Housing
Featured
Watch Tour: Increasing Housing Density Can Build Thriving Neighborhoods
Watch as Steven Greenhut of PRI’s Free Cities Center and California YIMBY director of communications Matthew Lewis go on a tour of Berkeley to see first hand how denser, multi-family housing units and exist in harmony with single-family homes and create thriving neighborhoods.
Blog
‘Parasitic’ architecture offers a way to boost housing density
The concept is attractive. Taking advantage of an existing superstructure and utility conduits, developers can simply add new units on the sides and top of a residential building. In theory, this can save money, preserve the original building and create new housing in areas where housing tends to be in ...
Blog
Would A Vacancy Tax Reduce State’s Housing Shortage? History Says No.
While it might seem impossible given the state’s perpetual housing shortage, there are empty homes in California. Some policymakers believe that forcing the owners to put tenants in their properties will help solve an unaffordability problem that has priced so many out of the market. Sounds simple. Of course it’s ...
California
Project Homekey is expensive and ineffective. Let’s shift to much more promising policies.
By Kerry Jackson & Wayne Winegarden Last month, San Diego officials announced that the county and city will be receiving nearly $12 million in state Project Homekey funds to build housing for the homeless. It’s a publicly funded program that will, no doubt, be celebrated in the halls of government as a ...
Blog
A To-Do List for the California Legislature
When Californians go to the polls in November, they will be choosing from many new faces seeking to represent them in the state legislature. Thanks to redistricting and a wide swath of retirements, there will be at least 22 new State Assembly Members elected this fall and 10 new State ...
Blog
Enviro law’s abusers continue to block urban housing
Enviro law’s abusers continue to block urban housing by John Seiler There are many reasons for California’s housing crisis, but a major problem everyone acknowledges, but never comes close to resolving, is the inability to advance reform of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA (pronounced See-Kwa). It thwarts the ...
Blog
Rent control is destroying a city near you
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter stood on a vacant lot on Charlotte Street in the South Bronx, surrounded by empty, burned-out buildings, something reminiscent of Berlin at the end of World War II. The scene looked like something from a scene in “Escape from New York,” but Carter promised he ...
Blog
‘Housing First’ puts lofty goals above real-world results
Proponents of housing first claim that housing is a basic human right, and a permanent and stable home is the best platform from which to help people overcome the challenges that led to their homelessness, including the problems of mental illness and addiction. As a result of this premise, ...
Book
NEW BOOK RELEASE – Back from Dystopia: A New Vision for Western Cities
NEW BOOK RELEASE Back from Dystopia: A New Vision for Western Cities Steven Greenhut Cities throughout the West face rising crime, soaring housing costs, a sprawling homelessness crisis and devastated downtown areas following two years of COVID restrictions and the aftermath of destructive protests. Policymakers typically address these and other ...
Blog
Anaheim’s freedom experiment still offers lessons to cities
It’s a distant and largely forgotten memory, but in the mid-2000s the city of Anaheim pursued a novel idea for bigger cities. Instead of pursuing development policies based on the usual array of central planning tools, the city decided to “pursue a market-oriented, freedom-friendly agenda that would create an atmosphere ...
Watch Tour: Increasing Housing Density Can Build Thriving Neighborhoods
Watch as Steven Greenhut of PRI’s Free Cities Center and California YIMBY director of communications Matthew Lewis go on a tour of Berkeley to see first hand how denser, multi-family housing units and exist in harmony with single-family homes and create thriving neighborhoods.
‘Parasitic’ architecture offers a way to boost housing density
The concept is attractive. Taking advantage of an existing superstructure and utility conduits, developers can simply add new units on the sides and top of a residential building. In theory, this can save money, preserve the original building and create new housing in areas where housing tends to be in ...
Would A Vacancy Tax Reduce State’s Housing Shortage? History Says No.
While it might seem impossible given the state’s perpetual housing shortage, there are empty homes in California. Some policymakers believe that forcing the owners to put tenants in their properties will help solve an unaffordability problem that has priced so many out of the market. Sounds simple. Of course it’s ...
Project Homekey is expensive and ineffective. Let’s shift to much more promising policies.
By Kerry Jackson & Wayne Winegarden Last month, San Diego officials announced that the county and city will be receiving nearly $12 million in state Project Homekey funds to build housing for the homeless. It’s a publicly funded program that will, no doubt, be celebrated in the halls of government as a ...
A To-Do List for the California Legislature
When Californians go to the polls in November, they will be choosing from many new faces seeking to represent them in the state legislature. Thanks to redistricting and a wide swath of retirements, there will be at least 22 new State Assembly Members elected this fall and 10 new State ...
Enviro law’s abusers continue to block urban housing
Enviro law’s abusers continue to block urban housing by John Seiler There are many reasons for California’s housing crisis, but a major problem everyone acknowledges, but never comes close to resolving, is the inability to advance reform of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA (pronounced See-Kwa). It thwarts the ...
Rent control is destroying a city near you
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter stood on a vacant lot on Charlotte Street in the South Bronx, surrounded by empty, burned-out buildings, something reminiscent of Berlin at the end of World War II. The scene looked like something from a scene in “Escape from New York,” but Carter promised he ...
‘Housing First’ puts lofty goals above real-world results
Proponents of housing first claim that housing is a basic human right, and a permanent and stable home is the best platform from which to help people overcome the challenges that led to their homelessness, including the problems of mental illness and addiction. As a result of this premise, ...
NEW BOOK RELEASE – Back from Dystopia: A New Vision for Western Cities
NEW BOOK RELEASE Back from Dystopia: A New Vision for Western Cities Steven Greenhut Cities throughout the West face rising crime, soaring housing costs, a sprawling homelessness crisis and devastated downtown areas following two years of COVID restrictions and the aftermath of destructive protests. Policymakers typically address these and other ...
Anaheim’s freedom experiment still offers lessons to cities
It’s a distant and largely forgotten memory, but in the mid-2000s the city of Anaheim pursued a novel idea for bigger cities. Instead of pursuing development policies based on the usual array of central planning tools, the city decided to “pursue a market-oriented, freedom-friendly agenda that would create an atmosphere ...
