Housing

American suburbs are better than most people think By Randal O’Toole | July 24, 2026 Economist Noah Smith writes that suburbs are “not my personal cup of tea, but there are good reasons people like them.” Most of those reasons will be familiar to Antiplanner readers [and to readers of the Free Cities ...

Watch below as a Sacramento-area homeowner gives us a tour of her family’s newly-build ADU and learn how California’s new reforms are making it much easier to build new ADUs.

Over a century ago, Berkeley, Calif., pioneered an approach to land-use policy that would go on to stifle housing production all over the country. In 1916, Berkeley became one of the first cities in the country to enact single-family zoning. The policy was championed by one of the major developers ...

California flips out over investors who flip distressed properties Government efforts that rig the system to produce more affordable housing are neither effective nor noble — especially when policymakers target a trend that has captured the public’s imagination while improving and increasing the housing stock. Home flippers have become prominent ...

Cities still grappling with the fallout 17 months after LA’s wildfires By John Seiler | June 19, 2026 Since the January 2025 wildfires devastated Pacific Palisades and Eaton, what have policymakers done to make sure California cities are better protected from future outbreaks? Policies should be split into “three buckets,” ...

Facing a housing crisis, Boise focuses on incentives, not mandates By Sarah Downey | June 12, 2026 The familiar adage of the carrot and the stick helps sum up what Boise is doing to manage a fast-growing population mixed with a housing crunch. Instead of employing a regulation-heavy stick approach, ...

California has one of the world’s most spectacular coastlines, which meanders 1,100 miles from Imperial Beach to Crescent City. And, of course, everyone wants to “Save Our Coast” and assure public access to beaches, which is why Californians voted 55% to 45% in 1972 for Proposition 20. It promised to protect ...

With a projected housing need of 55,000 new units by 2045, the city has passed some minor housing reforms in recent years, including legalizing accessory dwelling units and allowing more housing near major transit lines. But the city has been reluctant to undertake citywide zoning reforms, despite the city’s housing ...