Housing

California’s Housing Problems Require a Better Solution than Densify, Densify, Densify

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The Palisades and Eaton fires represent thousands of personal tragedies, but they also constitute a collective disaster, adding new housing shortages to California’s already massive shortfall  read more »

Smart Growth Burns Thousands of Homes

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Los Angeles city and regional planners are just as responsible for the Palisades, Eaton, and other fires that have burned in the past few days as if they had poured gasoline on the homes and lit the matches.  read more »

Even Hollywood is Turning on LA Mayor Karen Bass

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After her election as mayor of Los Angeles in 2022, Karen Bass was a heroine of California’s Left. A former backer of Fidel Castro, she decisively defeated billionaire businessman Rick Caruso  read more »

New Report: Bad Climate for Housing

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From the start, California’s “landmark” climate law recognized that because global warming is a planetary wide phenomena , the state could only have “far-reaching” effects by “encouraging other states, the federal government, and other countries to act.” To achieve this goal, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and leaders, charged with crafting climate policy, could have chosen to preserve the state’s quality of life – the “California Dream” – while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving climate resiliency.  read more »

A Quarter Century of Net Domestic Migration

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Between 2000 and 2024, there has been substantial movement between the states — net domestic migration. The source of the data is the Census Bureau population estimates program  read more »

The Aging States of America

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The United States is experiencing rapid growth in its older population, a triumphant result of long-term investments in health and medicine.  read more »

The Real Reason for America's Housing Crisis

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Back in September, I wrote a piece that highlighted a notable but underestimated accomplishment in Chicago’s housing market.  read more »

California's Latest Excuse for Bungling Affordable Housing and Homelessness

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Last week CalMatters – which has become a prime go-to source for coverage of news, and especially politics, in California – published a story that can only be described as infuriating.  read more »

Canadians Moving to Smaller Cities and Rural Areas

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For the last two centuries, one of the most important demographic trends has been the movement of people from rural areas to the cities.  read more »

How Harris Obstructed California Home Construction

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Kamala Harris has a plan to help America’s struggling home buyers by increasing the supply of houses. Her recently released 82-page policy book, “A New Way Forward for the Middle Class,” calls for clearing away the “regulatory burden” and “red tape” that constrains new-home construction.  read more »