising rents.
How Rent Control Laws Hurt Tenants
California is about to get a real world lesson in how rent control laws can't solve a housing crisis.
Are We Really Doing the Impeachment Thing Again?
The wish-fulfillment machine kicks into high gear on both sides of the aisle.
Did California Just Abolish Single-Family Zoning?
The Golden State now allows homeowners to build up to two accessory dwelling units on their property by right.
Minneapolis Doesn't Want Landlords to Check Tenants' Criminal History, Credit Score, Past Evictions
The Minneapolis city council just made the rental business a lot riskier for property owners.
Bernie Sanders' Housing Plan Calls for $2.5 Trillion in New Spending and Nationwide Rent Control
The socialist presidential candidate wants the federal government to take the lead in regulating rental prices and building new rental housing.
New Bill Would Tie Federal Transit Funding to Local Zoning Reforms
Local governments that remove development restrictions near transit would have a better chance of scoring federal transit funding grants.
California Passes Statewide Rent Control Despite a Massive Housing Shortage
Economists have long warned that rent control only limits housing supply and drives up prices in the long-run
It's Not a Mystery Why America's Biggest Cities Are Losing Population
Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City all have some easily identifiable management problems.
California's Political Leaders Strike Deal on Rent Control
Rent increases could be capped at 5 percent plus inflation under a new agreement struck by Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders.
How California Environmental Law Makes It Easy For Labor Unions To Shake Down Developers
“Greenmailing” drives up construction costs and wait times, making the state’s already expensive housing even less affordable.
Activists Try To Stop Redevelopment of 'Historic' Business Over Owners' Objections. Again.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is suing to prevent Amoeba Music's Hollywood location from becoming a 200-unit apartment building.
Andrew Yang Hates Zoning Laws
The long shot presidential candidate wants booming cities to get rid of their restrictions on new development.
California Governor Gavin Newsom Throws His Support Behind Rent Control Bill
The Golden State toys with bad fixes to its worsening housing affordability problems.
Neighborhood Activists Would Rather Preserve Tom's Diner Than Let Its Owner Retire in Peace
Denver NIMBYs are using historic preservation laws to stop a restaurant owner from selling his diner to a developer so he can retire.
