Tennessee-based policy analyst Justin Hayes is writing a series of articles in which he “aim[s] to explore issues that could have broader appeal among the left, right, libertarians, and centrists on multiple fronts — from economic and philosophical perspectives to constitutional considerations and beyond.” The first piece in the series focuses on the issue of exclusionary zoning:
As the U.S. grapples with a deepening affordable housing crisis, YIMBY (Yes-In-My-Backyard) Groups have sprouted around the country to advocate for major reforms to the exclusionary zoning practices prevalent in most major cities. These zoning policies often prioritize single-family homes and hinder the construction of more affordable housing options for low- and middle-income residents. A 2022 paper by Jonathan Levine describes the YIMBY movement as “a loose and shifting pro-housing alliance of renters, progressives, and libertarians who hold that exclusionary land-use policies in urban and suburban areas exacerbate housing unaffordability and racial segregation and increase long-distance commuting and greenhouse-gas emissions.”
These coalitions primarily focus on zoning reform within local or metropolitan jurisdictions, where traditional party and ideological lines blur, and national culture wars have a limited reach,…
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