Build Baby Build!

I'm mostly on-board with this well-argued op-ed by Enrico Moretti, calling upon progressives in the Bay Area to get our act together on housing supply.

Thanks to aggressive lobbying by an odd coalition of Nimby homeowners and progressives — radical county supervisors, tenants’ unions, environmental groups — in places like San Francisco and Oakland, it takes years (and sometimes even decades), harsh political battles and arduous appeals to get a market-rate housing project approved.

This is no doubt true, but I also have the impression that perverse incentives arising from our tax codes are a serious obstacle, at least in places like San Jose, where inviting commercial development pays off for city coffers in a way that residential development (especially given the costs of provision of public services) does not.

Moretti does a good job laying out the adverse environmental implications of suppressing high-density housing development within the urban centers: Housing and population are pushed out into the suburbs, displacing agricultural uses and open space, expanding into fire-prone natural environments, and increasing the externalities associated with commuting.

Be a YIMBY!