Housing
Blog
More Californians plan exit as home prices top $900K
More Californians plan exit as home prices top $900K By Steven Greenhut | August 22, 2024 When I received a job offer to move from Northwest Ohio to Orange County, Calif., in the 1990s, I thought that I had hit the lottery. The 3.1-million-population county has nearly perfect weather, idyllic beaches, ...
Steven Greenhut
August 22, 2024
Blog
High-density policies turning cities into child-free zones
J.D. Vance would not like living in Sausalito. A mere 9% of the city’s residents, the San Francisco Chronicle recently reported, are under 18, making it “one of the handful of communities in California with at least 5,000 people where less than 1 in 10 residents is a child.” Looking ...
D. Dowd Muska
August 9, 2024
Blog
LA mayor slowly dismantles her successful housing plan
LA mayor slowly dismantles her successful housing plan Sal Rodriguez | August 8, 2024 Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass continues to walk back her most successful initiative to bring much needed housing on the market. On July 1, Bass issued her third revision to Executive Directive 1, which she notes ...
Sal Rodriguez
August 8, 2024
Blog
Don’t expect housing fixes from the federal government
The heat of a presidential election – especially one that’s seen highly unusual and disruptive events, from an attempted assassination attempt the late-stage replacement of a candidate – is rarely a good time to discuss nuanced policy. Less than 100 days from the vote, both candidates mainly toss out vague ...
Steven Greenhut
July 31, 2024
Blog
Boom town or bust? Developers postpone new-city plan
The developers apparently ran into bad polling and a negative report from Solano County questioning funding sources for related infrastructure. Taking more time and getting the bureaucratic papers and all the infrastructure funding and governance details in order will address some of the arguments the NIMBYs (Not In My Back ...
John Seiler
July 30, 2024
Blog
Why Dallas permits more housing than all of California
In April, the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area permitted more housing than all of California, meaning that on a per-capita basis, DFW permitted five times as much housing as the Golden State. Given that interest rates are the same nationwide, how is one metro area permitting more new housing than the largest state in the ...
Kenneth Schrupp
July 23, 2024
Business & Economics
Biden’s rent-control plan will only make America’s housing crisis worse
President Joe Biden is suggesting that a federal limit on annual rent increases in residential units will ease housing costs. This is what happens when economist Milton Friedman isn’t “running the show”: Policymakers follow ideas that make the problem they say they’re solving infinitely worse. “While the prior administration gave special ...
Kerry Jackson
July 22, 2024
Blog
Read latest about Seattle's housing woes
Seattle’s revised housing plan is still too restrictive
Harrell describes the plan as “bold” and says it takes a “deliberate and tailored approach – bringing a greater diversity of housing types to every neighborhood, uplifting the voices of neighbors and vulnerable communities, and building a city where teachers, baristas and working families can afford to live.” To its ...
Sal Rodriguez
July 10, 2024
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: A Bad Idea for California’s Housing Woes: Commandeering Your Spare Bedroom
A rather alarming idea for solving the United Kingdom’s housing crisis has been put forward in a recent study. Californians better hope the idea stays on that side of the Atlantic. If Sacramento or a city hall picks up on it, they might find themselves with unwanted “guests” in their ...
Kerry Jackson
July 8, 2024
California
Read the latest on the CA home insurance crisis
Another California crisis that can be solved with state officials getting out of the way
California’s home insurance market is deeply troubled. A former insurance commissioner said it’s “in chaos.” Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara calls it “a real crisis.” Using more colorful language, the president of a Los Angeles agency told The San Francisco Standard that “if there’s a major event” before the market is fixed, ...
Kerry Jackson
June 23, 2024
More Californians plan exit as home prices top $900K
More Californians plan exit as home prices top $900K By Steven Greenhut | August 22, 2024 When I received a job offer to move from Northwest Ohio to Orange County, Calif., in the 1990s, I thought that I had hit the lottery. The 3.1-million-population county has nearly perfect weather, idyllic beaches, ...
High-density policies turning cities into child-free zones
J.D. Vance would not like living in Sausalito. A mere 9% of the city’s residents, the San Francisco Chronicle recently reported, are under 18, making it “one of the handful of communities in California with at least 5,000 people where less than 1 in 10 residents is a child.” Looking ...
LA mayor slowly dismantles her successful housing plan
LA mayor slowly dismantles her successful housing plan Sal Rodriguez | August 8, 2024 Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass continues to walk back her most successful initiative to bring much needed housing on the market. On July 1, Bass issued her third revision to Executive Directive 1, which she notes ...
Don’t expect housing fixes from the federal government
The heat of a presidential election – especially one that’s seen highly unusual and disruptive events, from an attempted assassination attempt the late-stage replacement of a candidate – is rarely a good time to discuss nuanced policy. Less than 100 days from the vote, both candidates mainly toss out vague ...
Boom town or bust? Developers postpone new-city plan
The developers apparently ran into bad polling and a negative report from Solano County questioning funding sources for related infrastructure. Taking more time and getting the bureaucratic papers and all the infrastructure funding and governance details in order will address some of the arguments the NIMBYs (Not In My Back ...
Why Dallas permits more housing than all of California
In April, the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area permitted more housing than all of California, meaning that on a per-capita basis, DFW permitted five times as much housing as the Golden State. Given that interest rates are the same nationwide, how is one metro area permitting more new housing than the largest state in the ...
Biden’s rent-control plan will only make America’s housing crisis worse
President Joe Biden is suggesting that a federal limit on annual rent increases in residential units will ease housing costs. This is what happens when economist Milton Friedman isn’t “running the show”: Policymakers follow ideas that make the problem they say they’re solving infinitely worse. “While the prior administration gave special ...
Read latest about Seattle's housing woes
Seattle’s revised housing plan is still too restrictive
Harrell describes the plan as “bold” and says it takes a “deliberate and tailored approach – bringing a greater diversity of housing types to every neighborhood, uplifting the voices of neighbors and vulnerable communities, and building a city where teachers, baristas and working families can afford to live.” To its ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: A Bad Idea for California’s Housing Woes: Commandeering Your Spare Bedroom
A rather alarming idea for solving the United Kingdom’s housing crisis has been put forward in a recent study. Californians better hope the idea stays on that side of the Atlantic. If Sacramento or a city hall picks up on it, they might find themselves with unwanted “guests” in their ...
Read the latest on the CA home insurance crisis
Another California crisis that can be solved with state officials getting out of the way
California’s home insurance market is deeply troubled. A former insurance commissioner said it’s “in chaos.” Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara calls it “a real crisis.” Using more colorful language, the president of a Los Angeles agency told The San Francisco Standard that “if there’s a major event” before the market is fixed, ...