Capitalism in the Cracks: How Japan's Microspaces Unleash Economic Experimentation
These spaces are so small that most cities would ignore them. Tokyo doesn't.
Land Use
Minnesota Town Denies Family Permission To Build Affordable Housing Unit on Their Property
The Pepin family is suing the City of Blaine after the City Council used dubious reasoning to deny a permit for additional housing on their property.
New Jersey Towns Face Setback in Lawsuit Against State's Affordable Housing Mandate
Despite this setback, a coalition of municipalities is challenging the state’s housing program in federal court.
The Federal Government Owns Too Much Land. Selling It Helps Rural Communities.
Why Sen. Mike Lee's plan to sell public land doesn't go far enough
Missouri Town Wants To Seize Local Businesses Over Chipped Paint and Cracked Sidewalks
Brentwood business owners are challenging the city’s definition of blight in an ongoing lawsuit against city officials' use of the dubious designation to invoke eminent domain.
The Federal Government Has a Lot of Unused Land. Can We Sell It Off To Build Houses?
One proposal would create a streamlined process for selling off federal land to state and local governments, but only if they allow housing to be built on it.
Los Angeles Zoning Laws Pushed People and Homes Toward Fire-Prone Areas
Single-family zoning makes it practically impossible to build more housing in central L.A.
Abolish the National Park Service
Revising how America's most beautiful public lands are protected would create more ways for Americans to interact with some of the best parts of the country.
Elon Musk Versus the California Coastal Commission
The state's powerful coastal land-use regulator is arguing its awesome development-stopping powers applies to rocket launches as well as housing.
Kevin Costner's Neo-Western Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1 Is an Interminable Slog
Costner stars, directs, and writes in what amounts to a three-hour prologue for a better movie.
Zoning Regulations Empower Control Freaks—and Bigots
The Institute for Justice has launched a project to reform land use regulation.
A Florida Judge Says $165,000 in Fines for 3 Minor Code Violations Is Not 'Excessive'
Sandy Martinez faces that bill because of driveway cracks, a storm-damaged fence, and cars parked on her own property that illegally touched her lawn.
The Best of Reason: The Abundance Agenda Promises Everything to Everyone All at Once
Some progressives want to remove bureaucratic obstacles to growth—in the service of Democrats and big government.
The Abundance Agenda Promises Everything to Everyone All at Once
Some progressives want to remove bureaucratic obstacles to growth—in the service of Democrats and big government.
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.
The Town Without Zoning
Can Caroline, New York, resist the imposition of its first-ever zoning code?
The Zoning Theory of Everything
Land use policies explain the battles over everything from the Great Recession to abortion to Donald Trump.
The Answer to Population Decline Is More Immigration
Politicians' go-to fixes like child tax credits and federal paid leave are known for creating disincentives to work without much impact on fertility.
Democrats Say They Support Green Energy. Why Do Their Policies Say Otherwise?
If you look closely, you'll find a lot of contradictions.
California Is Clueless About Homelessness
Both Los Angeles and San Francisco struggle with restrictive land use regulations that raise the costs and completion times of housing projects. That same red tape is now hobbling projects aimed at helping alleviate homelessness.
Environmentalists Would Buy the Land They Want To Protect, if The Government Allowed It
"By excluding environmental groups, we get a distorted picture about the value of our natural resources,” says Shawn Regan of the Property and Environment Research Center.
Will Biden's '30 by 30' Conservation Plan Protect Both Property Rights and Wild Landscapes?
"Conservation will ultimately boil down to rewarding the private landowner who conserves the public interest," wrote naturalist Aldo Leopold.
Density or Sprawl? How To Solve the Urban Housing Crisis
Land use regulation is making cities unaffordable. In an unfettered market, how would Americans choose to live?
'Jane Jacobs Goals Through Robert Moses Tactics'
Community planners don't have all the answers.
Why Don't Environmentalists Just Buy the Land They Want To Protect? Because It's Against the Rules.
Regulation and litigation rule the day, but sometimes cash should be king.
New York City Landmarks Historic Bookstore The Strand Over Owner's Objections
"They want to put a bureaucratic noose around me," says Nancy Bass Wyden, third-generation owner of New York's best bookstore. "We're just asking to be left alone."
Leave the Strand Alone! Iconic Bookstore Owner Pleads With NYC: Don't Landmark My Property
Nancy Bass Wyden says historic designation would compromise her ownership rights and mean dealing with bureaucrats who "do not know how to run a bookstore."
Trump Pardons Oregon Ranchers Convicted in Brush Fire Case
Steve and Dwight Hammond became a cause célèbre for angry ranchers and another example of inflexible mandatory minimum sentences.
Charges Against Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy and His Sons Tossed from Federal Court
Judge cites "flagrant prosecutorial misconduct" on the government's part.
New London, Connecticut, Prosecutes Local Artist for Bamboo It Deems a Blight
Carlos Carrion has been growing bamboo in his yard for three decades; suddenly it's a crime.
Delaware's Odd, Beautiful, Contentious, Private Utopia
Arden is a suburb, an artist's colony, and a radical political experiment.
Environmental Protection Agency
How Obama's EPA Nearly Bankrupted John Duarte's Farm
A controversial rule on water pollution allowed the agency to micromanage private land use.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Review Proposes Shrinking 4 of 27 National Monuments
Environmental activists go ballistic.
Plow Field, Pay Government $35 Million?
It's happening in California, where the case goes to penalty trial in August, if the Trump administration doesn't stop it before then.
Zoning Laws in New York, San Francisco, and San Jose Cut Americans' Wages by $8,775
And they've made the U.S. economy 9 percent smaller than it would it otherwise be.
Gurgaon: India's Private City
An Indian city's embrace of globalism, trade, and hypergrowth is a living response to the protectionist impulse sweeping America.
One-Fifth of Earth's Plants Threatened with Extinction
Recent trends on population, farmland, deforestation, and urbanization are cause for optimism.
Landmarking Is Turning New York City Into a Life-Sized Historical Diorama
The city recently landmarked a giant Pepsi-Cola sign because of its "prominent siting."
Can Blockchain Technology Reduce Third-World Poverty?
A better way to keep track of who owns what land.
Whatever's Going on in Oregon, It's Not Terrorism
Terrorism is the use of violence against noncombatants for a political purpose. That's not what's happening here.
Matt Welch Talks Oregon Standoff on All in with Chris Hayes Tonight
Tune into MSNBC after 8:40 p.m. ET to hear whether white ranchers are being treated differently than if they were Muslims
Rand Paul, White House, Want Oregon Standoff Resolved Cautiously. Why Don't More Liberals Agree?
Relentlessly demonizing misunderstood opponents is a bad idea.
The Destruction of Penn Station Led to the Landmarks Preservation Movement. But Was the Old Structure Worth Saving After All?
On the 50th anniversary of the Landmarks Preservation Act, a re-evaluation of the mythic demise of an iconic train station.
How New York City's Landmarks Preservation Act Bulldozed the Future
The 50th anniversary of the Landmarks Act is an opportunity to mourn all the invisible buildings that will never exist because of a misguided law.
