Will Kamala Harris give YIMBYs a voice in the White House?
And can federal officials do anything about local housing rules?


You've probably heard of NIMBYs — the "not in my backyard" folks who turn up at city council meetings across the country to oppose big new housing and industrial and commercial developments. Now there's the backlash: YIMBYs ("yes in my backyard"), a movement to make housing more affordable and available by easing zoning regulations and other barriers to building. And YIMBYs are excited about Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.
"It's YIMBYs' time to shine," said Business Insider. Harris' affordable housing plan — which pledges to "cut red tape" that blocks new construction — "explicitly echoes" the YIMBY agenda. That agenda especially targets blue states and cities where permitting requirements and environmental reviews "have hamstrung efforts to build more homes." If housing is a supply-and-demand problem, then YIMBYism looks to ensure there is plenty of supply. The best way to solve America's housing shortage "is to make it permissible for people to build as much housing as they can, especially for working people," said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).
"Kamala Harris is a YIMBY," said Armand Domalewski, the co-founder of YIMBYs for Harris, to HuffPost. That might be good politics: "Housing costs are a mainstream political issue," especially in swing states like Arizona and Nevada where "rent and home prices have spiked" in recent years, said HuffPost.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What did the commentators say?
America's housing crisis "has its roots in regulations enacted by innumerable municipalities," Harvard University economist Edward L. Glaeser said at The New York Times. That's why the median-price of a single-family home now clocks in at $422,000. But those NIMBY towns won't back off the building barriers "out of the goodness of their hearts." If Harris truly wants to make a dent in the cost of housing, she'll need to threaten federal funding that goes to states and cities if they don't change course. Otherwise, "it is hard for the federal government to engineer change at the hyperlocal level."
The YIMBY movement is at a "high-water mark" of political visibility, Matthew Yglesias said at Bloomberg Opinion. President Joe Biden has been YIMBY in a "low-key way," but former President Barack Obama's endorsement of YIMBY principles in his speech at the Democratic Convention was a "thrilling moment." The problem? Restrictive zoning rules don't really explain the entirety of the housing crisis. "Tighter lending standards" adopted after the 2008 financial crisis has also "dried up" the pool of people who can get mortgages to purchase new homes. So they don't get built. "Without any eligible purchasers of cheap starter homes, it doesn't really make sense to build them," said Yglesias.
What next?
Will the 2024 presidential campaign turn on housing and YIMBYism? "To say pro-housing advocates are amped about Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign would be an understatement," Sara Libby said in The San Francisco Chronicle.
Harris and her opponent, Donald Trump, both "speak in broad strokes about cutting red tape." But their approaches are different. Project 2025 — written by former Trump administration officials, though officially disavowed by Trump himself — does call for fewer zoning regulations. It also urges that such decisions be made by local officials who "are typically the source of obstruction." Harris wants "the locals and states to streamline," UC Berkeley's research professor Ben Metcalf said to Libby. "And that is not what Trump seems to be saying."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocrat
Feature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?
Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlock
Feature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?
Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal