Congress' $1.7 Trillion Spending Bill Includes a Baby 'YIMBY' Grant Program
It needs some work.
Zoning
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
Divided Government Is Good. In 2023, Bipartisanship Would Be Better.
From immigration to drug reform, there is plenty of potential for productive compromise.
D.C. Zoning Officials Prepare a 'Racial Equity Tool' To Guide Zoning Decisions
Local YIMBY advocates express concern that the tool, as written, is overly vague and could be exploited to stop development.
California's Housing Crisis Hasn't Spared the State's College Students
A new law would make it harder for NIMBY neighbors to obstruct new dorms with bogus environmental complaints.
Zoning Laws Make Child Care Unaffordable in Utah
Child care centers should have the same development flexibility as charter schools.
Federal Money Intended for Zoning Reformers Ends Up in NIMBY Clutches
The White House is giving $1.5 billion in INFRA grants to entities that either don't approve new housing or are actively opposed to making it easier to build.
As California Embraces Development, San Francisco Mayor Vetoes Fake Housing Reform Bill
The proposed policy was offensive to property rights and disincentivized construction. The mayor's rejection of it shows the state's increasing interest in allowing more building.
Cardi B Delivers Perceptive, Profanity-Laced Analysis of High Home Prices, Rents
The rapper blamed a lack of "motherfucking inventory" for high home prices and rising rents in low-income neighborhoods. She's not the only one.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' Administration Tells Gainesville To Abandon Zoning Reform
The state's Republican administration comes out against property rights and local control.
Community Fridges Are Facing Vandalism and Regulatory Challenges
The community fridge is a civic model that regulators should encourage, not seek to shut down.
This Renegade California Developer Wants To Build a 2,300-Unit Megaproject in a NIMBY Stronghold
A never-before-used state law might make his plans bulletproof.
What Would It Take for the Democrats To Really Be the Party of Opportunity?
Government should not penalize investment, thwart competition, discourage innovation and work, or obstruct production.
Help Labor by Breaking Down Barriers to Mobility
Labor Day is the right time to remember that we can make workers vastly better off by empowering more of them to vote with their feet.
Christian Britschgi: Zoning Restrictions Worsen the Housing Crisis
Associate Editor Christian Britschgi breaks down how zoning restrictions distort the housing market.
Tiny Homes for Las Vegas Homeless Demolished Over Code Violations
Plus: Trump sues over Mar-a-Lago raid, why people vote to "dismantle democracy," how Ireland ruined its rental market, and more...
School Choice Faces a New Threat: Local Code Enforcers
Enemies of educational freedom are using inane regulations to target learning pods.
Are San Francisco's NIMBYs Finally Getting Their Comeuppance?
State housing officials have launched a first-ever investigation of the city's housing policies and practices, setting the stage for far more sweeping interventions.
Zoning Officials Tell New Hampshire Church It Can't Use Living Room To Host Prayer Meetings
Bedford's New Hope Christian Fellowship Church argues in a lawsuit that the town is applying uniquely restrictive rules to its religious gatherings.
Mobile Homes Are a Crucial Source of Affordable Housing. Politicians Are Trying To Zone Them Out of Town.
The government should not take away reliable and affordable housing from those who need it most.
Another NIMBY Lawsuit Seeks To End New York City Outdoor Dining Program
Several dozen NYC residents want to repeal the regulations allowing outdoor dining in the city.
In Iowa, You No Longer Need a Permit To Sell Guns Across the Road from the Governor's Mansion
A new state law prohibits localities from prohibiting or licensing "no-impact" home-based businesses. That's allowing a Des Moines couple to sell guns from their house located just across the street from the governor's mansion.
Maxine Waters Says She May Not Vote for 'Shameful' Inflation Reduction Act, Citing Lack of Housing Spending
The new reconciliation bill also nixes a zoning reform program that had been included in the more expansive Build Back Better bill.
San Francisco Mayor Slaps Down Clever Plot To Make Housing Crisis Worse
The mayor vetoed a controversial ordinance that would have legalized more types of housing on paper while making it harder to build in practice.
Little Libraries, Free at Last?
Good news for fans of literacy and opponents of restrictive zoning codes
Taxpayers Pay the Price for DeSantis' War on Disney
Florida's governor has declared a regulatory war on one of the state's biggest employers. But it's the taxpayers who may ultimately pay the price.
Is South Florida's Housing Market Too Hot?
Zoning laws, a limited housing stock, and inflation have created a major housing shortage in the bubble-prone region.
Pennsylvania Town Threatens Churches With $500 Fines for Providing Free Meals, Counseling Services
Borough officials in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, told Mission First and Christ Episcopal churches that their charitable work goes beyond what the zoning code allows for downtown churches.
