Introducing a Bipartisan Policy to Address the Affordable Housing Shortage
Across the United States, cities lack adequate and affordable housing. This scarcity impedes local economies, threatens the environment, and contributes to skyrocketing homelessness.
City leaders cannot afford to wait any longer: solving the housing crisis should be a top priority for nearly every city in America today.
However, many local politicians have been held back by the intense debate around this issue. Some constituents want to see more towers in their skylines, but many others worry about how new development would impact their communities and change the places they know and love.
Thus to solve the housing crisis, we need bipartisan solutions that garner majority support and are politically viable for politicians stuck in the middle of competing interests.
Introducing the new Politas publication Housing Cities: Two New Solutions for the Housing Crisis.
Housing Cities: Two New Solutions for the Housing Crisis
This policy paper by Politas legal and public policy advisor Michael Castle-Miller and urban planner Patrick Lamson-Hall focuses on making housing more affordable in major cities by overcoming the political obstacles to new development.
Housing Cities details two new housing policy ideas:
a way to compensate neighborhood residents for development, and
how to use special development zones with delegated authority over planning
This proposal offers a truly unique path forward: it bypasses political gridlock by addressing the concerns of a broad range of Americans. For example, it gives back to the residents most affected by new development and incentivizes people who otherwise might oppose big projects in their cities.
The Politas Approach to Solving the Housing Crisis
Solving the housing crisis requires us to think carefully about the political incentives currently holding our cities back. We have to address the need for new development, and we also have to find a way to benefit residents instead of only burdening them.
This is exactly the type of work we love at Politas. We provide legal and public policy consulting to help cities overcome the political obstacles that prevent progress, including in building affordable housing.
In typical Politas fashion, the solutions we outline in Housing Cities are practical to adopt but revolutionary in their impact.
We are so excited to offer this new publication, and we hope it provokes discussion and helps lead to lasting change. We believe it is possible to build economically powerful cities where every resident feels valued and respected, and we would love to collaborate with you to make your city a place everyone can happily call home.
Read Housing Cities: Two New Solutions for the Housing Crisis.
Contact us today to discuss how we can help you implement this policy.