UCLA Housing Voice

Ep. 94: Ride-hailing for People with Disabilities with Abigail Cochran (Road Scholars pt. 4)

For people with disabilities, ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft can be a lifeline or a pain — or both. Abigail Cochran shares what she learned from individuals with disabilities about what’s working and what’s not. Show Notes: Cochran, A. L. (2022). How and why do people with disabilities use app-based ridehailing? Case Studies on Transport Policy, 10(4), 2556-2562. 99% Invisible podcast episode on the “curb cut effect.” Venkataram, P. S., Flynn, J. A., Bhuiya, M. M. R., Barajas, J. M., &...

Ep. 93: Equity Requirements in US Shared Micromobility Programs with Anne Brown (Road Scholars pt. 3)

Shared micromobility programs offering scooters and bikes have exploded across the US in recent years, but the benefits haven't been shared evenly. Anne Brown joins to discuss the equity goals and mandates cities are requiring of operators, and which seem to be most effective. Show Notes: Brown, A., & Howell, A. (2024). Mobility for the people: Equity requirements in US shared micromobility programs . Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research, Volume 2, 2024, 100020,ISSN 2950-1059, https...

Ep. 92: How Housing Influences Transportation Choices with Adam Millard-Ball (Road Scholars pt. 2)

Do people drive less because they live in buildings that don’t provide parking, or do they live in buildings that don’t provide parking because they drive less? That question has huge implications for how we build and rebuild our cities, yet researchers have struggled for decades to answer it conclusively. UCLA professor Adam Millard-Ball joins us to discuss new research that finally — we hope — puts the question to bed. Taking advantage of San Francisco’s affordable housing lottery, Millard-Bal...

Ep 91: Neighborhood Change and Transit Ridership with Mike Manville (Road Scholars pt. 1)

Many studies have looked at the effects of new transit infrastructure on housing prices, gentrification, and other neighborhood changes. But how does housing policy — specifically rising rents and worsening affordability — affect transit? Mike Manville takes the guest seat in the first episode of our four-part series on transportation research: Road Scholars. Show Notes Manville, M., King, H., Matute, J., & Lau, T. (2024). Neighborhood change and transit ridership: Evidence from Los Angeles ...

Ep 90: How to Evaluate Zoning Reforms with Aaron Barrall pt. 2

When a city proposes zoning changes, how do you know whether they’ll be effective? Aaron Barrall shares how we approached the problem in Los Angeles, with lessons for similar upzoning efforts around the world. This is the second episode in a two-part conversation. Show notes: Barrall, A., & Phillips, S. (2024). CHIPing In: Evaluating the effects of LA’s Citywide Housing Incentive Program on neighborhood development potential. UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. YouTube recording o...

Road Scholars Trailer

Ep 89: How to Evaluate Zoning Reforms with Aaron Barrall pt. 1

When a city proposes zoning changes, how do you know whether they’ll be effective? Aaron Barrall shares how we approached the problem in Los Angeles, with lessons for similar upzoning efforts around the world. This is the first episode in a two-part conversation. Show notes: Barrall, A., & Phillips, S. (2024). CHIPing In: Evaluating the effects of LA’s Citywide Housing Incentive Program on neighborhood development potential. UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. YouTube recording of...

Ep 88: Improving Voucher Outcomes with Dionissi Aliprantis

Helping people move to higher-opportunity neighborhoods requires knowing which neighborhoods are actually better. Are we any good at it? Dionissi Aliprantis shares his research on measuring neighborhood opportunity and the rent assistance program features that could meaningfully reduce racial segregation. Show notes: Aliprantis, D., Martin, H., & Tauber, K. (2024). What determines the success of housing mobility programs? Journal of Housing Economics, 65, 102009. 99% Invisible episode on cha...

Ep 87: Rental Voucher Lease-Up Rates with Sarah Strochak

Housing Choice vouchers help lower-income tenants pay rent, yet only about 60% of issued vouchers result in a successful lease-up. Sarah Strochak joins to share how lease-up rates vary for different groups and markets, and how reforming voucher policies could improve the lease-up process and get more people into affordable homes. Show notes: Ellen, I. G., O’Regan, K., & Strochak, S. (2024). Race, Space, and Take Up: Explaining housing voucher lease-up rates. Journal of Housing Economics, 63,...

Ep 86: Where the Hood At? with Mike Lens

How have conditions changed since 1970 in neighborhoods where Black residents are the largest racial or ethnic group? Mike Lens wrote a whole book on the subject: Where the Hood At? Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods . He takes the guest mic to share what he learned. Book summary: Substantial gaps exist between Black Americans and other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., most glaringly Whites, across virtually all quality-of-life indicators. Despite strong evidence that neighborhood...

Ep 85: Wildfires, Displacement and Housing Prices with Hannah Hennighausen

On January 7th, the Palisades and Eaton fires erupted in Los Angeles, killing dozens of people, displacing tens of thousands, and destroying more than 15,000 structures. What will this mean for housing affordability in the already-strained region? Hannah Hennighausen joins to share her research on the 2018 Camp Fire's effect on housing prices and migration, and its lessons for LA and other cities threatened by natural disasters. Show notes: Hennighausen, H., & James, A. (2024). Catastrophic ...

Ep 84: A Review of Rent Control Research with Konstantin Kholodilin

Rent control is one of the most hotly debated housing policies, and also one of the most researched. Konstantin Kholodilin reviewed over 200 rent control studies, dating back decades and spanning six continents, and he joins us to give an overview of their results. Show notes: Kholodilin, K. A. (2024). Rent control effects through the lens of empirical research: An almost complete review of the literature. Journal of Housing Economics, 101983. Konstantin’s massive database of rent control polici...

Encore Episode: Family-Friendly Urbanism with Louis Thomas

In most of the U.S., cities are for singles, roommates, and childless couples, and the suburbs are for raising kids. That’s not true of much of the rest of the world, and perhaps the nearest example of family-friendly urbanism can be found just a few miles to the north, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Vancouver’s under-15 population fell by one percent citywide between 1996 and 2016, but in downtown specifically, its youth population nearly tripled. Louis Thomas, lecturer at Georgetown Universit...

Ep 83: Local Effects of Upzoning with Simon Büchler and Elena Lutz

Urban upzonings have been rare across the world, and many of the most significant occurred only in the past 5–10 years or less. One exception is the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, where cities and towns have been relaxing land use restrictions for over 25 years. Simon Büchler and Elena Lutz share their research on the long-term effects of these reforms on housing supply and rents, and the kinds of zoning changes that produce real-world results. Show notes: Büchler, S., & Lutz, E. (2024). Mak...

Ep 82: Lessons From the UK Housing Shortage with Anthony Breach

What happens to housing quality and affordability when any proposed development can be vetoed? Can the public sector reliably deliver most of the housing that people need? If it can, should it? Ant Breach shares insights from the Centre for Cities’ report on the United Kingdom’s homebuilding crisis. Show notes: Watling, S., & Breach, A. (2023). The housebuilding crisis: The UK’s 4 million missing homes. Center for Cities. Watling, S. (2023). Why Britain doesn’t build. Works In Progress. Epis...

Ep 81: How New Zealand Passed Its Ambitious Zoning Reforms with Eleanor West

In a previous episode we discussed Auckland’s unprecedented upzoning and its effect on housing production and land prices. This time we’re joined by Eleanor West to talk about the political, social, and economic conditions that made the reforms possible — not only in Auckland, but across New Zealand. Show notes: West, E. (2024). Up-zoning New Zealand: the localisation of a globally mobile policy idea (Policy paper no. 003). University of Auckland: Economic Policy Centre, Urban and Spatial Econom...

Ep 80: Inclusionary Housing Goes International with Anna Granath Hansson

Inclusionary zoning policies are commonly used to produce affordable housing and “social mix” in the U.S., but what about in Europe, where public housing and strong social welfare programs have historically met those needs? Anna Granath Hansson shares research on emerging inclusionary housing policies in the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Show notes: Granath Hansson, A., Sørensen, J., Nordahl, B. I., & Tophøj Sørensen, M. (2024). Contrasting inclusionary housing initi...

Ep 79: Who Pays For Inclusionary Zoning with Shane Phillips

Inclusionary zoning policies use the market to produce affordable housing, but nothing comes for free. So who pays? Shane takes the guest seat to discuss his analysis of IZ in Los Angeles, making the case that it’s not developers or high-income renters who bear the cost, but all renters — poor, middle income, and wealthy alike. Show notes: Phillips, S. (2024). Modeling Inclusionary Zoning’s Impact on Housing Production in Los Angeles: Tradeoffs and Policy Implications. UC Berkeley Terner Center ...

Encore Episode: Inclusionary Zoning with Emily Hamilton

Cities have lived with exclusionary zoning for decades, if not generations. Is inclusionary zoning the answer? Inclusionary zoning, or IZ, requires developers to set aside a share of units in new buildings for low- or moderate-income households, seeking to increase the supply of affordable homes and integrate neighborhoods racially and socioeconomically. But how well does it accomplish these goals? This week we’re joined by the Mercatus Center’s Dr. Emily Hamilton to discuss her research on how ...

Encore Episode: Market-Rate Development and Neighborhood Rents with Evan Mast

We’ve long known that building more homes helps keep prices in check at the regional or metro area level, but what about the house down the street? Evan Mast shares two research studies that shed light on this important and controversial question. Originally aired in 2021. Updated show notes. Show notes: Mast, E. (2023). JUE Insight: The effect of new market-rate housing construction on the low-income housing market. Journal of Urban Economics, 133, 103383. Asquith, B. J., Mast, E., & Reed, ...

Ep 78: Building Height and Construction Costs with Anthony Orlando

Building taller lets us fit more homes on valuable urban land, but more homes doesn’t necessarily mean more affordable. Anthony Orlando joins to share his research on why taller isn’t always better — and the circumstances where it definitely is. Show notes: Eriksen, M. D., & Orlando, A. W. (2022). Returns to scale in residential construction: The marginal impact of building height. Real Estate Economics, 50(2), 534-564. Episode 69 of UCLA Housing Voice, with Mike Eriksen discussing the Low I...

Ep 77: Upzoning With Strings Attached with Jacob Krimmel and Maxence Valentin

Changing zoning rules to allow taller and denser buildings may cause land values to go up, and public officials may try to “capture” this added value by requiring affordable units in new developments. But what happens when costs and benefits are out of balance? Seattle offers a cautionary tale. Show notes: Krimmel, J., & Wang, B. (2023). Upzoning With Strings Attached: Evidence From Seattle’s Affordable Housing Mandate. Cityscape, 25(2), 257-278. City of Seattle webpage for the Mandatory Hou...

Ep 76: How Housing Supply Responds to Rising Demand with Nathaniel Baum-Snow

When the demand for housing rises, which kinds of neighborhoods respond by building more homes, and which just get more expensive? Nathaniel Baum-Snow joins to discuss his research on the different responses of urban, suburban, and exurban neighborhoods, and the many forms “supply” can take. Show notes: Baum-Snow, N., & Han, L. (2024). The Microgeography of Housing Supply. Journal of Political Economy, 132(6), 1897-1946. Alameldin, M., & Karlinsky, S. 2024). Construction Defect Liability...

Ep 75: Segregating the Built Environment with Ann Owens

We often talk about residential segregation by race or income, but we rarely explore it in the literal sense — as in segregation of residences: of one kind of housing from another. Ann Owens joins to discuss her research on how segregation manifests itself in our built environment in cities and neighborhoods across the U.S. Show notes: Owens, A. (2019). Building inequality: Housing segregation and income segregation. Sociological Science, 6, 497. Rich, P., & Owens, A. (2023). Neighborhood–Sc...

Ep 74: Racial (and Spatial) Disparities in Rental Assistance with Andrew Fenelon

Black households make up a disproportionate share of rent assistance recipients. Andrew Fenelon discusses how a “two-tiered approach to housing support" favoring white homeowners helped create the disparity. Show notes: Fenelon, A. (2024). Race, housing policy, and the demographic and spatial structure of modern housing programs: Who receives rental assistance and where do they live? Journal of Urban Affairs, 46(5), 944-961. Streets.MN article about the Bryant Avenue Bike Path (with photos). Epi...

Ep 73: French For-Profit Social Housing Developers with Julie Pollard

Before the 2000s, French real estate developers were prohibited from building social housing. Today, they build more than half of it. Julie Pollard shares how two seemingly unrelated policies came together to make this rapid shift possible. Show notes: Pollard, J. (2023). The political conditions of the rise of real-estate developers in French housing policies. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 41(2), 274-291. Read about the Clichy-Batignolles eco-district (in English). Episode 20 ...

Ep 72: Notes on Tokyo’s Housing, Land Use, and Urban Planning with Shane Phillips

In this episode, Shane combines insights from a recent trip to Tokyo with official data on housing production, affordability, land use policy, and more. Show notes: Twitter thread of photos and observations during my trip. Episode 16 of the UCLA Housing Voice Podcast with Jiro Yoshida, on Japanese Housing Policy Japanese population by prefecture. JR East Yamanote Line timetable. Mainichi article on recovering transit ridership on the Yamanote Line. The myth of pedestrian infrastructure in a worl...

Ep 71: How China Created a Housing Market with Lan Deng

Each year, more money is invested in China's housing market than any other. Lan Deng shares how the market was shaped and the heavy role the government still plays, and what housing in China looks like today. Show notes: Deng, L., & Chen, J. (2019). Market development, state intervention, and the dynamics of new housing investment in China. Journal of Urban Affairs, 41(2), 223-247. Deng, L., Li, S., Zuo, W., & Han, Y. (2024). Housing production and the structural transformation of China’...

Encore Episode: Japanese Housing Policy with Jiro Yoshida

For this episode, we take a trip to Tokyo to learn from the successes and shortcomings of Japanese housing policy. Known for high rates of production — Tokyo builds five times more housing than California, per capita — and relatively affordable housing, Japan also struggles with poor maintenance and rapid degradation of its buildings. Professor Jiro Yoshida of Pennsylvania State University and the University of Tokyo joins us to talk about the unique demographic, economic, and geographic conditi...

Ep 70: Overcoming Resistance to Density with David Kaufmann and Michael Wicki

What makes people more or less supportive of dense housing in their communities? David Kaufmann and Michael Wicki surveyed 12,000 residents in six of the largest U.S. and European cities to find out. Show notes: Wicki, M., Hofer, K., & Kaufmann, D. (2022). Planning instruments enhance the acceptance of urban densification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(38), e2201780119. Debrunner, G., Hofer, K., Wicki, M., Kauer, F., & Kaufmann, D. (2024). Housing Precarity in Six ...