Paul G. Lewis and Nicholas J. Marantz recently published Regional Governance and the Politics of Housing in the San Francisco Bay Area (Temple University Press, 2023).
The Bay Area is generally considered the most expensive regional housing market in the country. Because the region added jobs and residents at a faster rate than housing, rents and home prices escalated. Moreover, small municipalities, common in the most job-rich parts of the Bay Area, have strong political incentives to resist development of new multifamily housing. Meanwhile, regional agencies tasked to address area-wide problems lack the authority and motivation to effectively promote housing development near jobs.
Regional Governance and the Politics of Housing in the San Francisco Bay Area explains how a decentralized, localistic structure of government shapes land-use politics in ways that exacerbate housing shortages and inequalities. The authors evaluate six potential reforms, arguing that targeted changes to local and regional institutions could generate durable improvements to the region’s housing opportunities.
For a limited-time 25% discount, use code PHSF23 when ordering from the Temple University Press website here.
