Upzoning and reduced regulation are not magic bullets. Indeed, almost 20 years of data from across the country consistently shows that zoning reforms alone end up producing only a fraction of the new housing the country needs.  Restrictive zoning is correctly understood to cause higher housing costs and less construction.  But the opposite turns out not to be true; reduced regulation cannot on its own create enough housing to lower costs.

There is an almost invisible web of agencies regulating bits and pieces of the housing ecosystem. Their rulemaking is typically done with neither the authority nor the requirement to consider whether their policies promote, or hinder, available and affordable housing.

Decisions being made now will have a legacy beyond our lifetimes. They will affect the economy, jobs, and taxes. They should reflect who we aspire to be, yet they are being made in a continuing, historic context of exclusionary housing policies and zoning. And they are often made by people whose life experience has been very different than the people on those long [affordable housing] waiting lists.