Affordable housing is a persistent challenge in American politics. Bad public policy leads to artificial housing supply restrictions which causes prices to rise. But stimulating housing supply to bring costs down is a thorny issue.
The latest episode of Giving Ventures brings together Sonja Trauss from Yes in My Backyard and Charles Gardner from the Mercatus Center to explore how grassroots advocacy and deregulation can make housing more abundant and more affordable. Sonja is the Founder and Executive Director of Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY), a grassroots organization that aims to address the housing shortage by advocating for policies that promote affordable housing. Charles is a Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, where he explores housing policy, zoning, and land use. He brings a legal background and experience as an elected official in Connecticut to his work on housing policy.
“Not in my backyard!” is a common refrain from those irksome neighbors who would thwart any effort to increase the housing supply in their neighborhood. These “NIMBYs” are more than mere get-off-my-lawn grumps; they’re having a serious effect on costs of living in many cities and communities across the United States. NIMBYs oppose new building projects like multi-family apartment complexes they think will harm their own property values. The effect is less housing, which drives up the cost of living—especially in major metropolitan areas.
By leveraging zoning and land-use restrictions, building regulations, and other local requirements, NIMBYs can forestall, prevent, and even ban efforts to increase housing supply. Sonja and Charles point to local grassroots activism and policy reform at the state level as crucial areas of engagement for those working to lower housing costs in the U.S.
Saying “Yes!”
In recent years, a new coalition of YIMBYs—that’s those who say “Yes in my backyard!”—has emerged. To galvanize this movement, Sonja Trauss formed Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY), a 501(c)(3) public charity at the forefront of advocacy for affordable and sustainable housing. YIMBY’s mission is to dismantle the regulatory barriers that hinder housing development in high-demand areas.
In the interview, Sonja points out that much of the housing supply problem stems from excessive government interference, particularly through zoning laws that prioritize property values over the needs of communities. YIMBY is dedicated to challenging these policies by promoting education, advocacy, and legal reforms.
YIMBY’s approach is multifaceted. The organization operates with a dual structure: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit for educational and legal pursuits, and a counterpart 501(c)(4) for political advocacy, which endorses candidates and advocates for and against legislative proposals. This strategic setup enables the YIMBY movement to effectively tackle housing issues on multiple fronts, from community organizing to shaping public policy.
YIMBY’s approach is rooted in the belief that government overreach is a significant barrier to housing development. “When it comes to housing supply, the government is the problem,” Sonja says, highlighting how zoning laws often serve to preserve property values at the expense of broader economic growth. By mobilizing grassroots support, YIMBY chapters have successfully shifted the narrative in cities like Berkeley and Chicago, demonstrating the power of local organizing.
The organization’s success lies in its ability to unify people across political lines with a commitment to focusing on housing issues without getting entangled in broader political debates. This focus allows Sonja’s team to maintain a coalition of diverse supporters who are all committed to the singular goal of increasing housing supply.
State-Level Reforms
The Mercatus Center uses research to demonstrate the power of free-market principles to address housing affordability. A senior fellow who works on Mercatus’ Urbanity Project, Charles argues that the primary cause of housing costs is restrictive local land-use regulations that stifle housing supply. As a result, “the supply is simply not meeting the current market demand for housing.” The failure is not of markets but of overbearing government regulation that prevents developers from raising supply to meet demand.
Mercatus’ empirical work emphasizes the need for state-level reforms to address the local regulatory barriers that stand in the way. Charles and his colleagues find that states can play a pivotal role in setting limits on local zoning laws and other regulations, enabling the market to meet housing demand more effectively. “States can reassert their authority in the housing realm and rein in some of the places in which localities have overstepped,” he explains. These state policies would disarm NIMBYs’ use of local regulations to thwart building projects.
Charles cites successful examples like Houston, Texas, where deregulation has led to a housing boom and maintained a more affordable cost of living. By following Houston’s example, Charles hopes, policymakers across the U.S. can promote more abundant and affordable housing markets in their states.
