Housing Policy
California's Housing Crisis Looms Over the State's GOP Convention
Away from the speeches of the party's presidential candidates, the Republican Huntington Beach city attorney talked up his efforts to thwart state zoning reforms.
Banning Criminal Background Checks Will Lead To More Housing Discrimination, Not Less
The best reforms would correct the real problems of overcriminalization and overincarceration, as well as removing all artificial barriers to building more homes.
Volokh Conspiracy Gets Results on Immigration and Zoning Policy
Federal and New York City officials recently adopted policy changes on migrant work permits and zoning reform similar to those advocated here (though probably not because I advocated them!)..
The Hidden Failures of Social Housing in 'Red Vienna'
A new report details how the city's famed social housing system is suffering from diminishing affordability, deteriorating quality, and funding shortfalls.
The Feds Sue New York Landlords for Not Allowing a Tenant's Emotional Support Cat
The Department of Housing and Urban Development argues in its complaint that a failure to allow emotional support animals amounts to illegal disability discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.
Map: In L.A., Local Control Is Local Confusion
The people who could benefit from new housing stock aren't on this map—they're exiled to unincorporated areas.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green Backtracks on YIMBY Emergency Order
In the face of lawsuits and accusations of attempted "genocide," Green is restoring many homebuilding regulations he suspended in July.
YIMBY Progress In California
The state legislature recently passed significant new laws constraining exclusionary zoning, thereby making it easier for property owners to build much-needed new housing on their land.
Gas and Rent Drive Inflation Higher for the Second Straight Month
Overall inflation rose 0.6 percent in August leading to an annualized rate of 3.7 percent.
California Legislature Passes Slew of YIMBY Reforms
Two bills approved by the Legislature this week will make it easier to build affordable housing on church land and in coastal areas.
What's the Libertarian Answer to New York's Migrant Crisis?
Plus: A listener asks the editors to name America's unsung or undersung heroes.
Critics Sue Over Hawaii's Housing Deregulation, Calling It Attempted 'Genocide'
A coalition including the state ACLU, Sierra Club, and Native Hawaiian cultural groups argue Gov. Josh Green vastly exceeded his emergency powers when he waived most regulations on homebuilding.
Did NYC Just Kneecap Airbnb?
"The city is treating our private property as the city's housing stock."
California Lawmakers Approve Bill Decriminalizing Magic Mushrooms
Plus: The Biden administration weighs a "remain in Texas" policy, California slowly but surely reforms its housing-killing environmental review law, and more...
Judge Rules Minneapolis' Zoning Reforms Are Getting Too Much Housing Built
Plus: Political campaigns will have to disclose if they use AI in their ads, the effort to rehabilitate rent control rumbles on, and more...
California Coastal Cities' Housing Plan: Build Elsewhere
Republican-controlled Huntington Beach has sued the state government to stop enforcement of state housing mandates.
China Is No Economic Model for America
The country's current struggles show the problems of the Beijing way—and make the case for freedom.
Yes in My Back Yard: Puzzle #4
"Colorado resort town in which snowball fights are illegal"
To Tackle Highest Housing Costs in the Country, Hawaii's Governor Declares YIMBY Martial Law
An emergency proclamation by Gov. Josh Green offers developers the opportunity to route around almost all regulations on building homes.
The Town Without Zoning
Can Caroline, New York, resist the imposition of its first-ever zoning code?
New York's Migrant Crisis is Caused by a Combination of Federal Work Restrictions and Local Zoning Policy
It's the predictable result of the combination of federal regulations barring asylum seekers from working legally and local policies offering free housing, while severely restricting new housing construction.
A New Bill Would Extend California's YIMBY Revolution to Heavily Regulated Coastal Areas
S.B. 423 would prevent the state's powerful Coastal Commission from shooting down affordable housing projects that comply with local zoning laws.
Valuable Mercatus Center Study Surveys Progress and Setbacks in the Struggle Against Exclusionary Zoning
Eli Kahn and Salim Furth provide overview of developments in the states, and lessons that can be learned.
ACLU-Backed Complaint Says Not Renting to People With Past Evictions Is Illegal Race, Sex Discrimination
HOPE Fair Housing Center argues in a new federal complaint that an Illinois landlord's blanket refusal to rent to people with eviction records amounts to illegal sex and race discrimination.
Cross-Ideological Common Ground on Exclusionary Zoning
Policy analyst Justin Hayes summarizes the reasons why conservatives, progressives, and libertarians all have reason to support zoning reform.
Declaring a 'Right' to Housing Won't Solve Homelessness
Instead, try making it easier to build more housing!
Zoning Police Criminalize Kindness in Oregon
A town clamps down on distributing clothes, personal care items, and food to the homeless.
Study: San Francisco Rent Control Expansion Led to More Evictions
A new study from researchers at Northwestern University found that landlords were incentivized by rising rents to replace existing tenants with new market-rate-paying tenants.
San Francisco Gets $20 Million Zoning Reform Grant the Same Week It Halts New Housing For Casting Shadows
This is the second RAISE grant San Francisco has received since the Biden administration retooled the program to reward jurisdictions for adopting zoning reforms.
Bridget Phetasy: Why I Left California for Texas
The wildly popular podcaster is still "politically homeless" but says leaving California and having a kid have improved her life immensely.
The Next President Needs To Cut Spending
At a minimum, the national debt should be smaller than the size of the economy. A committed president just might be able to deliver.
Rent Control 2.0 Looks a Lot Like Rent Control 1.0
Rent control is getting a rhetorical makeover from progressive policy makers.
New York City Orders Inflation-Adjusted Rent Cuts at Rent-Stabilized Buildings
The country's largest legacy rent-control policy is pushing building owners to the breaking point.
Study: Banning Investors From Buying Homes Leads to Higher Rents, More Gentrification
Home prices were unaffected by a ban on buy-to-rent housing in the Netherlands, but more affordable rental housing disappeared.
The Fed Won't Save Us From the Inflation Iceberg
Plus: Was Gerald Ford right to pardon Richard Nixon?
City Council Indictment Shows How L.A.'s Overregulated Housing Market Breeds Corruption
City Councilmember Curren Price is indicted for steering favors to affordable housing developers who were bribing his wife.
Portland, Maine, Will Vote on Whether To Roll Back the City's Socialist Housing Policy Revolution
Today, voters will consider a citizen petition that would let landlords raise rents to market rates on vacant units.
A Flawed Attempt at a Libertarian Defense of Exclusionary Zoning
Robert Poole's effort to defend exclusionary zoning falls prey to a combination of logical fallacies and factual error.
A Brief History of Single-Family Zoning
California recently enacted legislation that invalidates single-family zoning, as an effort to increase housing supply. Other alternatives would be wiser.
In State Legislatures, Targeted Bills and Bipartisan Support Were Key To Passing Housing Reforms
Meanwhile, big, partisan "everything bagel" zoning reform bills that tried to squeeze through the entire YIMBY agenda floundered.
