Publications
The briefs and reports below provide a sample of recent research by Lewis Center faculty, affiliated scholars, staff, and students, produced internally or by our partner centers and other universities. Learn more about support for students and the Graduate Student Fellows program to fund students conducting capstone research.
Note: Briefs and reports are often adapted from or into published books and articles in academic journals, which are not listed here.
| Title | Author(s) | Year |
|---|---|---|
ReportBuilding Up the "Zoning Buffer": Using Broad Upzones to Increase Housing Capacity Without Increasing Land ValuesIn this paper I introduce the concept of the “zoning buffer” — the gap between the existing housing stock and the maximum number of homes allowed by current zoning — and describe how it affects land values and ultimately the production and affordability of housing. |
Shane Phillips | 2022 |
BriefBy Transit, By-Right: Impacts of Housing Development Approval Processes on Transit-Supportive DensityThis brief studies the relationship between transit ridership and the housing development process. Even if new multifamily housing is allowed on a site, a complicated, lengthy or unpredictable process could still discourage its production and thus, transit ridership. |
Michael Manville, Nolan Gray, Shane Phillips, Paavo Monkkonen | 2022 |
BriefRegional Housing Needs Assessment Cover LetterThis review and cover letter was written to provide background and suggestions for Auditors Tilden and Lozano to consider in relation to the audit commissioned by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee at the request of Members Glazer, Newman, Bauer-Kahan, Portantino, Muratsuchi, Stern, and Bates. |
Christopher S. Elmendorf, Paavo Monkkonen, Nicholas J. Marantz | 2022 |
BriefA Review of California's Process for Determining, and Accommodating Regional Housing NeedsThis background paper is meant to help the California State Auditor and legislators better understand the limitations of the RHNA process and areas for improvement. |
Christopher S. Elmendorf, Paavo Monkkonen, Nicholas J. Marantz | 2022 |
ReportWhat Gets Built on Sites That Cities "Make Available" for Housing?In this report, we analyze local plans and housing development rates in nearly 100 cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assess production on sites presented by cities to the state government as apt for housing, as well as elsewhere in the city. |
Christopher S. Elmendorf, Paavo Monkkonen, Sidharth Kapur, Salim Damerdji | 2021 |
ReportValue Capture Reconsidered: What if L.A. was Actually Building Too Little?Should cities only allow new housing on the condition that the developers of that housing deliver public benefits in return? This idea is often called “value capture”, and is used to justify — among other things — various forms of inclusionary zoning. |
Michael Manville | 2021 |
ReportHousing Demolition and Redevelopment in Los AngelesThis report examines whether new development in Los Angeles is resulting in the widespread loss, through demolition, of older, more affordable housing units. |
Michael Manville, Shane Phillips, Antonio Elizondo, Devina Ortega | 2021 |
ReportReducing Development Costs with Impact Fee DeferralA fee deferral program would preserve the quantity — and depending on policy design, also the timing — of public fee revenues, while reducing private carrying costs. |
Shane Phillips | 2021 |
Report“I Would, If Only I Could” How Cities Can Use California’s Housing Element to Overcome Neighborhood Resistance to New HousingAn explanation of how city councils and planning departments can use the housing element law to increase housing supply, but find themselves constrained by neighborhood-level opposition to change. |
Paavo Monkkonen, Moira O'Neill, Christopher S. Elmendorf, Eric Biber | 2020 |
ReportOne to Four: The Market Potential of Fourplexes in California’s Single-Family NeighborhoodsAn estimate of the market-feasible production if the state were to allow fourplexes on single-family parcels and analysis of how these impacts vary across regions and cities. |
Paavo Monkkonen, Ian Carlton, Kate Macfarlane | 2020 |