U.S. Housing | Insights and Stories

No Place Like Home: Selling ‘Inclusionary Housing’ in a California Town

“Is there a reason none of your email addresses...

The Grandmother v. The Theft

Geraldine Tyler, the 94-year-old Minneapolis woman at the center of next month’s argument before the Supreme Court.

Peyman Pakdel and his wife, Sima are the kind of neighbors most people want. Peyman is an engineer who worked his way up to become part-owner of a small manufacturing company, Sima is a dentist with a family practice.

Béton Brut

Can society be designed? Can an expert engineer alleviate people’s pains and struggles with a good-enough central plan and blueprint?

The Setup

In 1902, William Warley was getting ready to graduate from Central High School in Louisville, Kentucky. Warley, as one of the top students at Central and a leader of his class, was a bright, charismatic young Black man looking to make his mark on a country that didn’t yet value your intellect—or your rights—if you were the wrong color.

Kanye Clashes with Los Angeles Over Project to Fight Homelessness

Kanye West is one of the most famous hip hop artists and fashion designers in the world.

Acclaimed Indie Filmmakers Show the Evils of Zoning Without Mentioning Zoning Once

In classic westerns the conflicts are straightforward.

Britain’s Socialist Experiment and Margaret Thatcher’s Capitalist Solution

When I was growing up in a single-parent family in 1980s Britain, my mother and I were proud of our flat.

Interview with a CEO: How Capitalism Got Blamed for the Fiscal Crisis

The market crash of 2008 was the worst financial crisis in a generation. Millions of people lost their jobs, their homes, and their livelihood.

The State of Housing in America

Much has changed in America over the last 60 years. When it comes to housing, we have witnessed a dramatic downward shift in both accessibility and affordability. Before we can ﬁgure out how we got here and decide what steps can be taken to plot a new course, we must ﬁrst assess the current situation. How much more distant is the American Dream today than it was back then?

Fighting on All Fronts For Housing Affordability

The affordable housing crisis facing America today is complex. No single villain exists.

Houston’s Booming Housing Market Is Economics 101

Houston, Texas, is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the entire United States.

Why No City Wants to Be Seattle

City planners tremble as they whisper a new term that embodies their fears: “Seattle-ization.” Washington’s Emerald City, once the byword for urban vitality, is now outpacing San Francisco as a cautionary tale in how over-regulation strangles the housing market.

The Destructive Power of Rent Control

Bomb damage or rent control? That was the caption under a series of photographs in a 1981 book about rent control across the world. Looking at the photos, it was impossible to tell the difference.

Uri Rafaeli’s Fight to End State-Sanctioned Property Theft

When I graduated from law school in Michigan in 2008, the state had fallen on hard economic times, even before the nation’s Great Recession.

Housing Affordability and Land Regulation

The ratio of the median house price by the median gross (before tax) annual household income.

The Government-Created Housing Shortage

The American spirit is synonymous with a can-do attitude—we are builders, creators, and innovators.

An Elevator Pitch—in China

Richard Bartel and Ellen Stok discovered Pacific Legal Foundation in 2008 in the most unlikely place—an elevator in Lijiang, China. The Aptos, California, couple was on a round-the-world charter flight, when their stop in Tibet was diverted to the far-off southwest Chinese village of Lijiang.

The Right to Rebuild

On October 10, 2016, Michael and Cathy Zito’s beach home at Nags Head, North Carolina, burned to the ground. Luckily no one was hurt, but as the Zitos were about to discover, the sadness of losing their dream home was nothing compared to the bureaucratic nightmare that followed.

Do Millennials Even Want to Own Homes?

Is the American Dream of home ownership really dead in the hearts and minds of millennials, or is it just waiting for them to be able to afford it?

Housing