Oregon Passes Nation's First Statewide Rent Control Law
The bill comes with new risks for tenants and property owners alike.
Policy
State Can't Bulldoze Man's Atlantic City Home for Undefined 'Mixed Use Project,' N.J. Court Rules
A win for private property rights, and a defeat for proponents of eminent domain.
New Jersey Court Strikes Down Use of Eminent Domain to Take Property to "Bank" it for Possible Future Use
The court concluded that property may only be condemned for projects that will proceed in "the reasonably foreseeable future."
Support Grows for Bill That Would Legalize More Home Construction Across California
A new poll shows 74 percent of San Francisco residents are in favor of a state bill that would peel back local restrictions on housing.
Kamala Harris Blasts Trump for 'Cutting Red Tape' in SOTU Prebuttal
But she provided very little evidence to back up her claims.
The Government Can't—and Won't—Give Meaning to Your Life
A conservative technocrat tries to engineer a better world.
Cory Booker Understands Restrictive Zoning Codes Are a Problem. How Much Will That Matter for His Presidential Run?
All three Senate Democrats running for president have distinctive housing reform proposals.
Two Lawsuits Show What a Hot Mess California Housing Politics Is Right Now
How much power does the state of California have to force NIMBY localities to build more housing?
At the Most Expensive Affordable Housing Project in America, Every Apartment Cost $739,000 To Build
How a heavily subsidized Culver City development became the nation's most expensive affordable housing project.
Government Caused Housing Segregation. Do We Need More Government to Fix the Problem?
The Manhattan Institute's Howard Husock debates Economic Policy Institute's Richard Rothstein at the Soho Forum.
My USA Today Op Ed on Using Emergency Powers to Build Trump's Wall
The op ed explains why this option is not legal - and why it would set a dangerous precedent if the president succeeded in doing it.
Washington Forced Segregation on the Nation
It's time to remedy the effects of that terrible policy.
My New "Washington Post" Op Ed on Eminent Domain and the Border Wall
The op ed describes the extensive harm likely to be caused by condemning the large amounts of private property that would need to be seized to build the wall.
Anti-Wall GOP Rep. Will Hurd: 'There's a Thing We Care About in Texas Called Private Property Rights'
Some members of Congress still care about private property.
Oregon Likely to Become the First in the Nation to Adopt Statewide Rent Control
And that will probably make housing less affordable, not more.
City Officials Ordered San Francisco Man To Rebuild Exact Replica of Demolished Home. Now He's Fighting Back.
City officials determined years ago that the home was of no historic value.
Developer Sues Labor Groups Over Use of California Environmental Laws To Stop Construction
Two unions called out for threats to sue if they don't get hired to build.
Rep. Justin Amash Takes on Eminent Domain with 'Just Compensation' Bill
The bill would likely stop Trump from using the "military version of eminent domain."
Bill de Blasio: 'We Will Seize Their Buildings, and We Will Put Them in the Hands of a Community Nonprofit'
NYC's mayor takes on private property (again).
My Op ed on Trump, Emergency Powers, and the Wall
The op ed was published yesterday in the New York Daily News, but may be even more relevant today.
Eminent Domain, Emergency Powers, and Trump's Wall
Can Trump really exploit emergency powers to use eminent domain to build his wall without additional congressional authorization? If he succeeds, conservatives are likely to regret the precedent he sets.
Trump's Terrible Record on Property Rights
The President's recent threat to use "the military version of eminent domain" to seize property for his border wall is just the tip of a larger iceberg of policies and legal positions inimical to constitutional property rights.
What the Hell Is the 'Military Version of Eminent Domain'?
Whatever it is, it can't be good.
RIP Herb Kelleher, the Man Who Democratized Air Travel
The swashbuckling Southwest Airlines honcho is dead at 87.
The Trump Administration Has Issued the Fewest New Regulations In Decades. Does That Matter?
Raw counts of new rules added or pages in the Federal Register are a poor measure of deregulatory efforts.
Government Policy Created Housing Segregation. So Should Government Be Required To Fix It?: Debate
The next Reason/Soho Forum, in New York on January 14, pits Richard Rothstein vs. Howard Husock on how to correct a historic wrong.
Ben Carson Battles the NIMBYs
The HUD secretary's desire to tackle restrictive zoning is encouraging, but real reform will have to come from the bottom up.
This Insane Battle To Block a New Apartment Building Explains Why San Francisco and Other Cities Are So Expensive
Bob Tillman has spent nearly 5 years and $1.4 million trying to convert his laundromat into new housing.
Silicon Valley May Rue the Day it Called for Government Intervention Against Microsoft
Facebook, Google, Apple, and others are now facing the sort of regulatory and antitrust animus once leveled at Bill Gates' company.
Progress in the Struggle Against Exclusionary Zoning
Reforms in multiple jurisdictions could help loosen restrictions on development that infringe on property rights, inflate housing prices, and cut off large numbers of people from job opportunities.
Oregon Proposes Ditching Single-Family Zoning Statewide
Cities and states are embracing bold housing reforms as the year ends.
San Francisco Orders Property Owner to Build Exact Replica of Demolished Home
The 1930s building must be rebuilt exactly as it was, save for a plaque explaining the details of its demolition.
When Democrats Loved Deregulation
Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy, and 1970s Jerry Brown understood that government regulations hurt the little guy while enriching big-business incumbents.
Progressive Minneapolis Just Passed One of the Most Deregulatory Housing Reforms in the Country
Urban liberals are won over to libertarian policies, if not libertarian politics.
Minneapolis Strikes a Blow for Affordable Housing by Slashing Zoning Restrictions
Zoning rules that severely restrict home construction cut off millions of poor people from jobs and affordable housing. The Minneapolis reform is the most extensive reduction in zoning achieved by any major American city in a long time.
Berkeley Councilmember Denies City is Anti-Housing, Then Almost Immediately Votes Against More Housing
California's local officials are always in favor of more housing in general, but rarely support the individual projects that come before them.
Anti-Development Activists Killed California's Last Stab at Free Market Housing Reform. Will They Get on Board With This Latest Attempt?
Senate Bill 50 would override restrictive local zoning laws to allow more housing construction near transit.
Oakland Gets Sued For Law Requiring That Landlords Pay Tenants Up to $12,000 Just to End a Lease
Lyndsey and Sharon Ballinger's lawsuit claims that Oakland's Uniform Relocation Ordinance is unconstitutional.
A Ford Mustang Costs About the Same as in 1968, but College Costs a Helluva Lot More
A brief look at 50-year cost and quality trends in cars, houses, college and health care.
GM Will Shut Down Factory Built on Land Seized in Controversial 1981 Poletown Taking
The factory stands on land seized in a taking that forcibly displaced over 4000 people, and attracted widespread widespread opposition. The lessons and legacy of the Poletown case remain relevant today.
Neomi Rao Was Right About Dwarf Tossing, Dignity, and Consent. She Deserves To Be a Federal Judge.
A defense of Brett Kavanaugh's nominated replacement on the D.C. Circuit.
The 5 Worst Supreme Court Rulings of the Past 50 Years
Cases in which a majority of the Court fell down on the job.
81 Percent of Homes in the San Francisco Metro Area Are Worth More Than $1 Million. That's Not Normal.
Restrictions on the supply of new housing are making California's cities increasingly unaffordable.
California Wildfires Destroy Homes and Lives. Why Do Regulators Encourage Building in Fire Zones?
A toxic mix of bad insurance regulations and bad housing regulations ensure Golden State residents will continue to return to fire ravaged areas.
