December 18, 2023
No Excuses Now for NYCHA
Progressives have long claimed that the only problem with New York’s largest collection of slum housing—our public housing projects—has been a lack of federal funding. Former mayor Bill de Blasio liked to blame the decline of what was once the nation’s best-managed public-housing system on someone who left office in 1989: Ronald Reagan. Now, thanks…
December 14, 2023
Harnessing Tailwinds on State and Local Land-Use Reform: A Bipartisan Playbook
As housing affordability concerns are affecting more and more Americans, market-oriented and liberal researchers have found common ground on the need for land-use reform. Join AEI and the Progressive Policy Institute as they develop a bipartisan housing playbook that can be deployed across cities and states, red and blue. Practitioners, legislators, and researchers from across…
December 11, 2023
New York City Officials Blame Everyone but Themselves for Housing Unaffordability
By implementing onerous requirements on Airbnb hosts, New York City is attempting to scapegoat short-term rental (STR) sites for the city’s own failings. Rather than accounting for city policies that continue to drive its housing and hotel room shortage, officials have decided to target the city’s 40,000 active listings, operated by—mostly smalltime—Airbnb hosts. In the…
December 11, 2023
How Public Housing Encourages Single Parenthood and Penalizes Marriage
The post-pandemic rise in rents has fueled the view that the private housing market inevitably fails those of modest means. The left-leaning Center for Budget Policies and Priorities summarizes the idea that the short-term spike in rents merely dramatizes that essential market failure. It asserts that the “rent burden among families with the lowest incomes is a…
November 27, 2023
Bribing Homeowners To Build Tiny Houses Won’t Solve NYC’s Housing Problem
Those who believe New York City not only needs more housing but more types of housing to serve its many types of households should be cheered by the Adams administration’s support for “granny flats.” These small “accessory dwelling units” built in backyards, converted basements or converted garages can help homeowners pay their mortgages and older adults…
November 9, 2023
What Dems — And NYC — Can Learn From The GOP’s Bronx City Council Win
Some will attribute Kristy Marmorato’s election as the first Republican to represent The Bronx in City Council in 40 years to selfish NIMBY-ism. And there is no doubt her opposition to two subsidized- (a k a “affordable-”) housing developments in the northeast Bronx (District 13) were a key factor in her defeating incumbent Democrat Marjorie Velazquez —…
October 20, 2023
Revenge of the Rust Belt: The Surprising Forces That Have Made the Midwest the Hottest Housing Market Around
In the Fortune article below Shawn Tully discusses the resurgence of the Midwest’s housing market with Ed Pinto, the Director of AEI’s Housing Center. According to American Enterprise Institute data, eight of the nine cities achieving the highest appreciation in housing prices for the 12 months ended Aug. 31 hail from the Midwest. In the pandemic-driven housing…
October 13, 2023
Liberals Reap Consequences Of Their Homeless Policies
It’s cliche to observe that socially conservative views emerge when liberals are “mugged by reality.” But when it happens to the governor of California and the local leadership of Portland and Seattle, it’s not trite — it’s important. That’s exactly what has happened in the form of a push by leaders from every Western state asking the…
October 4, 2023
Variety Is the Spice
At first glance, Mayor Eric Adams’s extensive new citywide rezoning plan, meant to encourage new housing, may seem like more of the problematic same. It emphasizes, for instance, the construction of yet more “permanently affordable” new apartments through the dubious means of permitting more units to be built if some get set aside as “income restricted.” This “inclusionary”…
September 25, 2023
A Bad Bipartisan Housing Bill: Connecting the Dots on the Helper Act
As rising home prices continue to undermine the American Dream of homeownership for hard-working Americans, Congress is considering a bipartisan bill modeled after the successful VA home loan program, to help first responders and teachers buy a home. However, as long as there is a housing shortage, first-time homebuyer assistance programs, such as the Homes…