July 24, 2024
Housing and the American Worker
As the American Worker Project analysis shows, real wages have increased over time. Real wages are nominal wages corrected for changes in the price level, and a natural approach to understanding the way in which housing policy affects real wages is through (housing) prices. But the importance of housing to the economic well-being of the typical American…
June 12, 2024
Our Homeless Problem is Getting Out Of Control — What Can We Do?
The ongoing debate over fining individuals for sleeping in public spaces is currently being deliberated by the Supreme Court in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson. The case underscores a critical juncture in how we address homelessness. While the court’s decision will undoubtedly carry weight, it risks overshadowing the more pressing issue at hand: the urgent…
May 24, 2024
The First National Calculation of Mortality of the US Homeless Population
It is well established that those with lower incomes tend to have worse health outcomes. But whether this relationship extends to the most disadvantaged in society – people experiencing homelessness – has rarely been examined. This column explores the relationship between homelessness and health outcomes in the US. It finds that after accounting for demographic…
May 9, 2024
State Housing Bills Are Dead; Time for Local Leaders to Step Up
While two statewide bills in Minnesota that would allow for missing middle housing everywhere and more dense housing in commercial zones have stalled, local officials remain acutely aware of housing affordability issues. Fortunately, they do not need to wait to take effective and immediate action. Many cities have traditionally been laser-focused on economic growth, while adding…
May 7, 2024
How Zoning Policies Affect the Housing Supply: City of Denver Case Study
Summary:The City of Denver switched to a new zoning code in June 2010. Most areas were upzoned, but some were downzoned. Overall, the policy encouraged housing construction in Denver. Slide deck
May 6, 2024
Comments on the One Seattle Plan (Comp Plan)
Summary:1) Seattle has been underbuilding for the last decade (and likely even longer) and it needs to build more housing than the targets set in the comp plan.2) Seattle can legalize the building of more housing by embracing the lessons of its past and expanding on them. During the 1990s, Seattle upzoned parts of the…
April 17, 2024
Homelessness and the Persistence of Deprivation: Income, Employment, and Safety Net Participation
Abstract Homelessness is arguably the most extreme hardship associated with poverty in the United States, yet people experiencing homelessness are excluded from official poverty statistics and much of the extreme poverty literature. This paper provides the most detailed and accurate portrait to date of the level and persistence of material disadvantage faced by this population,…
April 8, 2024
Accountability Comes to Public Housing
With little fanfare, the impossible just happened at the Hope Gardens public housing project in Bushwick: the management got fired. Repairs to the project’s high rises and townhouses had been delayed, and, per an official notice, “cost-saving measures to curb ballooning controllable operating expenses” hadn’t been adopted. Such lack of foresight constitutes a typical day…
March 27, 2024
Market-oriented Reform Principles and Policies that Would Help the Housing Market
Introduction: In this election year, Congress and the President are feeling the urge to help Americans affected by rising housing affordability pressures across the country. With the status-quo untenable, Congress and the President are itching to address housing affordability, availability, and other community needs. Before springing into action, our leaders need to first establish clear…
March 21, 2024
It’s Not Just Minority Neighborhoods—NYC’s Entire Property-Tax System Needs Reform
There is good reason to conclude, as the state Court of Appeals did Tuesday, that New York City’s property-tax system leads to disproportionately high tax bills for minority homeowners. But those high taxes aren’t the result of discrimination; they’re just one example of a dysfunctional tax-assessment system that burdens homeowners and discourages new housing construction —…