New post: Joel Arnold on zoning reform in Flint, MI metroabundance.org/zoning-reform-…

We tax new homes like cigarettes and then wonder why we have a housing shortage.

The Haitian manager of the hotel I visited last week started a side hustle as an ADU builder w/ his wife. They've already built 7 ADUs in SoCal. We need more builders like him in California!

Still can't quite get over this. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation spends millions fighting new housing. It's been sued multiple times by tenants over slum conditions at its own housing units. Now it's getting tax dollars to organize tenants for better living conditions.

Texas has become an all-around clean energy juggernaut, thanks to its lax permitting regime, fast grid-interconnection process, competitive energy market, and ample amount of solar- and wind-friendly land. Learn more about the #ChartOfTHeWeek: ow.ly/bL4750TmMSg

When we made our musical chairs video in 2017 we had no idea how effective it might be. New research says it's pretty good, prettaay good... "the effect of the Sightline Institute video on land-use preferences was > 3x larger than typical effect of a persuasive political communication"

Earning the support of these extraordinary leaders is a game-changer and a tremendous honor. I will rely on Nancy Skinner and Buffy Wicks as mentors and partners in tackling our housing crisis and building a safer, more sustainable #Berkeley.

What does a LAFCo even do in a combined city and county? Coordinate w/ SFPUC and overlapping special districts?

Your city's longest standing Confederate monument is probably its zoning code.

As our energy needs grow — including AI’s rapidly growing consumption — we need to grow our energy generation as well. And not more fossil fuel. We need to dramatically scale up clean energy generation & create better tools for energy consumers to generate their own power. 🧵

🚨 New publicly available dataset on housing regulations across US municipalities With AlexBartik and Daniel Milo, we highlight a novel AI-based method for accurate categorization of regulations in unstructured text, which we use to establish 5 facts about housing regulation:

Even if you're not interested in issuing building permits more quickly or building more housing at lesser cost, you can be interested in simplifying processes and reducing discretionary review because it provides fewer footholds for corruption to occur!

Because this dumb law also applies to multifamily housing and renders it infeasible, this pot of money likely pales in comparison to what LA renters would've saved had more inventory been allowed to come onto the market.

It's a huge bummer that Patrick Condon's land theory is wrong If upzoning raised land wealth w/o diminishing returns, it'd create infinite wealth! If upzoning a home to 4 units makes $3m, why not upzone to 1000 to make $999m? Now do every home, make every homeowner a billionaire!