YIMBYs’ Premature Victory Dance at the DNC
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Rent Free.
This week’s newsletter takes a look at some of the pro-housing supply lines that made it into the programming at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and whether this is proof of a much-hyped YIMBY takeover of the party.
YIMBYs Triumphant at the DNC?
During his remarks on the third night of the DNC, former President Barack Obama said Vice President Kamala Harris knows “if we want to make it easier for more young people to buy a home, we need to build more units and clear away some of the outdated laws and regulations that made it harder to build homes for working people in this country. That is a priority.”
During her own acceptance speech, Harris sandwiched a brief promise to “end America’s housing shortage” in between calls to provide capital to small businesses and protect entitlement programs.
The response from YIMBY activists and fellow traveling wonks, academics, and journalists—who all favor liberalizing zoning and land use regulations as a way of increasing housing supply and bringing down housing costs—has been ecstatic.
At Bloomberg, Matthew Yglesias called YIMBY the “breakout star” of the convention. Business Insider said Obama had pushed Democrats into their “YIMBY era.” Mother Jones and Politico likewise ran articles on YIMBYs’ increasing sway over Democrats’ agenda and priorities.
Harris’ solitary mention of “ending America’s housing shortage” made her the “most pro-housing candidate” said the Center for New Liberalism, a think tank, on X.
Certainly, getting a former president’s explicit endorsement of your policy agenda, and having a presidential candidate wink at it during their high-profile convention speeches, is a significant win for Democratic YIMBYs.
It’s evidence that the YIMBY worldview is swaying Democratic elites. Obama’s remarks in particular are evidence that some Democratic elites think YIMBY policies aren’t just correct, but also worth running on.
That’s all a far cry from former president Donald Trump’s explicit NIMBYism and Sen. J.D. Vance’s (R–Ohio) plan to lower housing costs through mass deportations of immigrants.
Settling Down
With all that said, the DNC offered a lot less evidence of a YIMBY takeover of the Democratic party than many commenters are claiming. It’s also far from clear that a Harris-Walz administration will actually advance YIMBY priorities and improve housing affordability.
While the need to build more homes got more attention at this DNC than at past conventions, it was hardly the center of the agenda.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, perhaps the most outspoken and active YIMBY Democratic governor, didn’t mention housing in his DNC remarks.
Former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge, in her convention remarks, only recited Harris’ goal of building 3 million new homes, plus her policies of limiting rent increases and subsidizing down payments. She did not mention liberalizing zoning, eliminating parking minimums, streamlining permitting, or other YIMBY reforms that could deliver those 3 million units.
Harris’ rhetorical commitme
Article from Reason.com
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