As anticipated by the “radical agreement” among the parties and justices at oral argument, the Supreme Court’s recently released decision in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado put to rest the question of whether legislatively-imposed land use permit conditions are outside the scope of the takings clause. The unanimous ruling confirms the common-sense proposition that […]
LATEST POSTS
The sudden death of the American condo
Condos are disappearing. They persist now mainly in pre-2010 buildings. Among multifamily homes built in the 2020s, just 1 in 25 is owner-occupied. What happened? … [Read More...]
The urban economics of sprawl
Should YIMBYs support or oppose greenfield growth? Two basic values animate most YIMBYs: housing affordability and urbanism. Sprawl puts those values into … [Read More...]
YIMBY wins again in Vermont
On March 25, the city council of Burlington, VT, voted to pass a major zoning reform that one observer of Vermont politics (X.com’s pseudonymous @NotaBot) compared to the celebrated overhaul of Minneapolis’s zoning code.Burlington - the largest city in … [Read More...]
And the Oscar for best paper goes to…
By Salim Furth
A friend asked what are the best papers supporting land use liberalization. That's a broad question, but here are some of my answers.AffordabilityThe basic case for zoning reform, across the political spectrum, is that the rent is too damn high. … [Read More...]
Apples to apples housing cost comparisons
I recently ran across an interesting discussion on Twitter about housing costs. Someone praised Chicago's low housing costs, and someone else responded that because Chicago's most troubled neighborhoods are so unusually dangerous and disinvested (compared to … [Read More...]
Poor People Move Too
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Milton’s Zoning Referendum
By Salim Furth
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Houston as an Affordability Model
In December, I was asked to testify at a House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance hearing on government barriers to housing construction and affordability. I provided examples of reforms to land regulations that have facilitated increased housing supply, … [Read More...]
Resources for Reformers: Houston’s minimum lot sizes
By Salim Furth
Updated 1/11/24 to add 3 new papers, Wegmann, Baqai, and Conrad (2023), Dobbels & Tavakalov (2023), and Hamilton (2024). The original post was published 3/14/23.A concerted research effort has brought minimum lot sizes into focus as a key element in … [Read More...]
Hopefully, AI will create a perpetual housing crisis
By Salim Furth
I don't know how successful artificial intelligence will be. But let's agree, for the moment, to consider a reasonably optimistic case where AI delivers significant productivity gains across a broad range of tasks - but not in a way that radically alters our … [Read More...]
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Top Posts
- The sudden death of the American condo
- Ranking State Land Use Regulations
- How Realistic Are the Cities of Fallout?
- Rhode Island's housing process package
- Pedestrianized streets usually fail - and that's OK
- Ruminating on Sheetz
- The urban economics of sprawl
- Resources for Reformers: Houston's minimum lot sizes
- What Should I Read to Understand Zoning?
- Only 2 Ways to Fight Gentrification (you're not going to like one of them)