Where are all the cranes?

Two recent pro-housing champion advocates make the case that zoning reform is working. First, Nolan Gray of California YIMBY goes deep on the California data in “Where Are All the Cranes?,” documenting how ADU permits have produced nearly 150,000 new units, the state density bonus law is facilitating thousands more, and the signature CEQA and transit-oriented zoning reforms are less than a year old. Then this week Michael Andersen of Sightline Institute argues the picture outside California is just as encouraging: states across the country have only recently passed meaningful reforms and the results are beginning to show. Both pieces spiritually or explicitly respond to Derek Thompson, Marc Dunkelman, and Ezra Klein’s recent podcast episode reflecting on how the political landscape has changed in the year after Abundance was released. In that podcast, they worry that the vibes around abundance are stronger than the outcomes. For our part, we’re far more sanguine. While zoning isn’t everything, its hard to build anything if its not allowed and the evidence that significant and clean reform leads to construction continues to pile up.