The tax code rewards some retirees for staying in houses that they might want to move on from. Sell, and you could owe taxes on the gains above $250K–$500K. www.niskanencenter.org/to-help-grow...

Housing lock-in may feel like a post-covid development, but tax law and inheritance rules have discouraged long-tenured homeowners from selling for over a generation.

The Niskanen Center@niskanencenter.bsky.social · last wk.

We talk about the housing shortage like it's just a construction problem, but some of the supply already exists. It's just held by owners who, if they ever wanted to sell, would take a major tax hit for doing so. www.niskanencenter.org/to-help-grow...

I have a new piece out for @searchlightinst.bsky.social! Want to make housing cheaper? Stop taxing construction so heavily for being a volatile industry Our unemployment insurance system quietly makes it more expensive to build. Here’s how: (1/12) www.searchlightinstitute.org/research/the...

The Hidden Tax on Blue-Collar Workers and Building in America

The unemployment insurance system has a design flaw that penalizes the construction industry, leading to fewer workers and lower productivity. Over time, that means less – and more expensive – housing...

searchlightinstitute.org

This type of unequal property tax treatment based on length of tenure is a crime against youth and vitality. taxfoundation.org/research/all...

F/A-18s last weekend, firefighting seaplanes this weekend. Human achievement is incredible.

Auto detailing is pretty lucrative for the time, skill, and materials involved. Plus unlike selling knives and cosmetics, friends and family are usually happy to have their car cleaned.

The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · last mo.

Young entrepreneurs are capitalizing on demand for full-service car cleaning to keep vehicles looking spiffy. on.wsj.com/4fbpXt9

Excellent report out from Pew today on preapproved residential building plans. Preapproved plan catalogs allow entrepreneurial localities to cut development costs by a few percentage points and provide developers with significant time savings in delivering new housing. 1/

The original housing packages in the Senate and House were substantive answers to the housing crisis. As Congress writes a final version, it must take the best bills from both chambers—not just settle for the overlap. See our joint Niskanen Center and Institute for Progress explainer for more:

A pro-supply to-do list for Congress’s housing bill - Niskanen Center

America is facing its worst housing crisis since the end of World War II. In a rare moment of bipartisan consensus, Congress has stepped up.

niskanencenter.org

Housing is one of the clearest places where our policies subsidize older people and disadvantage young workers and families. Property tax laws like Prop 13 (CA) arbitrarily shift public service costs onto new homeowners and discourage interstate migration. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/o...

SROs are often the first rung on the housing ladder in any area. But they are too often missing from local housing markets. A model state bill, the ROOM Act, from @ij.org and @legelawyer.bsky.social would give states a tool to overcome local restrictions.

Usability is important, and one thing I see on my local zoning appeals board with ADUs. Most ADU applicants will only ever go through this process once or twice in their lives. If we want them to build more housing, making the process straightforward is the least we can do.

Emily Hamilton@ebwhamilton.bsky.social · 5mo ago

One thing I love about most red state housing laws is they're intelligible. Not like CA where you have to really go digging to figure out how all of the laws work together.

In @thehill.com with @rohanaras.bsky.social today where we argue that surface transportation policy is not complete without considering housing. thehill.com/opinion/cong...

30+ states have now adopted policies to boost housing production. Which means exciting opportunities for researchers to study these policies' effectiveness. Some guidance from me, via @niskanencenter.bsky.social, on how to design good state policy evaluations: www.niskanencenter.org/how-to-evalu...

How to evaluate state pro-housing policies: Mind the empirical pitfalls - Niskanen Center

As more state legislatures become laboratories of housing policy experimentation, social science researchers have once-in-a-generation opportunities to evaluate how pro-housing policies are working in...

niskanencenter.org

Really good thread from Addison Del Mastro on the intersection of housing policy and natalism

Addison Del Mastro@ad-mastro.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Long thoughts in today's piece on housing, sex, privacy, and the meaning of "family-friendly housing"

Long thoughts in today's piece on housing, sex, privacy, and the meaning of "family-friendly housing"

Is YIMBYism About Sex?

Sexual mores and housing demand, and the meaning of "pro-family housing"

thedeletedscenes.com

Some interesting data on DC resident age and gender trends post covid, with millennial-age women leading the exodus and return consistent with their larger share of the District's population. ora-cfo.dc.gov/blog/populat...

Preapproved building plans represent a novel way to lower building costs and speed delivery of infill housing. After recent local leadership, nonprofits, states, and federal policy makers are taking notice. 1/

I'm in the Sun Sentinel, making the case that DeSantis's tax cuts are insufficiently conservative. www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/12/09/a...

A tax on land is the most conservative tax | Opinion

An old but conservative idea to think about amid property tax debates: People ought not to be taxed on how they improve property, but a tax on the underlying land is, in the words of Milton Friedma…

sun-sentinel.com

20th Century housing reformers largely banned single room rentals to make their externalities go away. But did so without fully accounting for the unintended consequences. As a result, it’s now harder to move to a new city and easier to go homeless. www.richmondfed.org/publications...

How your city council is elected can suppress housing production by up to 21%. Cambridge, MA, shows how an at-large city council combined with ranked choice voting can elevate citywide YIMBY coalitions proportionate to their growing support. commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/how-...

How a 1940 electoral system reform in Cambridge made its 2025 housing breakthrough possible   - CommonWealth Beacon

This is more than just a housing “win.” It’s a triumph for Cambridge’s unique brand of representative democracy—one that balances citywide priorities with fair representation for diverse communities.

commonwealthbeacon.org

- Lincoln Mark VII ($500, first car) - Lincoln Mark VII (5-sp manual swap) - Mercedes-Benz 240d (4-sp, diesel) - Chevy Cruze (diesel) - Mazda Miata (5-sp, 1.6L)

The Ranty Highwayman@rantyhighwayman.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Introduce yourself with 5 cars you've owned Car-free Vauxhall Zafira Ford Focus Ford Escort Ford Escort I haven't owned 5 cars!

🚨🚨The Senate has passed the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act as part of the NDAA! This is a historic level of bipartisan cooperation to expand Americans' access to housing. @aarmlovi.bsky.social, @awjustus.bsky.social, and @rohanaras.bsky.social unpack what's in the 310-page bill. ⬇️

1/ Learning lots about mass timber and prefab construction in a mass timber building in SE DC. The pavilion’s open design provides nice views of the air traffic out of joint base Andrews (c-5 galaxy transport aircraft pictured).

I can't stop thinking about this. We're pursuing zero fire risk in multifam, while tolerating much more in single-fam. People respond by building and living in single-fam, where they're exposed to not only one of the highest fire death risks in the developed world, but also TONS more car crash risk

Emily Hamilton@ebwhamilton.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Love this new report on buildings' relative fire safety from @alexhrwtz.bsky.social and Pew colleagues. www.pew.org/en/research-...

ND Gov. Kelly Armstrong at @yimbytown.bsky.social : on any policy change, 20% of people will be cranky & loud against, 80% are supportive but busy living their lives & don’t speak up. Ignore the 20%. Turn off your social media. Find a compelling emotional hook to engage the silent 80%.

“For every five people leaving the trades we only have 1-2 entering,” we need more career and technical education, we need more legal immigration. - ND Gov Armstrong at #yimbytown

America lost 7k construction jobs in August, and overall job growth in the sector is now at its worst pace since the pandemic Over the last year, the US has lost 31k jobs in residential construction and only gained 78k jobs in nonresidential & civil construction

The Senate Banking Committee has advanced the ROAD to Housing Act—a rare, unanimous, bipartisan package tackling America’s housing shortage. 🏘️ @aarmlovi.bsky.social, @awjustus.bsky.social, and @rohanaras.bsky.social break down what’s in this 310-page bill ⬇️

1/ The latest from Factory Seconds, @lucagattonicelli.bsky.social drives multiple minivans and discovers that all new cars are not, in fact, good. Most motorists only have chance encounters with unfamiliar vehicles, so many operate with imperfect information when comparing different ones.

I have a new piece up (first with @niskanencenter.bsky.social!) The federal government spends billions of dollars on transit each year. What can the feds do to get more on the dollar? Two things: - Create an Army Corp for transit projects - Incentivize legalizing housing near transit

Making federal transit dollars work: Two reforms for better value - Niskanen Center

American transit investments regularly underdeliver compared to the potential of the infrastructure built and the amount of money invested.

niskanencenter.org