Federal Policy | May 17, 2024
Too Far, or Not Far Enough? The YIMBY Act Strikes Bipartisan Balance in Markup
Learn all about The YIMBY Act here. Yesterday, the House Financial Services Committee achieved a significant victory by passing the Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) Act with a unanimous 48-0 vote. Championed by Rep. Flood (R-NE1), the bill addresses the housing crisis, focusing on the 4 million home shortfall in the current market. Rep. […]
Announcement | March 13, 2024
David Garcia Joins Up for Growth as Policy Director
We are thrilled to announce the hiring of David Garcia as Up for Growth’s new Policy Director. In this role, David will build out Up for Growth’s policy and advocacy practice and portfolio, elevate innovative pro-housing policy solutions, and help Up for Growth and our partners realize a future where all people, regardless of income or background, can achieve the dream of a home in a community they choose.
SOTU | March 8, 2024
SOTU 2024: Housing Gets Its Day
Yesterday, just ahead of the State of the Union Address, the White House issued its official plan to lower housing costs for working families. Acknowledging both the difficult interest rate environment and a growing housing shortage, the plan addresses barriers to homeownership, preservation of existing housing, and the urgency of lowering costs for renters. While […]
Guest Post | October 26, 2023
Portland Boots Community Character Requirement for Senior Housing
In a decision that could have sweeping implications for senior housing projects, the City of Portland, Oregon, recently issued a decision that will significantly expand where developers can site their projects...
Housing Policy | June 29, 2023
The Role of Middle Housing in Tackling America’s Housing Challenge
From large cities and metropolitan areas to smaller cities and towns, communities across the country are grappling with rising housing costs. In most local jurisdictions, zoning ordinances have resulted in only two types of allowable housing: single-detached homes or mid- to high-rise multifamily residential buildings. Often, most land zoned for residential use only permits single-detached housing, resulting in limited housing options and ever-rising costs to buy or rent as demand for housing outpaces supply.
zoning | May 24, 2023
Land Use Regulations, Local Zoning Ordinances, and Homelessness
This piece defines land use regulations and zoning ordinances. It describes the roles that cities, counties, and states can play in adapting or implementing policies to lower housing costs and boost the affordable housing supply for low-income households.
Condo Defect Liability | January 23, 2023
How Condominium Defect Liability (CDL) Legislation Can Drive Underproduction
While protecting home buyers and tenants is essential, current policies are not well calibrated to both protect condo owners and ensure strong market conditions. In the highly litigious environments of some states, the risk of building condominiums is just too high, not only for builders and developers, but also for contractors, subcontractors, insurers, and funders.
Exclusionary Zoning | December 23, 2022
Up for Growth Action Applauds Passage of Key Housing Provisions in 2023 Omnibus Bill
The bill includes $85 million in competitive Community Development Block Grants to reward state and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations and multijurisdictional entities that eliminate or reform exclusionary zoning, discriminatory land-use policies and other local barriers to increase the supply of affordable housing.
Guest Post | November 10, 2022
Parking Reform Integral to Solving Housing Underproduction
For over 60 years, cities have imposed minimum parking mandates for most land uses, mandates whose impacts, particularly on contributing to housing underproduction, are well established. Car parking is expensive to build and maintain, and these costs are passed on to residents whether they own cars or not. An above-ground structure can easily cost $30,000 […]
Guest Post | November 4, 2022
Build housing everywhere, New York
The City Council just made a real mistake on the rezoning of a block in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn. It’s not the biggest project, but it’s consequential nonetheless for the message it sends and could be an augur of things to come. The Council had the opportunity to bring 85 units of housing to a neighborhood […]
Guest Post | August 25, 2022
Confessions of an Impact Fee Pioneer
Impact fees are part of an infrastructure financing system that, as currently configured in many local governments across the nation, acts as a strong barrier to the building of needed housing, particularly affordable homes. After years of academic and advocacy work in this area, I have developed a set of recommendations to address some of the […]
| May 16, 2022
Up for Growth Action Praises Administration’s Housing Supply Action Plan
Washington, DC – Up for Growth Action, a federal advocacy organization that advocates for policies to achieve housing equity, eliminate systemic barriers, and create more homes, today released the following statement from CEO Mike Kingsella, who praised the Biden Administration’s Housing Supply Action Plan, a multi-faceted proposal designed to address the nation’s urgent housing affordability and supply crisis: “The […]