Policy
New HUD Report Shows Steady Pandemic-Era Increase in Unsheltered Homeless Population
The overall homeless population stayed basically flat from 2020 to 2022. But the number of people sleeping on the streets increased 3.4 percent.
Richmond Wants To Limit New Convenience Stores Because There Was a Shooting at an Old One
The Richmond City Council unanimously approved a resolution to study applying tougher zoning restrictions to new shops as a way of cutting down on crime.
City That Forced Landlords To Evict Tenants Suspected of Crimes Will Pay $1 Million To Settle DOJ Lawsuit
Plus: Elon Musk bans Twitter account that tracks his private jet, Iong permit waits to build new apartment buildings in San Francisco, and more...
California's Ban on Gas-Powered Cars Could Wreak Havoc on Its Energy Grid
If all Californians bought E.V.s tomorrow, it would be a nightmare.
Why In the World Is the FTC Trying to Block Microsoft From Buying Call of Duty?
Antitrust regulators don't seem to understand how the video game industry works.
California's Landmark Environmental Law Finally Comes for the Legislature Itself
Golden State lawmakers have refused to fix the California Environmental Quality Act. Now it could cost them a brand new office building.
The Government Hasn't Learned a Thing From the Baby Formula Shortage
With the FORMULA Act soon to expire, the U.S. baby formula market is about to return to the conditions that left it so vulnerable to a shortage in the first place.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin Seeks to Expand Housing by Curbing Zoning
The move is a step in the right direction. It also highlights how the issue cuts across ideological lines.
Will Eric Adams' 'Get Stuff Built' Plan Actually Get Stuff Built?
The mayor is proposing a long list of helpful, but marginal, reforms that would speed up the city's approval processes for new housing.
The FTC Has No Business Trying To Stop Video Game Company Mergers
It’s one of the most competitive industries in the world, and there’s no good reason to stop Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard.
Elon Musk Isn't the Only One Fighting Regulators for Turning Offices Into Bedrooms
The rise of remote work has piqued developers' interest in converting empty downtown offices to apartments. Zoning codes and building regulations often make that impossible.
California Bill Would Exempt Church-Sponsored Housing Projects From Hellish Zoning Laws
S.B. 4 would let religious institutions and nonprofit colleges skip the typical environmental review and red tape when building low-income housing on their property.
Semiconductor Manufacturers Don't Need More Subsidies. They Need Less Government.
Fixing federal permitting rules and easing immigration policies would help companies like the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which are interested in building more plants in America.
Cronyist Journalism Measure Could Prompt Facebook To Ban News
Plus: ACLU sides against religious freedom, abortions after Dobbs, and more...
Ron DeSantis Admin Says in New Lawsuit That the Free Market Won't Produce Affordable Housing
Florida's Department of Economic Opportunity is suing the city of Gainesville to block its legalization of small "missing middle" apartment buildings in single-family neighborhoods.
D.C.'s 'Green New Deal for Housing' Is Doomed Before It Begins
Social housing supporters hope that the city can get city-owned, city-operated housing right with a new office, a more expansive mission, and different branding.
Review: Try and Fail To Build a Virtual City in Sim Nimby
Eventually the player realizes nothing is getting built and quits.
A Lame-Duck Congress Should Reject the Extended Child Tax Credit
The policy has some bipartisan support, despite the fact that it has mostly been a failure since its inception.
Be Thankful for Low-Skilled Workers
These are the people who showed up when the economy was shut down by the government, working in jobs labeled "essential."
Cities Switch From Requiring Too Many Parking Spaces To Banning Too Many Parking Spaces
Nashville is the latest city to eliminate minimum parking requirements while simultaneously capping how much parking developers are now allowed to build.
Oregon's Newly Legal Magic Mushroom Industry Could Be Strangled by Restrictive Zoning Regulations
Local governments are considering rules that could force "psilocybin service centers" to locate near highways and go through expensive, discretionary permitting processes.
New York Is Setting Up Legal Marijuana Merchants for Failure
Nearly 20 months after the state legalized recreational use, no licensed pot shops have opened, but the black market is booming.
Colorado Voters Rejected Booze To-Go and Expanded Alcohol Delivery
Alcohol-related ballot measures were in play in several states last week. The results were lukewarm.
Republicans Need an Actual Plan To Grow the Economy
The biggest beneficiaries of economic growth are poor people. But the deepest case for economic growth is a moral one.
Landlords Sue Over City-Mandated 15 Percent Rent Cut
Property owners in Kingston, New York, argue the city is vastly underestimating its vacancy rate in order to justify ruinous rent cuts.
Biden's 'Made In America' Plan Is Bullying Homeowners Off Their Land to Build a Taxpayer-Subsidized Chip Plant
The president has touted a factory jobs boom. In practice, that means forcing people out of their homes to benefit corporate projects that rely on billions of dollars of subsidies.
To Fight Human Trafficking, Police in Texas Town Endorse Zoning Restrictions on Massage Parlors
City officials in Nederland, Texas, are kicking around the idea of limiting new massage parlors to industrial areas of town.
The Case for 50 Percent Open Borders
A call for restricting immigration accidentally makes the case for radical liberalization.
The Space Force Is an Expensive Farce
Why does the newest branch of the U.S. military need horses?
NIMBYism and Economic Ignorance
A new study presents compelling evidence that opposition to new housing construction is often caused the mistaken belief that it will increase housing prices rather than reduce them.
Pay Attention to Policy, not 'Narratives'
Punditry ought to be less important than wonkery.
Arizona Appeals Court Deflates Subsidies for Space Balloons
According to the ruling, the Pima County Board of Supervisors violated the state constitution's Gift Clause with its sweetheart deal to a space tourism company.
Some States Will Let Students Transfer to a Better Public School, For a Price
While open-enrollment policies are intended to provide opportunities regardless of a student's zip code, many states fall short of this goal.
A GOP-Led Congress May Focus on Owning the Libs. Instead, It Should Focus on Owning Inflation.
If the midterms favor Republicans, their top priority needs to be the fight against inflation—whether or not they feel like they created the problem.
Rent Control Is Up for a Vote This Year. Its Effects Aren't.
Voters in Orange County, Florida, and Pasadena, California, will vote on ballot initiatives that cap rent increases at, or below, inflation.
Michigan Court Allows Town To Use Drones To Snoop Without Warrants. One Couple Is Suing.
The Institute for Justice argues evidence from warrantless searches can’t be used for zoning enforcement.
The Feds Monkey Around With Monkeypox
The FDA delayed the delivery of 1 million vaccine doses, and many high-risk Americans were turned away from health clinics that had run out of vaccines.
What Is a Family? Ask a Zoning Official.
Big cities like New York, Baltimore, and others use strict definitions of family to restrict housing.
My New The Hill Article on How Arlington, VA Battle over "Missing Middle" Housing is a Microcosm of Broader National Struggle Against Exclusionary Zoning
Barack Obama could have been referring to our community, when he said that “[t]he most liberal communities in the country aren’t that liberal when it comes to affordable housing.”
Colorado Town Seizing Ski Resort's Land To Stop It Building Employee Housing
The Vail Town Council says that while affordable housing is desperately needed in the community, Vail Resorts' Booth Heights project would threaten local bighorn sheep.
The U.K. Competition Authority 'Wins,' but Consumers Lose
U.K. regulators shut down Meta/GIPHY deal in favor of their own “approved buyer.”
What Happens When a County Employee Acts Like a Police Officer?
A highway engineer got qualified immunity for detaining drivers—despite not being a cop.
