Local governments face new rules as they begin updating their local Housing Elements for the 2021-29/2022-30 planning period. This brief proposes a new way for cities to approach the sites inventory to meet their housing targets, moving beyond simply identifying vacant and underutilized parcels.
Building new housing appears to be part of the housing crisis solution. However, this brief finds that opposition to development is high due to fear of personal losses and resentment of developer gains.
In this Viewpoints, the authors write how R1 zoning in the United States promotes exclusion and exacerbates inequality, benefiting homeowners at the expense of renters and limiting access to high-opportunity places. They argue that these negative impacts outweigh weak arguments for R1 and that planners should work to abolish it.
California’s worsening housing crisis has triggered an intense debate about rent control. This brief examines how local jurisdictions have considerable leeway in reforming their rent control programs, such as Los Angeles’ rent-stabilization ordinance.
This summary brief is a preview of a full-length version that includes details about who builds each affordable housing category, who pays, how rents are set and can change over time, and many other policy considerations.
While LA has recently made great strides increasing its production of affordable homes, the gains to new housing are partially offset by the loss of older affordable units.
In recent years, vacant homes have increasingly been identified as a potential indicator of speculation or otherwise underutilized housing stock. Recently constructed market-rate and mixed-income housing, in particular, has been cast as villain in this debate, with relatively high vacancy rates taken as a sign that this type of housing isn’t needed. Using Los Angeles as a case study, this working paper explores the nature, extent, and causes of housing vacancy, and draws conclusions about what should be done about vacant homes in high-cost locations like L.A.
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown hundreds of thousands of Angeleno households into financial turmoil. In this brief, Phillips argues that Los Angeles should prioritize support for long-term residents of rent-stabilized housing.
This primer will help policymakers, public officials, advocates, and other stakeholders better understand the many different types of affordable housing, what they accomplish, how they’re regulated, and who they serve.
The San Francisco Bay Area's housing target fails to account for the fact that the region leads the nation in super-commuters, many of whom work in the Bay Area but have been driven to live outside of it.
