California Forever, Forever
The company needs a lot of government permission slips to build its planned new city in the Bay Area. It's now changing the order in which it asks for them.
Zoning
Coconut Trees, Price Controls, and Demand Subsidies
Plus: Gainesville shrinks minimum lot sizes, a Colorado church can keep providing shelter to the homeless, and Berkeley considers allowing small apartments everywhere.
Mercatus Center Study Documents Progress on Housing Reform
Many states have enacted laws curbing exclusionary zoning and other regulations that block new housing construction.
This Colorado Church Wants To Shelter the Homeless. The Town Won't Let It.
The Church of the Rock is suing, arguing that the zoning crackdown in Castle Rock violates the First Amendment.
Zoning Police and NIMBYs Want To Keep People Homeless
Vineyard owners face $120,000 in fines for letting an employee and his family live on their 60-acre property without a permit.
Biden vs. Trump: Housing Policy Edition
How do the two major party candidates stack up on housing policy?
Tennessee Woman's 'Fuck Em' Both 2024′ Sign Is Protected Speech, Rules District Court
The town of Lakeland will have to refund Julie Pereira $688 in fines and fees and pay her $1 in nominal damages for violating her First Amendment rights.
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.
RealPage Conspiracy Theories
The media, state attorneys general, and the Biden administration are blaming rent-recommendation software for rising rents. Normal stories of supply and demand are the more reasonable explanation.
"Yes in God's Backyard"—A Useful, But Limited Form of Housing Deregulation
There is a growing movement to let churches and other religious organizations build housing on their property that would otherwise be banned by zoning regulations.
NIMBY Towns, Fake Parks, and Eminent Domain
Plus: unpermitted ADUs in San Jose, Sen. J.D. Vance's mass deportation plan for housing affordability, and the California Coastal Commission's anti-housing record.
New Atlantic Article on "The Constitutional Case Against Exclusionary Zoning"
It is coauthored with Josh Braver.
Will This Bill Save or Scuttle California's Builder's Remedy?
Plus: Sen. John Fetterman introduces a new zoning reform bill, U.C. Berkeley finally beats the NIMBYs in court, and Austin's unwise "equity overlay."
Conflicting Evidence on Public Support for YIMBY Zoning Reform
Recent studies diverge on the extent to which public opinion backs policies that would deregulate housing construction. YIMBYs would do well to learn from both.
Essay on "How Constitutional Litigation Can Help End Exclusionary Zoning"
A guest post on economist Bryan Caplan's Bet On It substack.
The Housing Policy Implications of Taylor Swift
Plus: An interview with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis about the state's blockbuster year for housing reform.
Bryan Caplan: How Regulation Makes Housing More Expensive
Moving is no longer a viable way to grow your wealth in the U.S., says the author of Build, Baby, Build.
The High Cost of Commercial Land-Use Restrictions
Exclusionary zoning that targets housing gets more attention. But a new study highlights how restrictions on commercial uses also cause great harm.
Tacos, Sandwiches, and Zoning
Plus: Austin shrinks its minimum lot sizes, Florida builds on past zoning reforms, and Arizona passes ADU and missing middle bills.
Indiana Court Rules Burritos and Tacos Qualify as Sandwiches
The decision exemplifies a longstanding issue in legal theory. It also highlights the absurdity of zoning rules.
Compendium of Bryan Caplan's Guest-blogging Posts on His New Book "Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation"
A listing of his four posts on different aspects of the book and the issues it raises.
The YIMBY Napkin
Checking the credibility of Hsieh-Moretti the lazy way. Third in a series of guest-blogging posts.
Zoning Regulations Empower Control Freaks—and Bigots
The Institute for Justice has launched a project to reform land use regulation.
New York's City of Maybe
Plus: Colorado passes a string of zoning reforms, an upscale Los Angeles grocery store sues to stop new housing, and Democrats urge the White House to get moving on fair housing.
Trillions
Why *Build, Baby, Build* should be a top libertarian priority. First in a series of guest-blogging posts.
Bryan Caplan, Guest-blogging About his New Book "Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation"
The book makes the case for massively deregulating housing markets.
Reason Is a Finalist for 14 Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominated stories include journalism on messy nutrition research, pickleball, government theft, homelessness, and more.
Rent Free Q&A: Bryan Caplan on Build, Baby, Build
The George Mason University economist talks about his new housing comic book and how America could deregulate its way into an affordable urban utopia.
Ohio Pastor Criminally Charged for Letting People Sleep In Church. Again.
Plus: California's landmark law ending single-family-only zoning is struck down, Austin, Texas, moves forward with minimum lot size reform, and the pro-natalist case for pedestrian infrastructure.
Colorado Bans HOAs From Banning Home Businesses
Homeowners associations are the most, and the least, libertarian form of governance.
Combat Homelessness by Ending Exclusionary Zoning
The Eighth Amendment provides little, if any, protection for the homeless. But courts can help them by striking down exclusionary zoning, which is the major cause of housing shortages that lead to homelessness.
Upcoming Event on "Solving the Nation's Housing Shortage" [update]
Economist Bryan Caplan, former National Association of Home Builders Director Jerry Howard, and I will speak at event sponsored by the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.
The Supreme Court Rules Impact Fees Can Violate Your Property Rights Too
Plus: Zoning reform in Minnesota stalls, a New York housing "deal" does little for housing supply, and Colorado ends occupancy limits.
A New York Housing Grand Bargain?
Plus: Problems for Saudi Arabia's The Line, Hawaii considers a short-term rental crackdown, and when affordable housing mandates get you less affordable housing.
The Catholic Case Against NIMBYism
Urban policy analyst Addison Del Mastro advances it in the Catholic journal America.
As America Becomes More Secular, American Religion Will Need To Become More Urban
It's in cities that greater absolute numbers of religious people can compensate for declining per capita rates of religious observance.
New Zealand's YIMBY Success—And How We Can Learn From it
New Zealand alleviated a severe housing shortage by liberalizing regulations that had previously blocked most new construction.
Pioneer Institute Hubwonk Podcast on Exclusionary Zoning and the Takings Clause
In interview with Joe Selvaggi of the Pioneer Institute, I explain the harm caused by exclusionary zoning, and why it violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Birth of a YIMBY Folk Hero
Plus: The White House's rent controls, San Francisco's bad-to-worse turn on housing, and the latest unintended consequence of eviction moratoriums
Zoning Versus the Good Samaritan. Again.
Plus: New York refreshes rent control, AOC and Bernie Sanders call for more, greener public housing, and California's "builder's remedy" wins big in court.
Central Planners Can't Fix Iraq—or Detroit
In Fragile Neighborhoods, author Seth Kaplan applies his Fixing Fragile States observations domestically.
The Dark Side of Housing Bipartisanship
Plus: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is fooled by TikTok housing falsehoods, Austin building boom cuts prices, and Sacramento does the socialist version of "homeless homesteading."
Cross-Ideological YIMBY Coalition Defies Increasing Polarization—So Far
The New York Times and the Atlantic report on how the movement to curb exclusionary zoning and build more housing has managed to cut across ideological lines.
Canadian Indigenous Nations Use Exemptions From Zoning Rules to Build Affordable High-Rise Housing
They are to be commended. But other property owners should also be freed of exclusionary zoning.
Rent Free Q&A: Jared Polis
The Colorado governor talks about live housing reforms in the state legislature, the federal role in housing policy, and whether we should abolish zoning completely.
Matt Yglesias on the Takings Clause and Curbing Exclusionary Zoning
Prominent political commentator and zoning reform advocate comments on my work on this topic (with Joshua Braver).
Does This Laundry Look 'Historic' to You?
Plus: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs dithers over whether to veto bipartisan Starter Homes bill, Biden says "build, build, build," and Massachusetts sues anti-apartment suburb.
Biden's Plan To Subsidize Homebuyers Won't Work
The president's laundry list of proposed tax credits would likely make the problem of high housing costs worse.
