Acronym standing for "Yes in my backyard", in contrast to "NIMBY"
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100925 Letitia James Indicted, Gaza Ceasefire Push, NIMBY vs YIMBY on State Ballot Props by The News with Paul DeRienzo
Wes, Eneasz, and David keep the rationalist community informed about what's going on outside of the rationalist communitySupport us on Substack!News links:Youtube is the latest company to give Trump a payoffHegseth sent 200 national guard troops to PortlandE.J. Antoni nomination to BLS withdrawnHHS said it is referring Harvard for suspension and debarment proceedings.Trump defunding the ethics watchdogspaused $2.1B in federal funds for Chicago infrastructure projectsTrump made an Israel-Hamas peace plan?James Comey indictedTrumpRX is apparently going to be a thingFederal Judge: Trump Administration violated 1A by deporting Palestinian sympathizersHegseth called in all the generals to tell them they're too fatTrump apparently all-in on support for Ukraine.EA bought out by (among others) the Saudi Public Investment CorporationHappy News!San Fran Supervisor going YIMBY on business regulationsJames Web Space Telescope is now examining the atmospheric make-up of exoplanets!Denver's Support Team Assistance Response (STAR) program is working!city reports 45% decrease in street peopleRecent study in Lancet shows people dying from chronic diseases globally fell in four out of five nations between 2010 and 2019The 60th nation ratified the High Seas Treaty, meaning it'll soon become legally bindingChina has signed on to this one and a related treaty20% increase in kids getting school lunches in last five years, worldwideHuntington disease treated for the first time!Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at themindkillerpodcast@gmail.com. Say something smart and we'll mention you on the next show!Follow us!RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkillerGoogle: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekmPocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killerApple: Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe
Related to: Commonsense Good, Creative Good (and my comment); Ethical Injunctions. Epistemic status: I'm fairly sure “ethics” does useful work in building human structures that work. My current explanations of how are wordy and not maximally coherent; I hope you guys help me with that. Introduction It is intractable to write large, good software applications via spaghetti code – but it's comparatively tractable using design patterns (plus coding style, attention to good/bad codesmell, etc.). I'll argue it is similarly intractable to have predictably positive effects on large-scale human stuff if you try it via straight consequentialism – but it is comparatively tractable if you use ethical heuristics, which I'll call “ethical design patterns,” to create situations that are easier to reason about. Many of these heuristics are honed by long tradition (eg “tell the truth”; “be kind”), but sometimes people successfully craft new “ethical design patterns” fitted to a [...] ---Outline:(00:31) Introduction(01:32) Intuitions and ground truth in math, physics, coding(02:08) We revise our intuitions to match the world. Via deliberate work.(03:08) We design our built world to be intuitively accessible(04:22) Intuitions and ground truth in ethics(04:52) We revise our ethical intuitions to predict which actions we'll be glad of, long-term(06:27) Ethics helps us build navigable human contexts(09:30) We use ethical design patterns to create institutions that can stay true to a purpose(12:17) Ethics as a pattern language for aligning mesaoptimizers(13:08) Examples: several successfully crafted ethical heuristics, and several gaps(13:15) Example of a well-crafted ethical heuristic: Don't drink and drive(14:45) Example of well-crafted ethical heuristic: Earning to give(15:10) A partial example: YIMBY(16:24) A historical example of gap in folks' ethical heuristics: Handwashing and childbed fever(19:46) A contemporary example of inadequate ethical heuristics: Public discussion of group differences(25:04) Gaps in our current ethical heuristics around AI development(26:30) Existing progress(28:30) Where we still need progress(32:21) Can we just ignore the less-important heuristics, in favor of 'don't die'?(35:02) These gaps are in principle bridgeable(36:29) Related, easier workThe original text contained 12 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: September 30th, 2025 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/E9CyhJWBjzoXritRJ/ethical-design-patterns-1 --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
Meet Drake Warren, a 26-year-old running for Cook County Commissioner in Illinois. He is an engineer and housing advocate who fell in love with Chicago in college. Now, he wants to give back to the community he has made a home in by running for a local government office. He believes that Chicago has begun to lose its YIMBY roots and wants to serve his community by running for office, so that he can help more homes be built in his city and county. On this episode of Infill, YIMBY Action's Jennifer Borrero speaks with Drake about why he was inspired to run for Cook County Commissioner. He breaks down what he thinks current leaders are missing in housing policy, and why more people must become familiar with local politics. They also discuss the importance of having balanced experiences in government and finally, how we can get more young folks plugged into local government and advocacy. If you're curious about what it's like to run for local office or want to hear a great discussion about how local politics shapes the world around us, then this is the episode for you. Tune in! Learn more about Drake Warren: https://drakefor10.com/ Learn more about YIMBY Action: yimbyaction.org/join Follow YIMBY Action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yimbyaction/ Follow YIMBY Action on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yimbyaction.bsky.social Follow YIMBY Action on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yimbyaction/
Eliza Ecclestone is the owner and Managing Trustee of St Clere Estate in Kent and Executive Chair of Trustees at Chevening Estate - the official country residence of the Foreign Secretary. Eliza talks openly about the challenges she has faced since unexpectedly inheriting the 3,000-acre estate near Sevenoaks in Kent.But those challenges have not stopped Eliza's YIMBY (yes in my backyard) attitude. She has been working hard and communicating honestly to build trust with her local community, to ensure that the Estate not only remains a core part of the local community, but supports it too.
A conversation all about density, on the occasion of the return of an online resource, Visualizing Density, at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy website. Density is in the spotlight as cities and towns seek to build more multifamily housing to help address a stubborn affordability crisis.
Many areas of the country are beset by serious housing shortages. State-level regulatory policies such as exclusionary zoning and other restrictions on construction are, according to some analysts, major causes of the crisis. A variety of possible reforms have been enacted or proposed in various studies, including “YIMBY” (“Yes In My Backyard”) zoning deregulation, inclusionary zoning, rent control, and state constitutional litigation and amendment. Join us for this discussion on the merits or pitfalls of the range of possible state-level remedies for the housing crisis.Featuring:James Burling, Vice President of Legal Affairs, Pacific Legal FoundationChristopher Elmendorf, Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law, UC Davis School of LawDavid Schleicher, Walter E. Meyer Professor of Property and Urban Law, Yale Law School(Moderator) Ilya Somin, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
On this episode of Infill, YIMBY Action Managing Director Gillian Pressman speaks with Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. Daryl recently released her book, Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work, and she is a keynote speaker at the upcoming 2025 YIMBYTown conference in New Haven. Tune in to hear Gillian and Daryl dive into her YIMBY origin story and why she is starting a YIMBY Action chapter in Wisconsin. You'll also hear about why Daryl supports grassroots organizing as such a powerful tool for reform, and why we need YIMBYs to build power across coalitions to change the politics that are causing our housing shortage. Daryl also discusses how the lenses of identity inform how people show up for (or against) housing. Get Daryl's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Hate-Game-Economic-Cheat-Codes/dp/0226839524 Learn more about YIMBY Action: yimbyaction.org/join Follow YIMBY Action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yimbyaction/ Follow YIMBY Action on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yimbyaction.bsky.social Follow YIMBY Action on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yimbyaction/
Our correspondent meets Iraq's prime minister Muhammad al-Sudani to discuss the country's construction boom, its future aspirations and the obstacles that must still be overcome. Visit America's YIMBYiest neighbourhood: the place where Americans actually want to increase the local population. And how superstition in Hong Kong can haunt the economy. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our correspondent meets Iraq's prime minister Muhammad al-Sudani to discuss the country's construction boom, its future aspirations and the obstacles that must still be overcome. Visit America's YIMBYiest neighbourhood: the place where Americans actually want to increase the local population. And how superstition in Hong Kong can haunt the economy. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Elephant In The Room Property Podcast | Inside Australian Real Estate
NIMBY vs YIMBY? Is saying “no” to change protecting community character — or blocking the homes our cities desperately need? In this episode, we sit down with Jonathan O’Brien, lead organizer of YIMBY Melbourne, to unpack what’s at stake when communities resist — or embrace — change. We dig into whether opposing development is simply selfish or a legitimate defense of lifestyle and character, and whether YIMBY optimism sometimes overlooks practical realities. From heritage streetscapes and leafy suburbs to missing-middle density and downsizer demand, this is a frank look at the trade-offs that come with growth. Jonathan also explores the politics of planning: why local councils resist, why states override, and why those locked out of housing are the most under-represented stakeholders in the debate. We tackle sensitive questions about fairness: who pays when new homes aren’t built, and who loses when change does come? If you’ve ever wondered why housing reform feels so stuck, and why both sides of the NIMBY/YIMBY divide can be right and wrong at the same time, this episode will challenge assumptions and reframe the conversation. Episode Highlights 00:00 – Welcome 01:14 – Jonathan O'Brien's and YIMBY Melbourne 01:48 – Progress and Challenges in Melbourne's Housing Policy 03:21 – Success Stories and Comparisons with Sydney 04:44 – Docklands: A Controversial Development 07:39 – The Missing Middle and Medium Density Housing 22:06 – Balancing Heritage and Development 28:39 – Planning Regulation Challenges 30:01 – Developer Strategies and Urban Planning 31:39 – Heritage and Housing Density 32:47 – Quality Concerns in New Developments 35:07 – Zoning and Urban Planning Dynamics 38:27 – Economic and Social Impacts of Rezoning 41:53 – Balancing Development and Community Needs 50:13 – State vs. Local Control in Urban Planning 52:05 – Conclusion and Final Thoughts About the Guest Jonathan O’Brien is the lead organizer of YIMBY Melbourne, an advocate for smarter housing policy, and an award-winning writer and publisher. A passionate voice for effective altruism and urban reform, he works to shift the conversation around density, planning, and affordability toward more equitable outcomes. With a background in community organizing and a commitment to evidence-based change, Jonathan brings both sharp analysis and lived experience to the often polarizing debate between NIMBYs and YIMBYs. His mission: to help shape cities that are inclusive, adaptable, and built for the next generation. Connect with Jonathan Website: https://jonobri.com/ YIMBY Melbourne website: https://www.yimby.melbourne/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonobridotcom/ X: https://x.com/jonobri LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonobri/ Resources Visit our website: https://www.theelephantintheroom.com.au If you have any questions or would like to be featured on our show, contact us at: The Elephant in the Room Property Podcast - questions@theelephantintheroom.com.au Looking for a Sydney Buyers Agent? https://www.gooddeeds.com.au Work with Veronica: https://www.veronicamorgan.com.au Looking for a Mortgage Broker? alcove.com.au Work with Chris: chrisbates@alcove.com.au Enjoyed the podcast? Don't miss out on what's yet to come! Hit that subscription button, spread the word, and join us for more insightful discussions in real estate. Your journey starts now! Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theelephantintheroom-podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/the-elephant-in-the-room-property-podcast/id1384822719 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Ge1626dgnmK0RyKPcXjP0?si=26cde394fa854765 If you enjoyed today’s podcast, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the show! There’s more to come, so we hope to have you along with us on this journey! See you on the inside, Veronica & ChrisSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Suzanne James talks to Sue Bolton from Merri-bek City Council in Melbourne about: the mass evictions and sell-off of public housing in both NSW and Victoria; the role of property tax reform in addressing the housing crisis; the systematic replacement of public housing with semi-privatised social and community housing models; the YIMBY pro-density development movement; building and safety standard failures; and the universal lack of disabled accessible affordable housing. We acknowledge that this was produced on stolen Aboriginal land. We express solidarity with ongoing struggles for justice for First Nations people and pay our respects to Elders past and present. If you like our work, become a supporter: https://www.greenleft.org.au/support Support Green Left on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/greenleft Green Left online: https://www.greenleft.org.au/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenleftaction Twitter: https://twitter.com/greenleftonline YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/greenleftonline TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greenleftonline Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenleftonline/ Podbean: https://greenleftonline.podbean.com/ Telegram: https://t.me/greenleftonline Podcast also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Antennapod, Itunes and PodcastAddict.
Nicole Nosek joins Judge Glock to discuss housing reform legislation spearheaded by Texans for Reasonable Solutions.
Today we look at the latest from the “housing Debate” as reflected in to current talk-fest, the YIMBY versus NIMBY debate, a case study in reality from Rose Bay, together with slides from Edwin which he had hoped to present, but was unable to make the recording today. Get well Edwin! Removing planning restrictions is … Continue reading "The Cracks Are Showing In Housing Policy!"
This week on Power House, Diego chats with Jonathan Wolf, the CEO of Wendover Housing Partners, about affordable housing — specifically in their local Florida market — and how they're working to combat pervasive NIMBYism. Jonathan also dives into Wendover's recent legislative victories on the affordable housing front and the role of major employers like Universal and Comcast in tackling NIMBYism. Here's what you'll learn: Why collaboration with employers is essential to overcoming NIMBY challenges How Wendover Housing Partners plans to double its community management in the next two years The importance of integrating services like healthcare and education into affordable housing communities The potential for replicating Wendover's successful model nationwide Jonathan's insights on engaging mortgage and real estate executives in affordable housing initiatives Related to this episode: Jonathan Wolf | LinkedIn Wendover Housing Partners HousingWire | YouTube Enjoy the episode! The Power House podcast brings the biggest names in housing to answer hard-hitting questions about industry trends, operational and growth strategy, and leadership. Join HousingWire president Diego Sanchez every Thursday morning for candid conversations with industry leaders to learn how they're differentiating themselves from the competition. Hosted and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week on the Conduit Street Podcast, we dive deep into the complexities of housing policy with Professors Christopher Serkin and Ganesh Sitaraman from Vanderbilt University. While zoning reform dominates the national conversation, our guests argue that the housing crisis demands a broader, more nuanced approach. From industrial policy and public housing options to creative tax incentives and market-shaping regulations, we explore innovative solutions tailored to local conditions. Plus, a fascinating case study on Nashville—a "YIMBY paradise" with unexpected outcomes—challenges conventional wisdom. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion that goes beyond the usual talking points!Show Notes: 28 Post-Neoliberal Housing Policy Ideas Post-Neoliberal Housing PolicyFollow us on Socials!MACo on TwitterMACo on Facebook
Misha Chellam, a leader in the Abundance movement and co-founder of the Abundance Network, joins The Vital Center to discuss how YIMBYism, state capacity, and Progress Studies relate to abundance. Chellam analyzes the successful alliances of growth-focused Abundants and good-government moderates in San Francisco. He also envisions future Abundance policies that expand beyond California and adapt to meet local needs and priorities.
On this episode of Infill, YIMBY Action's Marketing Manager Mariah Redfern sits down with artist, activist, and educator Mark Harris to explore the history of redevelopment in San Francisco's Fillmore District and how systemic displacement continues to impact Black communities today. Mark shares his personal journey from corporate life to art and activism, and how his work with the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project uncovered the erasure of what was once the “Harlem of the West.” Together, they unpack the legacy of urban renewal, zoning as a tool of modern segregation, and the need to diversify the pro-housing movement. Tune in to hear a deep dive into how history shapes the present—and why building a future of abundant housing requires as many voices, especially different kinds of voices, as possible. Check out Mark's work with the AEMP: https://antievictionmap.com/dislocationblack-exodusFind more of Mark's work: https://www.artofmarkharris.com/Learn more about YIMBY Action: https://yimbyaction.org/join/Follow YIMBY Action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yimbyaction/Follow YIMBY Action on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yimbyaction.bsky.socialFollow YIMBY Action on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yimbyaction/
The Adams administration announced earlier this week that the plan for affordable senior housing at the Elizabeth Street Garden was dead. David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, reports on how that happened, plus explains why some lawmakers and residents are skeptical of a proposed massive redevelopment - also including affordable housing - at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Red Hook.
Catholic Money Mastermind - Financial Planning conversations with Catholic CFP® Practitioners
Today, Ben welcomes Wyatt O'Rourke—Denver-based financial advisor and founder of Basilic Financial—for a wide-ranging conversation on the interplay between tradition, innovation, and community within a Catholic framework. Wyatt shares his journey of entrepreneurship and reconversion to the faith, emphasizing the integration of spiritual values into financial planning. The discussion examines how technological progress—such as Bitcoin and the rise of network states—can coexist with enduring moral and communal principles, drawing on historical shifts and contemporary challenges like social media and car-centric urban design. The conversation highlights the importance of evaluating innovation through a faith-rooted lens. They critique modern secular ideologies for lacking grounding, while celebrating a revival of tradition among young Catholics and the importance of community, family, and shared purpose. Ultimately, they argue that true progress must deepen human connection and be measured by whether it fosters real communal flourishing.Key Takeaways:• Wyatt O'Rourke's journey—entrepreneurship, reconversion to the faith, and founding Basilic Financial—reflects a desire to integrate values into vocation.• The Lindy Effect suggests that long-standing ideas and institutions are more likely to endure and should be respected as filters for evaluating novelty.• Car-centric urban design contributes to isolation; human-scale, walkable environments encourage community and accountability.• The YIMBY movement, when aligned with Catholic social principles, offers a hopeful vision for more connected cities.• Moral constancy and family stability are essential foundations for navigating a rapidly changing world.• Catholics are called to be discerning adopters of technology, ensuring it serves human dignity and divine purpose.Key Timestamps:(00:00) – Wyatt's Background and Career Journey(04:21) – Balancing Tradition and Innovation(08:03) – Reconciling Faith and Modernity(22:35) – The Importance of Optimism and Faith(28:36) – The Importance of Community(34:29) – Urbanism and CommunityKey Topics Discussed:Catholic Money Mastermind, Catholic financial planning, Catholic financial planners, Catholic financial advisors, Ben Martinek, faith and financesMentions:Website: https://basilic.io/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wyatt-o-rourke-79723b93/ More of Catholic Money Mastermind:Catholic Money Mastermind Podcast is a personal podcast meant for educational and entertainment. It should not be taken as financial advice, and is not prescriptive of your financial situation.Are you looking to hire an advisor? Browse our members.https://catholicfinancialplanners.com/members/Are you a Financial Advisor who is serious about the Catholic Faith? Join our network and email info@catholicfinancialplanners.com
Hundreds of “No Kings” rallies took place across the state over the weekend, with an estimated 20,000 people converging on Civic Center Park for marches and a “People's Fair” put on by a coalition of progressive organizations. Producer Paul Karolyi was there to witness it all, and he's on today with host Bree Davies to talk about where all the anti-Trump, anti-ICE energy will go from here. Plus, our local billionaires are negotiating some potentially monumental land deals, and we heard from a listener from Littleton about their local housing density debate. We talked about Westword and Denverite's reporting on the Rive Mile land deal and BusinessDen's reporting on the Broncos potential interest in Denver Water's land. Bree mentioned our episodes with Councilmember Jamie Torres about Stan Kroenke's plans for development in the Ball Arena parking lots and Professor Geoff Propheter about the proposed public subsidies to support the construction of a professional women's soccer stadium. Paul talked about Dr. Erica Chenoweth's ‘3.5% rule.' What do you think about the recent wave of anti-Trump, anti-ICE protests?Do you have a protest story to tell? We want to hear from you! Text or leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood, and you might hear it on the show: 720-500-5418 For even more news from around the city, subscribe to our morning newsletter Hey Denver at denver.citycast.fm. Follow us on Instagram: @citycastdenver Chat with other listeners on reddit: r/CityCastDenver Support City Cast Denver by becoming a member: membership.citycast.fm Learn more about the other sponsors of this June 16th episode: Xcel Energy Babbel - Get up to 60% off at Babbel.com/CITYCAST Cozy Earth - Use code COZYDENVER for 40% off all men's apparel and more. Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Has Governor Jared Polis gone too far in his push for housing density? After he signed an executive order conditioning state funds on local municipalities implementing his new zoning laws, six of Denver's suburbs filed a lawsuit to stop him. So today, we're taking a look at what's at stake in the battle for local control over housing policy. Producers Olivia Jewell Love and Paul Karolyi dig into a couple of YIMBY vs. NIMBY dust-ups in Littleton and Lakewood, and they're on to break down the details and talk about what it means for all of us. What do you think about Save Belmar Park and Rooted in Littleton? We want to hear from you! Especially if you live in Littleton or Lakewood. Text or leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood, and you might hear it on the show: 720-500-5418 For even more news from around the city, subscribe to our morning newsletter Hey Denver at denver.citycast.fm. Follow us on Instagram: @citycastdenver Chat with other listeners on reddit: r/CityCastDenver Support City Cast Denver by becoming a member: membership.citycast.fm If you enjoyed this interview with Grace Ramirez the Senior Manager of Xcel Energy, learn more here. Learn more about the other sponsors of this June 10th episode: RAQC Central City Opera Denver Health Multipass Edgewater Music Festival Cozy Earth - Use code COZYDENVER for 40% off all men's apparel and more. Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On this episode of Infill, Gillian Pressman talks with two powerhouse voices: Sonja Trauss, founder of the YIMBY movement and Executive Director of YIMBY Law, and Misha Chellam, founder of the Abundance Network. Together, they unpack the transformative idea of “abundance,” sparked by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's new book. They explore what resources it takes to build abundance and how we can build the political power to make a future of abundance our reality. You'll hear thoughts on how YIMBY and Abundance movement leaders are creating systems that empower local advocates to get involved in politics, how different kinds of people in your movement can help you win, and the benefits of various approaches to building power. Whether you're new to the YIMBY movement or deep in the policy trenches, this episode will inspire you to think bigger, act bolder, and advocate harder for a future of abundance for all of us. Read the Your Role in Abundance Substack article: https://modernpower.substack.com/p/your-role-in-abundanceLearn more about the Abundance Network: https://www.abundancenetwork.com/Learn more about YIMBY Action: https://yimbyaction.org/Follow YIMBY Action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yimbyaction/Follow YIMBY Action on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yimbyaction.bsky.socialFollow YIMBY Action on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yimbyaction/
On this edition of Parallax Views, comedian and writer Kate Willett joins us to examine the growing influence of Silicon Valley billionaires on the Democratic Party and the controversial politics behind the so-called Abundance Agenda. Framed by figures like Ezra Klein as a bold, future-focused vision of progress, this agenda is increasingly backed by tech elites such as Dustin Moskovitz—co-founder of Facebook—and promoted through a network of well-funded think tanks, including the Niskanen Center, that aim to push the party in a technocratic, pro-market direction. With sharp wit and political insight, Kate unpacks how the Abundance movement—closely aligned with key figures on the Tech Right—represents a slick, astroturfed rebranding of neoliberalism. Beneath its glossy surface lies a coordinated strategy to marginalize progressive and working-class voices while recasting Silicon Valley's private interests as public goods. We explore how this plays out most visibly in San Francisco, where billionaire-funded groups have successfully reshaped local politics and helped unseat progressive officials. Kate also offers a thoughtful critique of California's YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) movement. While she is not a NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) advocate either, she raises serious concerns about how YIMBY rhetoric often functions as a Trojan horse for real estate developer- and tech-driven policies that displace working-class communities under the guise of solving the housing crisis. This episode explores the intersection of tech money, urban development, media influence, and intra-party power struggles—and asks the vital question: “Abundance for whom?” Show Notes: "Abundance: Big Tech's Bid for the Democratic Party by Kate Willet (New International Magazine)
In this episode of Infill, YIMBY Action Board member Sonja Trauss speaks with Zellnor Myrie, New York State Senator, and mayoral candidate, to discuss why New York housing policies matter far beyond city limits. They discuss how the NYC housing shortage impacts the national economy, what plans Myrie has to enact bold YIMBY policies across the state, and why voters across the country should care about the outcome of this pivotal race. Zellnor shares his housing platform and unpacks his thoughts on everything from rent stabilization to affordable housing supply to mixed-income public housing and the future of short-term rentals. Tune in to hear his ambitious vision to make New York more affordable, equitable, and opportunity-rich for everyone. If you want to hear more about what kinds of actions leaders in large cities can and should be thinking about to tackle our national housing shortage, give this episode a listen! Learn more about Zellnor's campaign: https://www.zellnor.nyc/Learn more about YIMBY Action: https://yimbyaction.org/Follow YIMBY Action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yimbyaction/Follow YIMBY Action on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yimbyaction.bsky.socialFollow YIMBY Action on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yimbyaction/
Welcome to Season 7! As we are now a quarter of the way through the 21st century, like Bill Murray in Tootsie, Paul and Corey are asking, “What happened?” This season we are looking at the trends, genres, styles, and more that make up cinema of the past 25 years. In today's episode, Paul and Corey look at the (mis?)adventures of an old man, a boy scout (Not capitalized! Some other organization!), a talking dog, a big weird bird, and... a thinly-veiled crypto-N@zi. Yes, it's Disney's Pixar's Up (2009). What's to say here, folks? Not great. Structure messy, YIMBY politics, Disney being Disney. Paul disliked it more, but both he and Corey were on the same page. The balloons look pretty. Sorry if you love this.
Sara Bronin is an architect, attorney, policymaker, and professor at Cornell University. Born and raised in Houston, the only large US city without zoning, previously served as the Chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission of Hartford, Connecticut. Her book is called Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World, and she joins Unfrozen to demystify the why and wherefore of what you can, cannot, and “must” build in cities all over the US.--Intro/Outro: “Elevator,” by The Cooper Vane--Discussed:- How large-lot mandates contribute to the epidemic of loneliness- YIMBY prevails in Arlington and Alexandria, VA- Re-zoning in Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, OR, and Hartford- Supreme Court ruling on Shelley vs Kraemer, 1948, outlawing racially restrictive covenants- Houston's affordability comes at the cost of flood zones and unpleasant adjacencies- Gulfton neighborhood- El Principe Azul nightclub- Effects of Parking Provision on Automobile Use in Cities: Inferring Causality- Albany Avenue rezoning and corridor improvements, Hartford- Denise Best- Form-based code- Washington Commanders' new DC stadium- Code overhauls in Hartford, Charlottesville VA, and Boston- Bronin trashes Boston's zoning code- Pittsburgh spends $5.8 million on zoning consultant
In this episode of the Project Liberal podcast, Max Marty and Tyler Harris engage in a thought-provoking conversation with Virginia Postrel. Virginia introduces her framework of dynamism versus stasis—a perspective that transcends traditional left-right political divides—and explores how this lens remains relevant for understanding today's political landscape. As the "OG of the Progress and Abundance movement," Virginia offers unique insights into how innovation, decentralized knowledge, and bottom-up experimentation drive human flourishing. Topics Discussed: * The core thesis of "The Future and Its Enemies" and how it anticipated today's political realignments* How the YIMBY housing movement represents successful dynamism in action* The connections between progress studies, abundance agendas, and different political coalitions* Why progress was glamorous in the early 20th century and how it might regain that appeal* The importance of making progress tangible in everyday life rather than just elite discourse* How to build dynamic coalitions across political divides despite rising populism and reactionary politics* The role of decentralized knowledge in fields from textiles to housing policy You can find more from Virginia at: * Virginia's Substack: * Virginia's Website: https://vpostrel.com* Virginia's Book "The Future and Its Enemies": https://a.co/d/6ZtKqZC* Virginia's Book "The Fabric of Civilization": https://a.co/d/9ANJ3zr And learn more about Project Liberal at: https://projectliberal.org This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit projectliberal.substack.com
Learn how the Regional Housing Alliance plans to strategize and relieve the affordable housing challenge in La Plata County at the 2nd annual Southwest Housing Summit. By Sadie Smith.Watch this story at www.durangolocal.news/newsstories/2nd-annual-southwest-housing-summit-returns-to-durango This story is sponsored by FLC Center for Innovation and Durango Gelato, Coffee & Tea.Support the show
Julius Nyanda is the Founder and CEO of HouseKeys, unlocking housing opportunity for cities, developers, homeowners, and renters. HouseKeys is a civic tech platform that helps local governments manage affordable and mixed-income housing programs across ownership, rental, and finance. Through its Program Marketplace, Julius and his team streamline administration and expand access to community-driven housing solutions, supporting cities like Beverly Hills, Morgan Hill, and San Francisco in delivering scalable, equitable outcomes.(03:22) - Challenges in Affordable Housing Development(06:10) - Housing policy incentives for Investors(10:46) - HouseKeys Marketplace approach(13:04) - The Economics of Affordable Housing(14:10) - GovTech & VC Opportunities & Challenges(22:37) - Feature: Blueprint 2025: The Future of Real Estate - Register now (23:23) - California's New YIMBY Bills(26:29) - AI & the Future of Housing Solutions(37:07) - Collaboration Superpower: Robert F. Smith (CEO at Vista Equity Partners) & Jack Ma (Founder of Alibaba)
Is biking downtown a dream or nightmare? Could Ezra Klein's “Abundance Agenda” work in Denver? Where do local liberals really stand on President Trump's immigration crackdown? We've been getting tons of texts, voicemails, and emails about recent episodes of the podcast, so today host Bree Davies and producer Paul Karolyi are dipping into the mailbag to discuss these topics and more! Do you have a question for us about Denver? We would love to know what you're wondering. Text or leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood, and you might hear it on the show: 720-500-5418 For even more news from around the city, subscribe to our morning newsletter Hey Denver at denver.citycast.fm. Follow us on Instagram: @citycastdenver Chat with other listeners on reddit: r/CityCastDenver Support City Cast Denver by becoming a member: membership.citycast.fm Learn more about the sponsors of this April 9th episode: Visit Port Aransas Denver Urban Gardens PineMelon - Use code CITYCAST for 75% off! Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us a question/idea/opinion direct via text message!This week Nick and Kelvin discuss the latest trends in the property market, including improvements in CoreLogic value tracking (splitting suburb measures by property type), the impact of affordability on property values, and insights from the (relatively) new Hedonic Home Value Index (HVI). This includes a refreshed and upgraded version of mapping the market as well as a weekly back series for the HVI.They also explore lending trends, particularly focusing on debt-to-income ratios and interest-only lending, as well as recent government reforms aimed at increasing housing supply via big changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA).Sign up for news and insights or contact on LinkedIn, Twitter @NickGoodall_CL or @KDavidson_CL and email nick.goodall@corelogic.co.nz or kelvin.davidson@corelogic.co.nz
Labour promises to take the brakes off building with its new Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Will the downgrading of rights to object on environmental, local and procedural grounds anger voters more than new homes will mollify them? Has the government created the right incentives to get its mythical 1.5m new homes built? And have the YIMBYs really defeated the NIMBYs? A special roundtable with Hugh Ellis, Director of Policy at the Town and Country Planning Association; Housing & Residential Property Journalist of the Year Hannah Fearn; and NIMBY-Hunter General Jonn Elledge. • Support us on Patreon for early episodes and more. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to indeed.com/bunker to get your £100 sponsored credit. Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
For more on the future of the Built Environment, subscribe to Most Podern on:Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/3zYvX2lRZOpHcZW41WGVrpApple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/most-podern-podcast/id1725756164Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@MostPodernInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/most.podernLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/most-podernSummaryAmerica was once a land of movement—both physical and economic. But today, we're stuck. In this episode of Most Podern, Alex Yuen, Minkoo Kang, and Libo Li sit down with historian and The Atlantic's deputy executive editor Yoni Appelbaum to discuss his new book, Stuck: How the Privileged and the Property Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. They explore how America's once-thriving culture of geographic and economic mobility has been stifled by restrictive zoning laws, exclusionary policies, and fear of change—making it harder for people to move and prosper. Yoni traces the history of zoning, from its origins to its role in today's housing crisis, and outlines three key solutions: standardizing zoning laws, legalizing diverse housing types, and embracing housing abundance. The conversation dives into the broader societal consequences of stagnation and why restoring mobility is crucial for a more America's future.LinksRead “Stuck”https://www.yoniappelbaum.com/https://x.com/YAppelbaumKeywordsUrban mobility, Housing crisis, Zoning laws, Single-family zoning, Affordable housing, Yoni Appelbaum, Stuck book, The Atlantic, Urban development, Housing policy, Economic mobility, Social mobility, NIMBY vs YIMBY, Housing affordability, Zoning reform, Urban planning, Gentrification, Real estate policy, Progressive housing policy, American citiesChapters00:00 The American Dream and Housing Ideals17:37 Generational Perspectives on Community Engagement20:12 The Impact of Mobility on Society22:57 Community Concerns vs. Housing Needs25:43 Mobility as a Fundamental Right28:16 Balancing Individual Agency and Community30:43 Proposed Solutions for Housing Challenges34:47 The Challenge of Change36:37 Learning from Global Examples38:40 The Role of Local Communities43:06 Shifting Mindsets on Growth47:35 The Importance of Mobility53:09 Reflections on the Current Era
In this episode I'm joined by Annemarie Gray and Felicity Maxwell to discuss how the YIMBY movement is finally cracking the code on housing reform in major American cities. We examine the recent groundbreaking victories in New York City and Austin, exploring how pro-housing groups are learning from each other through networks like Welcoming Neighbors Network, and wrestle with the challenge of increasing housing supply while protecting existing communities. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe
Here's your local news for Tuesday, February 4, 2025:We learn how a federal funding freeze could jeopardize violence prevention efforts in Wisconsin,Find out why nature's pest control workers are in peril,Sit down with a self-described "YIMBY" running for city council,Explore the potential consequences of Trump's tariff plans,Ask an immigration attorney to outline your rights,Explain how birds are able to stay warm in the winter,And much more.
In this episode of IEA Briefing, we explore why a 37-year-old paper on UK housing remains shockingly relevant today. Dr. Kristian Niemietz joins us to discuss the republishing of "No Room! No Room!" - Professor Alan Evans' 1988 analysis of Britain's housing crisis. Despite being written when multiplex cinemas were new and the Berlin Wall still stood, the paper's diagnosis of the UK's housing problems feels like it could have been written last week. The discussion dives into Evans' key insights about land prices, planning permission, and local authority incentives - issues that have only gotten worse since the 1980s. Dr. Niemietz explains how the paper identified core problems like NIMBYism (before the term even existed in British English) and the green belt's impact on housing development. They also explore how the planning system's effect on land costs leads to compromises in building quality and design. The conversation concludes by examining how the housing crisis has intensified, with current UK housing affordability ratios over 8 times median income in England and over 12 in some areas. While new factors like immigration now affect housing demand, the fundamental problems Evans identified in 1988 remain at the root of today's crisis. The discussion ends with a look at the growing YIMBY movement and whether there's hope for meaningful change in housing policy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insider.iea.org.uk/subscribe
The Building Culture Podcast explores holistic solutions to crafting a more beautiful, resilient and thriving world through the built environment. Its host, Austin Tunnell, recently invited Strong Towns President Charles Marohn and California YIMBY's Nolan Gray onto the show to debate the housing crisis. It was a great conversation that explores how these movements align and differ in their approaches to housing. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES The Building Culture Podcast. Nolan Gray (Twitter/X). Chuck Marohn (Twitter/X).
Michael kicks off the hour breaking down the big rezoning decision in LA with guest M. Nolan Gray from California YIMBY, exploring its impact on housing, equity, and the city's future. Plus, an update on the Malibu fire containment efforts and a dive into the most cringe-worthy Christmas songs—do they make your list? All this and more on a full moon Saturday night in LA.
As the need for affordable housing grows, so does the classic conflict of NIMBY vs YIMBY, a.k.a. “Not in my backyard” or “Yes, in my backyard”. And all of this affects developers and their business plans.
In this episode, I sit down with Chuck Marohn from Strong Towns and Nolan Gray from California YIMBY to tackle one of the most pressing issues of our time: the housing crisis in America. It started with an exchange on X (Twitter) where I saw Nolan and Chuck disagreeing. Surprised, I asked them on the podcast to discuss areas of overlap and disagreement between the YIMBY movement and Strong Towns. They were kind enough to agree. In this episode we discuss the complex web of factors driving housing unaffordability, from financialization and zoning laws to the ripple effects of inflation and outdated building codes. We dive into the historical context of these challenges and debate the influence of investors, policymakers, and local governments in shaping the future of housing. Along the way, we uncover where the Strong Towns and YIMBY movements align—and where they diverge—especially on the role of financialization in housing supply. TAKEAWAYS Financialization of housing has created a feedback loop driving up prices, turning homes into investment assets rather than places to live. Zoning and building codes play a critical role in either enabling or hindering the ability to increase housing supply. There is significant overlap between Strong Towns and YIMBY movements, particularly in their shared focus on practical, community-oriented solutions to housing challenges. Local governments can play a crucial role in financing housing development and supporting small builders to create a more diverse housing market. Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) offer quick, scalable housing solutions that align with incremental development strategies. Policy changes are essential to create a more flexible and affordable housing market that meets the needs of diverse communities. CHAPTERS 00:00 Understanding Housing Affordability and Supply Chain Dynamics 02:46 Introduction to the Debate: Strong Towns vs. YIMBY 06:29 Exploring the Financialization of Housing 12:32 The Role of Financialization in Housing Crisis 19:11 Historical Context: Financialization and Housing Policy 24:07 The Impact of Institutional Investors on Housing 29:15 Navigating the Future of Housing Affordability 31:03 The Impact of Financialization on Housing Supply 34:46 Addressing the Affordability Crisis 39:57 The Role of Local Governments in Housing Development 43:42 Zoning, Financing, and the Housing Market 50:56 Inflation and Its Effects on Construction Costs 57:51 Balancing Incremental Development with Market Needs 01:02:36 Addressing the Affordable Housing Crisis 01:11:01 The Role of Incremental Change in Housing 01:19:19 Financing Solutions for Accessory Dwelling Units 01:27:40 Debating Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Strategies 01:30:17 The Future of Housing Movements CONTACT NOLAN & MENTIONED RESOURCES: X: https://x.com/mnolangray?lang=en Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mnolangray/?hl=en Website YIMBY:https://cayimby.org/author/nolangray/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mnolangray Book:https://islandpress.org/books/arbitrary-lines#desc CONTACT CHUCK & MENTIONED RESOURCES: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlesmarohn/?hl=en Strong Towns Website:https://www.strongtowns.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesmarohn Books:https://www.strongtowns.org/book Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/marohn/ Strong Towns Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strong_towns/?hl=en CONNECT WITH AUSTIN TUNNELL Newsletter: https://playbook.buildingculture.com/ https://www.instagram.com/austintunnell/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-tunnell-2a41894a/ https://twitter.com/AustinTunnell CONNECT WITH BUILDING CULTURE https://www.buildingculture.com/ https://www.instagram.com/buildingculture/ https://twitter.com/build_culture https://www.facebook.com/BuildCulture/ SPONSORS Thank you so much to the sponsors of The Building Culture Podcast! Sierra Pacific Windows: https://www.sierrapacificwindows.com/ One Source Windows: https://onesourcewindows.com/
Care More Be Better: Social Impact, Sustainability + Regeneration Now
In this episode of Care More Be Better, host Corinna Bellizzi dives deep into local politics and community activism with John Lewis, a city council candidate in Scotts Valley, California. John shares his vision for the future of Scotts Valley, touching on pressing local issues like rising housing costs, the need for a town center, and the importance of personal agency in shaping our communities. This conversation is packed with insights on the challenges and rewards of running for office and what it means to be a “YIMBY” (Yes In My Backyard) advocate.Key Topics Covered:[00:00:26] Introduction to Care More Be Better and guest John Lewis.[00:00:46] John's background: Engineering expertise and community issues in Scotts Valley.[00:02:21] Community engagement and motivation to run for city council.[00:03:48] The need for a town center in Scotts Valley and why previous efforts stalled.[00:06:37] Environmental and infrastructural challenges: From airport to town center.[00:10:12] Essential traits and qualifications for running for local office.[00:13:00] How city council can directly impact community well-being.[00:18:55] Defining NIMBY vs. YIMBY and John's endorsement from Santa Cruz YIMBY.[00:26:04] Why John isn't accepting political donations.[00:28:42] The importance of local elections and civic engagement.Call to Action: If you're a Scotts Valley resident, consider voting for John Lewis to support local development that fosters community and sustainability. For resources on how to get involved, visit our website at CircleB.co.Connect with John Lewis: website: https://www.johnlewissvcity.com/linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-lewis-44784516/facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnLewisSVCity
Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Political economist David Fields joins Bad Faith for a conversation that goes beyond housing policy to unpack the very roots of why the Democratic Party seems unable to provide basic improvements for working people -- even when they're in power. He clarifies the YIMBY vs. NIMBY debate, how YIMBYism has been appropriated by corporate developers, and how false economic narratives (e.g. the supply/demand curve) have been weaponized to justify real-estate lobby-approved solutions to the housing crisis. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).
With three weeks to go and early voting reaching record numbers, the campaigns are circling around their drastically disparate final pitches to voters. This week, MSNBC political analyst Elise Jordan joins former Senator Claire McCaskill to highlightTrump's stark vision of the “enemies from within”, while Harris speaks to the center- and a combative Bret Baier on Fox News. Then, Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii lays out the vice president's framework to ease the housing crisis, what it means to go from NIMBY to YIMBY, and the importance of creating generational wealth for the next era of homebuyers. And lastly, Claire and Elise get to the heart of who to trust in the era of foreign interference, deepfakes and Trumpery.Further Reading: Here is the Washington Post piece Claire and Elise spoke about that shares how to spot deepfakes as the election nears: AI is spawning a flood of fake Trump and Harris voices. Here's how to tell what's real.Want to listen to this show without ads? Sign up for MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts. As a subscriber you'll also be able to get occasional bonus content from this and other shows.
If NIMBY is the classist rejection of affordable housing ("Not in my back yard”), then YIMBY is sold as the progressive counter to it: “Yes, in my back yard; because I believe affordable housing should be widely available, even in my own neighborhood.” But of course, housing development has nothing to do with the needs of the poor or the working class. It has nothing to do with the public purpose. Steve's guest, political economist David Fields, explains: “YIMBY is yes to housing in my backyard, but housing for developers to extract profit from land value. So build as much as possible within a given area and, in the end, extract as much as possible through rent extraction and land value appreciation. It's not, in my view, yes to actual affordable housing in my backyard to house working class folks. No, it's yes to luxury skyscrapers, luxury this, luxury that. Build as cheaply as possible for vested interests to maximize gain.” YIMBY's want us to believe that sheer quantity will bring prices down, because that's how the market works. Those who object are accused of NIMBYism. In addition, “They're economically illiterate, they're economically stupid, they don't know, they don't pay attention, and they're not letting the magic do its magic. Which, anybody who knows a modicum of economics and knows that supply and demand is institutionally configurated - not natural - should be flabbergasted and say, how did this get to be so popular, so celebrated? Well, there are vested interests involved.” The episode explores the misleading narratives of YIMBYism and compares the market-driven approach to housing to trickle-down economics, emphasizing the constructed scarcity and profit motives behind urban planning. David points out the misuse of economic models like the Marshallian Cross, highlighting flaws in the market logic often used to justify YIMBY policies. David and Steve talk about the broader neoliberal agenda of privatization and deregulation, and its stranglehold on government policies. Awareness and organization are needed to combat systemic class inequality in housing and beyond. David Fields is from a critical realist and genetic structuralist ontology and epistemology. His work centers on the intricacies concerning the interactions of foreign exchanges and capital flows, with economic growth, fiscal and monetary policy and distribution, whereby critical attention is paid to the notion of endogenous money. He also delves into the political economy of regional development to study patterns with respect to the nature of housing, social stratification, and community planning. @ProfDavidFields on Twitter
Owning a home is the cornerstone of the American dream, but an affordability crisis is making it a distant fantasy for many. The presidential candidates are taking notice. Sonja Trauss is a key activist in the YIMBY movement (“Yes in My Backyard”), and says the solution is pretty simple: Build more homes. Getting that done isn't so easy. Audie sits down with Trauss in Southern California — ground zero for the housing shortage — to talk about the origins of the problem and potential solutions. Watch a version of our conversation here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The plan to facilitate housing development in New York City has come to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Windsor Terrace, and a dispute over a proposed pair of 13-story towers has ensured. David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, reports on the debate and its implications for Eric Adams's City of Yes housing plan.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fmThis week, Brian takes a much needed vacation and Matt is joined by The Atlantic's Jerusalem Demsas to talk about housing and the 2024 campaign. * Barack Obama's striking and unexpected embrace of the YIMBY diagnosis of the housing issue at the Democratic National Convention. * Kamala Harris' more equivocal embrace of the same formula along with some other …
Research Director for California YIMBY, professional city planner and author of Arbitrary Lines, Nolan Gray, joins us to discuss how zoning impacts our communities, affordability of retail and commercial real estate. Zoning laws contributing to the affordable housing crisis and what we can do about it. Shifting from NIMBY to YIMBY mindset requires understanding benefits of growth. How zoning laws prevent new development, causing housing shortages and limiting entrepreneurship. California's statewide legalization of accessory dwelling units can be seen as a successful zoning reform example. We discuss how cities like Austin and Minneapolis have seen price stabilization by allowing for more mid-rise multi-family housing near transit and job-rich areas. Learn how to connect with local policymakers and planners to advocate for policy changes that encourage more housing supply. Resources mentioned: Show Notes: GetRichEducation.com/514 You can follow Nolan on X @mnolangray For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments. You get paid first: Text FAMILY to 66866 For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search “how to leave an Apple Podcasts review” GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREmarketplace.com/Coach Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— text ‘GRE' to 66866 Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript: Automatically Transcribed With Otter.ai Keith Weinhold 00:00 Welcome to GRE. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, if you don't take the right action, inflation will make you poorer. Then the affordable housing crisis keeps your tenant as your tenant is zoning. What's ruining American cities in keeping starter homes unaffordable or just plain extinct in some areas, how do we get more apartments and more density built today on Get Rich Education. When you want the best real estate and finance info, the modern Internet experience limits your free articles access, and it's replete with paywalls and you've got pop ups and push notifications and cookies disclaimers. Ugh. At no other time in history has it been more vital to place nice, clean, free content into your hands that actually adds no hype value to your life. See, this is the golden age of quality newsletters, and I write every word of ours myself. It's got a dash of humor, and it's to the point to get the letter. It couldn't be more simple text, GRE to 66866, and when you start the free newsletter, you'll also get my one hour fast real estate course, completely free. It's called the Don't Quit Your Daydream Letter, and it wires your mind for wealth. Make sure you read it. Text GRE to 66866, text GRE to 66866. Corey Coates 01:38 You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is Get Rich Education. Keith Weinhold 01:54 Welcome to GRE from Calgary, Alberta to Tirana Albania and across 188 nations worldwide. I'm Keith Weinhold, and you are listening to get rich education. When most investors think about inflation, they get it mostly wrong. Their strategy is inflation hedging. And you know, even if you successfully hedge inflation, you are really missing out. You've really got to get fired up about beating inflation. When did you get your first job? Like your first real job in your life? Let's say you did that when you were age 18. Well, that work that you did when you were 18, that created value for somebody else. And you could have done anything with your valuable youth, but instead, you chose to provide value by focusing your time and your energy to sweep floors or enter data into a spreadsheet for somebody else. You were paid for that work that you did. You were paid in dollars, well, if you just tried to store your finite energy that you expended for that employer into dollars, you will lose. Your value will be coerced away from you by your government that just incessantly and relentlessly debases the dollar that you earned at age 18, because they just keep printing more of them. Well, that money printer, which creates the inflation is then an extraction of your resources. Yeah, they extracted your resources, of your time, energy and ingenuity away from you when you were 18, and even the work that you do today, its value will get extracted away from you too. If you say, store dollars under your mattress, if you instead invest it so that its growth rate keeps up with inflation, well, then all you've done is hedge inflation. My point is, get upset about how the system extracts resources from you. And my other point is, don't hedge. Hedge just means that you're treading water. Position yourself to win instead, because you can when you buy income producing property with a loan, you don't just hedge against the inflation. You win three ways at the same time. You probably know that's called the inflation Triple Crown, a concept that I coined. You can watch the three part video series on net, free. It's now easier than ever to access, learn how to actually profit from inflation, not just hedge yourself against it. You can watch that, and it's friction free. There's no email address to leave or anything. Simply watch learn and maybe even be amazed at how you can do this. Those three videos are available. At getricheducation.com/inflationtriplecrown, that's sort of long, so you can also get there with getricheducation.com/itc. Again, that's getricheducation.com/itc. Before we talk with our guests about how zoning is making the affordable housing crisis, even worse, housing values and rents are really looking stable in today's environment. CoreLogic tells us that single family rents are up 3.2% annually. That's the highest rate in a year. And when it comes to prices, the NAR tells us that existing single family home prices hit a record high of $426,900 and that is an all time high. And note that that's existing homes, not new. So median existing homes are basically 427k now. And what does that really mean? Well, that is up 4.1% year over year, the real estate market continues to be it's sort of this tale of the equity rich versus the affordability challenged. Are you equity rich or are you affordability challenged? Well, the more property that you own, the more equity rich you are feeling, that you're going to feel, and oftentimes you're renting out property to the affordably challenged. Of course, the big buzz and a potential really turning point in the economy here or not, it really began about 10 days ago. That's when America reported weak jobs numbers, and that set the unemployment rate from 4.1% up to 4.3%. Citigroup and JP Morgan are now predicting half point Fed rate cuts in both September and November, not just quarter point cuts anymore. I mean, gosh, if there's one thing that we really know, it's that nobody really knows anything. Starting about two years ago, everyone thought a recession was eminent. Bloomberg even said there was a 100% chance that we'd have one by last year. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Everyone thought there would be six or seven Fed rate cuts this year. Wrong, wrong, wrong. You can't even completely count out of rate cut at the next meeting. I mean, sheesh, before that time, we still have two new CPI reports to come out and another jobs report. So, you know, over the long term, this is just how people act. They tend to get ahead of themselves and overreact, and that's really more of a stock market investor sort of thing. And yeah, despite the volatility, you know, us real estate investors are here more chill than Snoop Dogg was at the Olympics. All this fear, what it does is it pushes money into bonds. And when money goes into bonds, it makes mortgage rates go down, and they recently hit 16 month lows near 6.4% and if rates stay low, millions of additional Americans will be able to qualify to buy property that couldn't before, and that could really put more upward pressure on property prices, more than this 4.1% year over year appreciation that we're currently seeing. We know that lots of investors are buying properties like you, getting equity rich and serving the affordability challenge. In fact, 60% of Home Builders indicated that they sold homes to investors from February through April, while 40% reported that they didn't sell to investors. And investors now represent wholly 25% of both new and resale residential transactions and among builders that sold to investors in the past 90 days, 69% of them sold to mom and pop investors. Mom and pop investors, they're loosely defined as those that own one to 10 rental units. They may very well be you. Institutional investors, those that own 10 plus investment properties in this home builders definition here. Well, those institutional investors, they accounted for just 4% of investor sales nationally. So again, more home builders are selling to small real estate investors, those that own one to 10 units. Well, now in almost 10 years of doing the show here, we've never had a full discussion about zoning, and really this is the time. Okay, this ends today because we describe how it's contributing to the affordable housing crisis and what we can do about it. I mean, anymore you really can't find a brand new build 250k starter home anymore, unless maybe it's a tiny home, which then really isn't a full home, and you sacrifice your lifestyle. Well, zoning is a big reason why the Supreme Court decision that deemed zoning constitutional that occurred in 1926. Yes, that's going to turn 100 in the year 2026 that Supreme Court decision that infamously referred to apartments as parasites. Wow. But yet is some zoning good? I mean, say that you and your family have your nice, quiet, single family home on an idyllic half acre lot. Well, if that's the case, should it be allowed that Bitcoin mining facility with its loud cooling fans is built right next to you I'll ask our guest expert about that, and what about say less offensive transgressions, like a condo board that says that you can't rent your unit out. How much zoning is too much or too little? I mean, is someone just being overly sensitive if a duplex is built next to their single family home and they complain about that? So we'll get into all of that. And it really comes down to limiting this McMansionization risk type of nimbyism, not in my backyardism. That's what it is. Again, you can watch the three free videos on how you can substantially and actionably profit from inflation, not hedge, but profit from inflation. It's the inflation triple crown. Be sure to check out those three videos at getricheducation.com/itc. I learned about this week's guest through reason.com we met in person at last month's Freedom Fest in Las Vegas. He is the research director for California Yimby, yes. Yimby, not NIMBY, that is yes in my backyard. And he's a professional city planner. He's the author of the book Arbitrary Lines, how zoning broke the American city and how to fix it. Welcome to GRE. Nolan Gray, Nolan Gray 12:24 thanks so much, Keith. It's a pleasure to be with you, Nolan, Keith Weinhold 12:26 you wrote one article for reason.com with such an interesting title, five words, Abolish Zoning-All of it, you're pretty emphatic there at what you'd like to have happen before we discuss that, why don't you tell us in your words what zoning is? Nolan Gray 12:44 So for the past 100 years, America's cities have been running a grand experiment and how they're governed. Essentially, what we've done, beginning in the 1920s is we said for every single parcel in the city, we're going to assign an allowed use. So most people, if you've played Sim City, you know this might be residential, commercial, industrial, but it goes into so much more detail than that. Different types of residential might be allowed in different parts of the city, commercial, etc, and the vast majority of most American cities, the only form of residential that's allowed is a detached, single family home, right? So that's one half of it, the second half of what zoning is doing, it's placing arbitrary density limits. So the amount of actual housing or amount of floor area that you can build on any particular lot. And it's important to distinguish this from other forms of land use regulation, because in many cases, these rules aren't actually based on any health or safety concerns, but instead a sort of social project of engineering what a correct city should look like. And as I argue in the book and we can discuss over the course of this conversation, is I argue that these rules have actually had incredible harms for our cities and are at the root of our current housing affordability crisis. Keith Weinhold 13:45 I think zoning initially, it began in New York City about 100 years ago. Nolan Gray 13:50 Yeah, so New York City adopted one of the first modern zoning ordinances in 1916 a handful of other cities did so as well. So I'm coming to you from California, Berkeley, California also adopted zoning in this year. And essentially, what happened after New York City adopted it was the federal government put together what's called the standard zoning Enabling Act. They mailed that out to every single state in the country and started putting a lot of pressure on states to adopt zoning and allow local governments to adopt zoning. And then, with the rise of the Federal financial system, as part of the New Deal, housing programs. In many cases, local governments were required or strongly, strongly incentivized to adopt the zoning codes to be eligible for certain federal benefits. Keith Weinhold 14:29 You know, maybe philosophically, one might think, Nolan, well, America stands for freedom, and I should get to do what I want with my plot of land. But if everyone can do whatever they want with their plot of land. I mean, does that mean that my neighbor then could start a sloppy hog farm, or the neighbor on the other side of me could start a battery factory with smoke stacks? So do those sort of things help make the case for zoning? Nolan Gray 14:57 Yeah, that's a great question, you know. So before the rise of zoning. And we actually had a lot of rules for these classic nuisances, these classic externalities, things like smoke, smells, noise, or even just lots and lots of traffic generation. We had rules to say, Hey, if you want to operate certain types of uses, you need to be in a certain designated area where we're going to tolerate a much higher level of externalities. Zoning does that, but it also does so much more. And it's those other aspects that I think are ill conceived. So for example, of course, we don't want a slaughterhouse next to a single family home, but zoning might also say, Oh, by the way, you're not allowed to have a duplex next to a single family home. You're not allowed to start a home based business. You're not allowed to operate certain commercial uses out of certain strip malls in certain parts of the city. You're not allowed to build anything unless you have a certain amount of number of off street number of off street parking spaces, which can make adaptive reuse of historic properties very difficult. So I think absolutely there's a core of land use regulation that makes sense, that's focused on neighbors, not imposing costs on each other, but our current system goes so much further than that, in many ways, imposes new and unconceived costs, including increasing housing prices, limiting housing options in many of our neighborhoods, making it harder to start a business or to have neighborhoods serving retail in many of our neighborhoods. Keith Weinhold 16:09 So perhaps zoning has just simply gone too far, and you touched on it earlier. It seems to me that about three quarters of the area of most cities have zoning restricted only to single family home building, for example, and they ban apartments completely. So maybe, as we try to find the right balance of how much zoning is right, tell us more about really the thesis of your book and why we should ban zoning completely. Nolan Gray 16:38 Of course, we need certain regulations for externalities and nuisances, and to certain extent that can be resolved through litigation, but ideally you look for it and you say, okay, look, there are certain areas where we're going to tolerate certain nuisances and other places where we will not. But beyond that, I think so much of what our land use regulations do is actually causing harm. It's preventing property owners from using their property in ways that are not in any meaningful sense, harmful to their neighbors. It's created this context where now if you want to build just about anything in the typical American city, you have to go through multiple public hearings, you have to do an environmental report in some states, you have to get the permission of local elected officials, you have to undertake all these actions that heavily politicize every new development. And so what we get is so many of our neighborhoods and so many of our cities are locked in amber. And this is partly why, over the last few years, where we've seen a huge amount of demand flow into housing, we've simply had these extreme shortages because markets could not respond with the supply that many of our communities needed. So for example, a starter home in many US cities today might be a townhouse, it might be a two bedroom condo, it might be a single family home on a 2500 square foot lot, but those are precisely the forms of housing that in many cases, our zoning codes make illegal to build. So we're essentially saying if you can't afford at least a certain level of housing, you're not allowed to live in many parts of the community, if in the community altogether, or the same with businesses, if you want to start a small business that might not necessarily have any impact on your neighbors, you might require a special permit. You might require a hearing. You might require to attend a hearing where your competitors are going to show up and oppose your project, purely on a cynical basis. So what it's done is it's created this incredibly disruptive system that's prevented our cities from being entrepreneurial and adaptive, and I think this is the root of a lot of the problems that we're facing today. Keith Weinhold 18:17 Oh, you really surface some good points there Nolan, when I think of over zoning, and we talk about how a lot of times you can't build anything more than a single family home, that certainly creates a lot of problems. Gentrification is sort of a bad word, kind of sprucing up community so much, raising the value so much, that one problem is that familial bonds decay when children that grew up in, say, Southern California, can no longer afford to live there, so they have to move to lower cost Las Vegas, a four to five hour drive away. Excessive gentrification. You touch that, it also harms mobility. If you want to move from Atlanta to Boston for a tech job but you can't find housing, you're not going to move there, so therefore, talent doesn't get matched up with opportunity. Nolan Gray 19:07 That's exactly right. I mean, this is a at the national scale. This is an important piece of the puzzle, which is we've made it hardest to actually move to some of our most productive places. So as you mentioned, places like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York City, for all their problems, these are incredibly productive places where folks can move to and get high paying jobs and other good educational opportunities, but in many cases, these are the most expensive cities in our country, and it's in no small part because of the many rules and regulations that make it so hard to build housing in those contexts. So you're exactly right. Folks actually turn down higher paying jobs or better opportunities and move to places simply because the housing is more affordable, and you pick up on a really important piece of this, which is in many cases, this is breaking apart families. So a lot of folks who are born and raised in a place like California, their parents might have been able to buy their home in the 70s or 80s or 90s, but they can't afford a home. They have no long term path to actually staying in the community. And so what you're actually seeing is neighborhoods and communities being ripped apart. If the situation in places like California has actually got to be so bad that many of the people who are in a certain sense, beneficiaries of the status quo, maybe they own their home and they're seeing the value go up and up and up. They're also saying, Oh, my children can't afford to live near me. I don't ever get to see my grandkids. The person who serves me at the hospital or at the supermarket can't afford to live here, and we're having trouble keeping folks on. The crisis got to be so bad in certain places like California that we're starting to see tremors of reform. But one of the things I like to say is, if you want to fall into a California style housing crisis, most parts of the country don't need to do anything the rules you have on the books have you moving in that trajectory, right? But if you want to remain a place where we can build more housing, where folks can buy their own home or buy small apartment buildings and start to build wealth, you have to allow for more supply to come online. Keith Weinhold 20:42 Sure, zoning so that you can't build anything other than single family homes compounds the affordability crisis. There really just isn't any such thing as a 250k starter home anymore, anywhere. You represent California, yimby and you live there in the state where people think of ground zero for excessive regulation and taxation and zoning too. I do read more about some zoning being relaxed in California, allowing for the building of an adu on a property, for example, to help build the density. But before you talk about some of the cracks that are actually starting to help break this down. Can you give any bad examples that are especially problematic there in your home state, Nolan? Nolan Gray 21:27 For the past 50 or 60 years, California, has been stuck under a NIMBY paradigm, not in my backyard, right? Every single new project is politically contentious, has to undertake an environmental report, has to undergo multiple public reviews, it takes years and years to get a permit, and that's if the housing is legal to build at all. As you know, in so many parts of California, there's very little to no new construction happening, and that's because of the rules on the books that make it so hard to build. To the extent that we allow new housing to be built, we have a whole bunch of mandates that force the housing to be a lot more expensive, and even if all that pencils again, it can take two years to get fully entitled in a permit. And so of course, the only housing that actually ends up getting built is quite expensive. And some folks say, Well, if we allow new housing to be built in California, it's all expensive. Well, yes, if you only allow a trickle of new housing in a very expensive context, of course the new housing is going to be expensive. But if you look to places like Texas and Florida, for example, that build lots and lots of new housing and don't have all of these costly mandates, they actually can build a lot of new housing, and actually can keep prices relatively under control and create that new supply of what we call missing middle, low rise housing. So as you mentioned, the tide, I think, is turning in California. The silver lining of things getting so bad is that the culture is shifting. And what we've seen is the emergence of this new yimby movement, or yes, in my backyard. And these are folks are saying, hey, not only is not building more, not this horrible threat to my community, but it's actually this enriching opportunity. It's good to have a growing, healthy, affordable community where folks are building, folks are able to move to high opportunity jobs, and folks are able to have choice in the neighborhood they live in. Keith Weinhold 22:55 We're talking about zoning and how that's made the affordable housing crisis worse in the United States with California, yimbys, Nolan, gray Nolan. Tell us more about just the exact sorts of codes that are problematic. We touched on apartment building bans, but I think we're also looking at things like off street parking requirements. You need to have so many off street parking spaces before you can build. Otherwise you can't build. You need to have a minimum lot size of a half acre or a quarter acre in order to build here. So can you talk more specifically about just some of those exact problems on the tactical level that are compounding here? Nolan Gray 23:34 Yeah, that's exactly right. So where are the housings illegal to build altogether. In many cases, there are a whole bunch of rules that increase the price of that housing. So in urban context, for example, where you might want to be building apartments, many cases, you might have parking requirements that say, Well, you have to have two parking spaces per unit or one parking space per bedroom. In many cases, that's what consumers might demand, and you would have to build that to lease out those units or to sell those condos. But if you're building in a context where you might be near a transit line, or you might be near a university campus, or you might be near a major job center, many of your renters might say, hey, actually, I would prefer to have a more affordable rental or a more affordable condo, because we know that there's no such thing as free parking. You know, if it requires a structure or excavation work, parking can easily add $50,000 to the price of a new unit, and so some consumers might want to pay for that, eat that cost, have a parking space. But many consumers, when we relax these rules and say, Hey, developers, you have the incentives and the local knowledge needed to decide how much parking to build. In many cases, we find that they share parking with other uses, so commercial during the day and residential at night, or they allow renters to opt into parking and to pay for parking, but what you get for many households is a cheaper unit. Now another rule that you mentioned, which is very important, is minimum loss size rules. This is certainly a lot more relevant. More relevant and suburban and rural context. But what we say is, if you want to be able to have a single family home, you have to be able to afford at least a certain amount of land. Now, when if you have a context where you don't have water and sewer installed, and you're operating on septic and well water, you do need larger lots as a matter of public health, but in most suburban context, these rules essentially serve no function except to increase the price of housing and the ability to determine what type of housing can be built where is the ability to determine who gets to live where. So if we say, well, you're not allowed to live in this neighborhood unless you can afford a 10,000 square foot lot or a 20,000 square foot lot, what we're essentially doing in 2024 where land is a major factor in affordability, is we're saying that a whole bunch of middle working class households are not allowed to live in these neighborhoods, or they're not allowed to ever become homeowners and start building wealth in the same way that past generations did. And you look at places like Houston, for example, where they don't have zoning, but they have a lot of zoning-like rules. In 1998 they reduced their minimum lot sizes from 5000 square feet citywide to 1400 square feet citywide. And what this did was this kicked off a townhouse and small lot single family home building boom that has helped to keep cities like Houston affordable a whole new supply of starter homes that again, offered that first step on the ladder of home ownership and wealth building. Keith Weinhold 25:52 Over the decades, home prices have outpaced incomes. There are a few reasons for that. One of them is inflation, with wages not keeping up with the real rate of inflation, but the other are barriers to development. We're talking more about that with Nolan gray. When we come back, you're listening to Get Rich Education. I'm your host, Keith Weinhold. Hey, you can get your mortgage loans at the same place where I get mine at Ridge Lending Group NMLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than any provider in the entire nation because they specialize in income properties. 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Earn 8% hundreds of others are text FAMILY to 66866, learn more about Freedom Family Investments, Liquidity Fund, on your journey to financial freedom through passive income. Text, FAMILY to 66866. Robert Kiyosaki 27:50 This is our Rich Dad, Poor Dad author, Robert Kiyosaki. Listen to Get Rich Education with Keith Weinhold, and the reason I respect Keith, he's a very strong, smart, bright young man. Keith Weinhold 28:14 Welcome back to Get Rich Education . We're talking with California, yimbys Nolan gray about zoning and how these barriers to development are compounding the affordable housing crisis, and there sure are a number of barriers to multi family production. I really think that's what wild it comes down to. You touched on it earlier, and it's something that I spoke about with our audience a month or two ago. Nolan, and that is, mmm, multi families, missing middle these two to four unit properties, duplexes to fourplexes, where they're only constructing about 40% as many of those here in recent years than they did 20 to 30 years ago. The way I think of it is when you lift barriers to multifamily production, of course, you incentivize builders. If a developer buys an acre of land for, say, $90,000 and they had planned to build one unit on that All right? Well, there's one set of inputs in income that a developer can look at. But instead, if you allow them to go from building one unit on this plot of land to two units on it, it increases their profit potential, and it incentivizes developers from that side as well. Nolan Gray 29:23 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, so there's been some great work by some friends over at the American Enterprise Institute. What they've done is they've created a nationwide map of mcmassionization risk. So when we have these conversations, we say, hey, let's allow for a range of housing typologies in more neighborhoods, duplexes, triplexes, small, low rise, multi family buildings, townhouses, the types of things that were commonly built in a range of neighborhoods before the rise of zoning. Every city in America has a neighborhood like this. That's a mixture of housing typologies. It would be illegal to build that today, but in many cases, we subject it to preservation requirements because we value it so much that we want to keep it. In any case, what happens when you don't allow that type of gradual incremental infill that keeps our communities affordable. What you get instead is the existing single family homes are converted into much larger, much more expensive single family homes. Now, again, there's nothing wrong with that. Many people might want to buy a smaller 19 fizzies bungalow and turn it into a much larger, 2500 square foot single family home, and God bless them if they want to do it. But what we have is rules on the books that say housing can only get more expensive, it can never get more affordable, or you can never unlock the wealth that's tied up in your land by building an adu or by building a duplex, or by creating more housing options for a range of households. And so that's really, really key. You know, the choice is not between, do we want our communities to change or not? The question is, do we want our communities to remain affordable and maybe change and have some more buildings built and more growth and more development. Or do we want our communities to change in the sense of they become more expensive? Folks retire and they move away, the neighborhood gradually becomes significantly more exclusionary, and young folks who moved grew up in the community can no longer afford to stay. That's the option facing many of our communities. And I think the yimby response to this is more housing construction is good and it's healthy and it's part of a thriving community. Keith Weinhold 31:02 Yeah, Nolan, when we come at this from the familial perspective, like I brought up earlier, it seems like the more zoning there is, the more it benefits seniors and incumbents, the more it benefits the silent generation, the baby boomer generation, and maybe Gen Xers, and it disadvantages millennials and Gen Zers that really don't have their place yet. Nolan Gray 31:24 Yeah, you know, it's tough. I would say it even hurts seniors, right? I mean, if they want their young adult children to be able to live near them, or, many cases, seniors like the option to be able to build an accessory dwelling unit in their backyard and maybe rent that out to friends or family, or maybe even you move into the adu and allow young adult children to move into the primary residence, or even just rent it out and have an additional source of income to supplement fixed incomes. There's reasons why folks, I think, at all different stages of their life, benefit for more flexibility in the rules that govern what can be built. Keith Weinhold 31:52 Psychologically, how do we turn one's mindset from a NIMBY mindset to a yimby mindset? I mean, if someone's got their single family ranch home that they want to live in in their senior years, and they want to see its value appreciate, so they don't want duplexes and fourplexes built next to them, rather than them saying no to turn them into saying yes. I mean, how do you get those people to understand that? Well, like this is the way for the next generation, for you to be able to live near your children and grandchildren? Nolan Gray 32:21 Yeah, that's a great point. You know, I think when you go to these public hearings around projects, you hear relentlessly about the cost of new development, right? Folks speculating about traffic and runoff and other factors parking. We get that perspective. We get bombarded with that perspective. But what we don't get is the alternative perspective of the benefits of a community, remaining relatively affordable, remaining a place where teachers and nurses and firefighters can still afford to be able to own a home and live places, allowing for the kids who grew up in a neighborhood or a city to remain there. And in fact, even just the selfish appeal to the homeowner, there's not actually any evidence that new development happening around you necessarily reduces the price of your single family home, and in some cases, it could actually signal to the market, hey, there's actually development potential on this so when you do decide to maybe sell and move on, your land is potentially going to be more valuable because it has more development potential than it might under a strict exclusionary zoning scenario. So you know, of course, you try to make the altruistic case to people. Hey, think about future generations. Think about folks who maybe want to move to this community or stay in this community, but aren't going to be able to if we don't build housing. But even so, I think there's selfish reasons. If you want to have somebody who's going to check you out at the supermarket or serve you at a restaurant or be a home care nurse, eventually you got to have housing for folks like that. In many cases, new development happening around you is going to increase your land value. Now I would just try the rage of appeals and work people through it. And in many cases, you know, I think people will understand, yeah, okay, I understand we got to have some growth. They might have a perspective on what it should look like, and that's okay. But as long as we can get some consensus that we got to have some growth to accommodate demand the form it takes, we can have a healthy discussion over. Keith Weinhold 33:57 Yeah, real community is the integration of all different types of people, and not school teachers living an hour away where they need to make a two hour round trip drive every day. Well, Nolan, as we're winding down here, can you give us any more successful zoning reform examples that maybe other communities can look to you touched on the success stories in Houston a bit. Are there some other ones? Nolan Gray 34:21 Absolutely. Yeah. So one of the most successful things we've done in California has been statewide legalization of accessory dwelling units. Yeah, that's been key. That started in 2017 and that took a lot of legislation to get us to a place where we are today, but that's resulted in something like 80,00 ADU's permitted, since 2017. That's powerful stuff, right? That's 80,000 households that might have a home, or might be able to rent out a unit to young adult child or an aging parent. Really, really powerful. So I would suggest that folks look into that. That's the lowest of the low hanging fruit. Empower homeowners to add additional units to their properties, and by the way, we also allow you use to be added to multifamily properties, and we're seeing a lot of that happen as well. At other contexts, many cities, dozens of cities across the country. Have removed their minimum parking requirements, acknowledging that, hey, this is a huge cost that we're imposing on projects, developers who are close to consumers, who have, they have the incentives and local knowledge to get this question right. Let them decide. So that's been, I think, a big success. You know, certain cities like Austin and Minneapolis, for example, they've actually sort of kept their markets back under control amid all the chaos of the pandemic real estate market fluctuations by allowing for a lot more mid rise multi family on their commercial corridors and in Job rich areas and in places near transit, that's where we have a huge shortage, is these studios and one bedrooms. So young professionals who, if they can't find that unit, they're going to go bid up the price of a two or three bedroom unit, they're going to roommate up and be living in potentially overcrowded conditions. So Austin, Minneapolis, we, relative to peers, they built a lot of housing and have seen prices stabilize as a result. So there's a lot of different success stories, you know, I would say, if you're at all interested in this, talk to your neighbors about this issue. See what sorts of solutions might make sense for your community. You know, in a suburban or a rural community, ADUs or minimum loss size reform might make sense. And an urban community, removing your parking mandates, allowing for more multifamily, allowing for missing middle, make more sense. Keith Weinhold 36:06 There sure are some encouraging signs. There was there any last thing that a person should know, especially a real estate investor type audience that's interested in buying a property and renting it out to a tenant for the production of income? Is there anything that our group really ought to know about zoning and the direction that things are moving, what to look for and what to be careful of? Nolan Gray 36:28 Well, as your audience probably knows, you know that first essential step for your mom and pop local real estate investor is often a duplex, a triplex, a four Plex, historically, that was an absolutely essential source of middle class wealth building. Yeah, right. And you can see these in so many historic neighborhoods. And to the extent that we've made those exact typologies so incredibly hard to build, we've cut off this very valuable source of democratic, decentralized wealth building that we need to actually encourage as real estate investors and professionals, in many cases, you're an authority figure with your local policymakers and your local planners, and you can say to them, Hey, here's my perspective on what's happening in the market. You know, we have a shortage of a certain type of small scale multifamily or making this case. You know, I talked to a lot of elected officials, and when I say starter home, I think they still think of the bungalow on the 5000 square foot lot with the two car garage. But a starter home in 2024 might be a townhouse, two bedroom condo, a small lot, single family home. These are the types of stories that real estate investors and professionals are trusted advocates on, and you can make that case and explain to local policymakers. Hey, here's the change that we need or explaining. Hey, I wanted to add an additional unit to a property that I own, or I wanted to redevelop a property I own to add a lot more housing. And these were the barriers that I faced that's incredibly valuable information for your local policymakers and planners. And I would say, you know, look around many US, cities and states now have very active yimby or, Yes, in my backyard groups. Go connect up with them. You could be a valuable, trusted expert for them, somebody that they can learn more about the situation with real estate markets, and they can be more effective advocates for policy that I think a lot of us would like to see. Keith Weinhold 37:58 And when it comes to changing NIMBY people to yimby people, and we look at esthetics and adu in the back, that really doesn't change aesthetics on the street front. And I've seen very smart, careful designs of duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes that really look just like single family homes from the Street View level. So there really are some ways around this. You've given us some really good ideas today. Nolan, hey, well, someone wants to learn more about you and your work and zoning. What's the best way for them to do that? Nolan Gray 38:30 Well, I'm on the platform formerly known as Twitter. I'm @mnolangray, M, N, O, L, E, N, G, R, A, y, so feel free to find me there and reach out. And I have a book Arbitrary Lines, how zoning broke the American city and how to fix it. Check that out. If you're at all interested in this, always reach out. Love to hear from folks. Thanks so much for having me, by the way. Keith Weinhold 38:50 All right, well, I hope our audience didn't zone out. It's been great. Chat with you. Nolan, thanks so much for coming on to the show. Yeah, a thought provoking discussion with California yimbys Nolan Gray there it's essentially illegal to build affordable housing in a lot of areas with the way that these zoning laws are written, allowing for more dense building that can limit this ugly urban sprawl, and this makes me think about an Instagram account that I follow. It's called how cars ruined our cities, or some names similar to that. It shows, for example, a picture of how a highway interchange in sprawling Houston has an area so large that you could fit an entire Italian town inside of it. And these sprawl problems compound when a lot size must be, say, at least a quarter acre or a half acre. The tide is turning toward allowing more dense building in some places like we touched on, but it's too bad that it took a. Visible housing crisis to make this happen. I mean, visible like more homeless people out on the street. It took that almost for municipalities to start doing something about all of this. Our guest has quite a following on X. Again, you can find his handle there @mnolangray on X and the image on his account cover it shows someone holding up a sign that reads, zoning kills dreams. Hmm, big thanks to the terrific Nolan gray today until next Monday, when I'll be back here to help you actionably build your Real Estate Wealth. I'm Keith Weinhold. Don't quit your Daydream. Unknown Speaker 40:44 Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of Get Rich Education LLC, exclusively. Keith Weinhold 41:12 The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth building, GetRichEducation.com.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz joined Tyler for a discussion that weaves through Joe's career and key contributions, including what he learned from giving an 8-lecture in Japan, how being a debater influenced his intellectual development, why he tried to abolish fraternities at Amherst, how studying Kenyan sharecropping led to one of his most influential papers, what he thinks today of Georgism and the YIMBY movement, why he was too right-wing for Cambridge, why he left Gary, Indiana, his current views on high trading volumes and liquidity, the biggest difference between him and Paul Krugman, what working in Washington, DC taught him about hierarchies, what he'll do next, and more. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video. Recorded April 22nd, 2024. Other ways to connect Follow us on X and Instagram Follow Tyler on X Follow Joseph on X Sign up for our newsletter Join our Discord Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here.
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