housingpolicy
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. This week's stories include: A federal appeals court slaps down the federal government's odd argument that it doesn't have to compensate landlords for its eviction moratorium because the moratorium was illegal.Vice President Kamala Harris sets a first-term goal of building 3 million middle-class homes.A Michigan judge sides with property owners trying to build a "green cemetery."But first, a look at an under-the-radar federal regulation change that might make it easier for builders to create more small multifamily "missing middle" home...
Reason
The San Francisco city council is smashing the mirror because it doesn't like the face staring back at it. The council just approved a ban on websites that offer data about local rental markets and help landlords set their rents. The council blames these tools for exploding housing costs. It's a classic case of killing the messenger that will do nothing to fix a problem of the city council's own creation—and it violates the First Amendment. Landlords often use websites like RealPage and Yardi that suggest rent prices based on local market data. Recently, activists have started blaming such web...
Reason
Tim Walz is riding high on some stolen valor. By that, I don't mean to refer to the false or otherwise deliberately misleading statements the Democratic vice presidential candidate made about his war record (or lack thereof) over the years. Rather, I'm referring to the unearned enthusiasm he's receiving from housing activists, lawmakers, and the media who somehow have concluded that Walz is a sterling champion of YIMBY (yes in my backyard) zoning reforms. Business Insider called him a "YIMBY" in a recent headline. California Sen. Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco), a prolific author of state-level...
Reason
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another family-friendly edition of Rent Free. This week's lead story takes a look at whether a YIMBY policy agenda of reducing regulation on new housing construction will help or hurt people's willingness to start families. Housing Boom = Baby Bust? America's low birth rate is in the news again, thanks largely to Vice Presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance's (R–Ohio) resurfaced comments criticizing America's anti-family "childless cat lady" ruling class, as well as his various policy proposals—from higher taxes on the childless to more votes for parents—to get Amer...
Reason
Regulations are driving the cost of housing through the solar-ready roof. Parody of Florida Georgia Line's "Dirt" written by Remy; performed by Remy; mastering by Ben Karlstrom. LYRICS: You need the lot biggerNeed this log thickerYou need to pay a really pricey, licensed pipe fitter You can't put floors on itOr put more doors on itYou need a sweaty dude to inspect on all fours on itI've got buyer's remorse on it… It's that permit approval the county is stuck onThat each minute passing you're spending a buck onThe constant code changes they're running amok onThe traffic studies you're stuck onI...
Reason
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. This week's stories include: Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is rushing to moderate her former progressive position—except on rent control.California Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order intended to speed up the development of infill housing. Will it do any good?A study looks at the tendency to just keep adding more regulation.But first, our lead story about a development moratorium in Minnesota motivated by standard NIMBYism, and potentially something much darker. A Town Revolt...
Reason
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. Since I'm on vacation this week, I'm afraid readers will have to suffice with a slightly more abbreviated—but hopefully still valuable—newsletter looking at why it's so hard to build a new city in California. California Forever—Delayed or Doing Fine? This past Monday, California Forever announced it would not ask Solano County voters to approve zoning changes it needs to proceed with its planned 17,500-acre, 400,000-person community this year, as it had initially planned. Instead, the development company would work with the county gove...
Reason
Since banning most short-term rentals in 2023, New York City has seen hotel prices skyrocket. Now the city is considering a measure that would almost certainly force prices even higher. The bill, proposed by New York City Councilwoman Julie Menin, targets non-union hotels, prohibiting hotel owners from hiring contracted workers for many positions, such as housekeeping, security, and bartending. The measure would require hotel owners to directly employ these workers rather than rely on cheaper subcontracting services. Further, the proposed law would also require all hotels to obtain a license i...
Reason
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. For the past couple of weeks, I've been trying to refocus the newsletter away from presidential politics and back on the state and local stuff that really matters. And for the past couple of weeks, they keep dragging me back in like Michael Corleone. Our stories this week will have some local-level developments, including: Gainesville, Florida, famous for eliminating and then reimposing single-family-only zoning, has passed minimum lot size reform.Berkeley, California, the birthplace of single-family zoning, is considering allowing low...
Reason
Cities that want to hide homelessness can criminalize sleeping in public. They can even jail repeat offenders. The Supreme Court upheld these measures in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson on June 28, 2024. Grants Pass, Oregon, the city at the center of the decision, is not the only one testing how far it can go to address homelessness without violating the Constitution. Other jurisdictions have their own ways of keeping the housing problem out of sight. The police cracked down on jaywalking near a downtown homeless shelter in Salt Lake City, Utah. Code enforcers targeted a business owner after he...
Reason
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