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☆ A Swiss city cut red tape and ended up with many more homes. It's a model for the US.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-07 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewAs part of her housing policy agenda, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has promised to "cut red tape and needless bureaucracy" to build millions of additional homes and bring down costs. Zurich, Switzerland offers the latest model. AdvertisementApartment buildings behind farm houses in Affoltern, just outside Zurich, Switzerland. One of the study's key findings is, "if you upzone, upzone a lot," said Simon Büchler, coauthor of the study and an assistant professor of finance at Miami University. A whopping 64% of Swiss residents live in apartments, compared to just 28% of US residents, and the country also has an especially comprehensive and well-connected public transportation network.

Persons: —, Kamala Harris, Michael Buholzer, Simon Büchler, upzoning, Büchler, Christian Hartmann, Matthew Maltman, who's, There's, Maltman Organizations: Service, Democratic, Business, Miami University, Reuters Locations: Zurich, Switzerland, Swiss, Canton of Zurich, Affoltern, New Zealand, Küsnacht, Lake Zurich, Canada, Europe, Australian

☆ JD Vance says deporting 20 million people is part of the solution to high housing costs
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewOhio Sen. JD Vance, former President Donald Trump's VP pick, has made his hawkish views on immigration central to his transformed political persona. In the past, Vance has also blamed the housing affordability crisis largely on high interest rates. AdvertisementThe Trump-Vance housing policy recordTrump hasn't talked much about housing policy on the campaign trail, despite arguing that Biden hasn't done enough to control housing costs. AdvertisementTrump doesn't support upzoning to legalize denser housing construction in low-density neighborhoods — a key part of the solution to the housing supply shortage, according to experts. He claimed Biden wanted to "abolish" the suburbs by encouraging more affordable housing construction.

Persons: —, Ohio Sen, JD Vance, Donald Trump's, Vance, Trump, Biden, Trump's, hasn't Organizations: Service, Business, NPR, Department of Housing, Urban Development, Center, Budget, HUD, Trump Locations: Ohio, Mexican

☆ A fight over sewage is preventing Long Island from solving its crippling housing crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The people of Suffolk County, Long Island, need to start considering it. Like most of the suburbs surrounding New York City, Suffolk County is suffering from a major shortage of homes. In December, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced she'll send $59 million to Long Island to deal with water contamination and sewer upgrades. “The governor has said she wants to see more housing on Long Island. Last year, Long Island public officials led the charge against Gov.

Persons: —, Hunter Gross, “, ” Gross, Long, Suffolk County’s, Ed Romaine, Kathy Hochul, you’ve, ”, Joe, Edmund Smyth, ” Smyth, ” Long, Kathy Hochul’s, who’ve, boomers, can’t, that's, Ian Wilder, Nathan Cummings, ” Cummings, Cummings Organizations: Service, Hamptons, Business, Newsday, Republican, ” Long Islanders, Gov, New, Housing Services, Yale Law Locations: Suffolk County, Long, New York City, Huntington, Suffolk, New York, Huntington , Suffolk County, Levittown, Black, Old Lyme , Connecticut

☆ A conservative fix for the housing crisis is making homes cheaper and more abundant in Texas
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But unlike its coastal counterparts, Houston's homes are much cheaper and more abundant. Advertisement"It's really a way to limit housing construction," said Emily Hamilton, a housing researcher at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She added that minimum lot sizes maintain "a homogenous type of housing construction with often a high floor on how expensive it has to be." The policy change has spurred the construction of almost 80,000 new homes, many of them townhouses and other kinds of small-lot single-family homes. But the massive success of Houston's minimum lot size reform is getting noticed across Texas and around the country.

Persons: —, Emily Hamilton, Joseph Gyourko, Sean McCulloch, Hamilton, It's, it's, Nolan Gray, Freund, Brett Coomer, We're, Gray, Salim Furth Organizations: Service, Space, Business, George Mason University, California, Freund St, Houston Locations: Houston , Texas, New York City, San Francisco, Houston, walkable, Texas, Austin , Texas, Auburn , Maine, Helena , Montana, Arizona , Massachusetts, New York

☆ YIMBY Movement Is Winning: Build More Houses, Lower Home Prices, Rents
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Eliza Relman | Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The adherents of the "Yes In My Backyard," or YIMBY, movement believe that America's housing crisis comes down to the fundamental tension between supply and demand. Today, nearly 75% of residentially-zoned land in the US is restricted to single-family housing — detached homes designed for one family. Folks are like, 'Oh, we're in a housing crisis for the very first time. Ground zero for the modern YIMBY movement was California, where sky-high home prices forced people to reconsider their attitudes toward development. The city didn't allow new multiunit buildings to be taller or wider than the single-family homes they replaced, making construction less financially attractive to developers.

Persons: Nolan Gray, YIMBYism, Sonja Trauss, Trauss, YIMBYs, NIMBYs, Gray, I'm, —, Bill, They've, Tayfun Coskun, Muhammad Alameldin, Emily Hamilton, We're unwinding, Jenny Schuetz, Greg Gianforte, California YIMBY, Republican Sen, Todd Young, Democratic Sen, Brian Schatz, Eliza Relman, Kelsey Neubauer Organizations: San, San Francisco Bay Area, Urban Institute, Twitter, of Regional Planning, Public, Cato Institute, University of California, Berkeley Terner Center, Housing, George Mason University, Conservative, Brookings Institute, Republican, Todd Young of Indiana, Democratic, Hawaii Locations: California, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, I'm, Los Angeles County, Florida, Utah, Minneapolis, Oregon, Austin, Dallas, Seattle, Portland , Oregon, Denver, New York, Texas, YIMBYism, We're, Bozeman, Montana, Miami

☆ The genius plan that could bring down skyrocketing home prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Not only did this help to slow down skyrocketing housing costs, it inspired a bipartisan, nationwide expansion of the policy. Home prices in Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, doubled between 2009 and 2016 and prices across the rest of the country followed close behind. "A typical New Zealand city looks a lot like a typical US city," Gray said. There are three models of housing construction in US cities right now, Gray said. "In terms of an overall objective, I think bringing down house prices to construction costs is an ultimate sign of housing abundance."

Persons: Upzoning, Jenny Schuetz, Matthew Maltman, who's, Ryan Greenaway, Guo Lei, Maltman, There's, Auckland's upzoning, Vicki Been, Bill de Blasio, Schuetz, Nolan Gray, Gray, let's, Brett Coomer, that's, Allison Zaucha, Freemark, we're, Emily Hamilton, Eliza Relman Organizations: Brookings Institute, Auckland, Economic, University of Auckland, New, National Party, Housing, Economic Development, New Zealand, California YIMBY, Urban Institute, Houston, Montana Republicans, George Mason University Locations: New Zealand, Auckland, Australian, Zealand, Auckland , New, New Zealand's, New York, Europe, California, Zealanders, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, Washington, Portland , Oregon, Montana, California . Utah, Minneapolis, New York City

☆ Austin is copying Houston's playbook for making housing more affordable
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Demand for housing in Austin, Texas has outstripped even its relatively rapid housing production. Austin's upzoning measures are designed to incentivize "gentle density" — also known as infill housing or missing-middle housing. And even if you don't care about housing policy, you are feeling this in a very intimate way." Aerial view of neighborhood outside of Austin Texas. Most recently, Dallas city Council member Chad West is leading the charge to consider cutting minimum lot sizes in his city.

Persons: Austin, Jenny Schuetz, They've, Schuetz, Emily Hamilton, Nicole Nabulsi Nosek, Greg Anderson, there's, Joe Sohm, Anderson, Nosek, Chad West Organizations: Service, Apple, Brookings Institute, George Mason University, Reasonable, Austin Habitat, Humanity, Chad Locations: Austin , Texas, Texas, Wall, Silicon, Austin, Houston, Austin Texas, California, Dallas

☆ Austin went from a 'weird' oasis to one of the most expensive cities in the US. Now it's fighting runaway housing prices.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Austin, Texas has become one of the least affordable cities in the US in part due to steep housing costs. This week, city lawmakers took a significant step toward helping boost housing supply. The city council approved a resolution that reduces the lot size necessary for a home. Research has found that increasing the market-rate housing supply makes housing more affordable for both middle- and low-income residents, despite widespread skepticism that the laws of supply and demand apply to housing. Last year, a Texas appeals court struck down a previous city council effort to increase housing density through upzoning.

Persons: Austin, who've, Leslie Pool Organizations: Service, Apple, Austin Chamber of Commerce Locations: Austin , Texas, Wall, Silicon, Texas, Austin, City, upzoning

☆ A Maine senator lays out why everyone should be a YIMBY: Building more housing could bring families extra income and help solve the labor shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent, told Insider the lack of affordable housing is "a national crisis." Maine is facing a severe shortage as it's welcomed a surge of new residents in recent years. The law also eliminated all single-family zoning, eliminates some regulatory restrictions on multi-unit homes, and incentivizes the construction of affordable housing. New Mainers, though welcomed in an aging state in need of more workers, have exacerbated the housing shortage. A lack of affordable housing is central: the state housing authority reported last year that the average price of a house in nearly every county in Maine was unaffordable for the average household income.

☆ It took a progressive Virginia suburb 8 years to let developers build apartments instead of single-family houses. It shows how hard it is to build middle-class housing in the US.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Arlington, Virginia, is finally set to pass a "missing middle" housing policy after years of debate. Arlington is just the latest community to address missing middle housing as a part of a broader national reckoning. Across the country, critics of increasing housing density in single family neighborhoods are disproportionately older, wealthier, white homeowners. Advocates of missing middle housing say there's a deep generational gap when it comes to housing density. Despite the massive effort it took to come to the verge of passing missing middle housing, Arlington officials predict change will be slow and limited.

☆ Four-time NBA champion Steph Curry joins his rich neighbors in opposing much-needed new housing near their Bay Area backyards
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Steph and Ayesha Curry penned a letter opposing a townhouse development near their home in Atherton, California. "This is a tough thing for a community like Atherton to change," Atherton City Manager George Rodericks told NBC. Since 1969, California law has required cities to update their housing and land use needs, known as "Housing Elements," every eight years to ensure enough affordable housing is available to residents. Cities who fail to comply with the deadline could lose grant funding and face lawsuits from the state Attorney General. Cities spanning from San Francisco to Los Angeles have had their plans approved by state regulators, with many plans including efforts to increase density on developable land.

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