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Blockers and Pillars come from Up for Growth’s housing framework.

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October 5, 2026 FOOTNOTES | ANALYSIS

FHA apartment loan limits should now keep pace with construction costs

Section 211 of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act resets FHA’s per-unit multifamily loan limits and ties future annual adjustments to multifamily construction costs, helping preserve financing capacity as development costs rise.
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June 23, 2026 WRITING | ESSAY

The $546,000 Door

Chris LaGrand and I explain why Build America, Buy America lands hardest on affordable deals, where capped rents and fixed awards leave added costs nowhere to hide.
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May 28, 2026 FOOTNOTES | NOTE

Building near transit pencils out for cities

Where a home is built changes what it costs a city to serve it. The fiscal math on infill and the housing math point in the same direction.
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March 24, 2026 WRITING | ESSAY

Why limiting investment time horizons for build-to-rent communities is bad for affordable housing

I explain why treating purpose-built rental neighborhoods like scattered investor-owned homes risks shrinking the capital stack behind new housing supply.
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February 27, 2026 SPEAKING | KEYNOTE

Federal housing policy and the states

Remarks at the Council of State Governments East housing event on the emerging federal housing supply agenda, what is moving in Congress, and why state action remains decisive.
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July 29, 2021 WRITING | ESSAY

Ending single-family zoning? Not quite.

I separate what zoning reform can do from what it cannot, arguing for more housing options without pretending land-use reform solves every constraint.
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June 12, 2020 WRITING | ESSAY

The downstream impacts of the rental crisis

I follow missed rent payments through owners, workers, lenders, local governments, and future development to show how a rental shock propagates.
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April 25, 2019 WRITING | ESSAY

The Cautionary Tale of Portland’s Inclusionary Housing Policy

Noel Johnson and I examine Portland's permit data after inclusionary housing took effect and argue the policy was reducing housing production at most income levels.
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March 8, 2019 WRITING | ESSAY

It’s not just more supply – addressing existing housing plays an important role in curing America’s broken housing ecosystem

I argue that housing policy has to distinguish shortage from vacancy, quality, preservation, and affordability problems because different markets fail in different ways.
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January 18, 2019 WRITING | ESSAY

A Housing Agenda for Rural America

I use a visit to Mason County, Washington, to show that rural communities face their own housing shortage, and what local, state, and federal policy could do.
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