Welcome back to Abundance! In this episode, California YIMBY research director Nolan Gray chats with Emily Hamilton. Emily is a Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where she researches urban economics and land-use policy.  In this episode, they discuss the exciting reforms adopted in Montana this year, why small lots are a big deal, and how to legalize ADUs the right way. If you haven’t already please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review. It really helps us to reach new audiences! Stay connected with ⁠⁠California YIMBY⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠. And with that, on to the show!

Sarah Anzia, UC Berkeley professor, discusses the unique power of firefighter unions in local politics, housing policy implications, and the dynamics between interest groups like chambers of commerce and real estate developers. They also explore the challenges faced by progressive cities in addressing underlying problems while balancing equity and access.

In this episode, California YIMBY research director Nolan Gray chats with Emily Jacobson. She’s the inaugural research fellow for the California YIMBY Education Fund and the author of The Dysfunctional Metropolis: Reforming Los Angeles's Land Use Planning and Entitlement. She recently earned a Master of Public Policy from UC Berkeley. They’re joined in this episode by Sarah Karlinsky, a senior advisor at SPUR, a public policy organization that works to create an equitable, sustainable, and prosperous Bay Area. In this episode, Nolan, Emily, and Sarah discuss the causes of recent Los Angeles corruption scandals, the relationship between discretionary permitting and the California housing crisis, and what policymakers across the country can learn from the   and what policymakers in cities all across the country can do to build more  Stay connected with ⁠California YIMBY⁠ on ⁠Twitter⁠, ⁠Bluesky⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠TikTok⁠.

Francis Fukuyama, a senior fellow at Stanford University, discusses political decay in California, the hindrances caused by CEQA, and the ancient roots of the Anglosphere housing crisis.

In this episode, California YIMBY research director M. Nolan Gray chats with Rick Cole. He’s the Chief Deputy Controller for the City of LA, where he oversees the key accounting, paymaster and audit functions of the nation's second largest city.  Rick has been all over the place in Southern California governance—he was previously a Deputy Mayor in Los Angeles, the city manager of Azusa, Ventura, and Santa Monica, and was previously the mayor of Pasadena, where he has just launched a new campaign for City Council. In the first half of this episode, Rick and Nolan discuss the future of Los Angeles, how to turn sticky problems like parking and housing affordability into solutions, and his future plans for Pasadena. Stay connected with California YIMBY on Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok.

In this episode, California YIMBY research director M. Nolan Gray chats with Bill Fulton. If you’ve been paying any attention to California planning over the past 30 years, Bill likely needs no introduction. Among his many roles, he’s currently a Senior Advisor to PFM Management and Budget consulting Group and a Fellow at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley. He’s also the author of the Guide to California Planning, and just released a new collection of essays, Place and Prosperity: How Cities Help Us Connect and Innovate, published by Island Press. In this interview, Nolan and Bill talk about the how California planning has changed, the future of cities like Los Angeles and Houston, and why place continues to matter in an age of Zoom.  If you’re enjoying Abundance, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review. It really helps us. And if you’re not enjoying Abundance, let us know how we could improve! And if you want to get more involved in the work of California YIMBY, sign up to start receiving our regular emails, which are filled with advocacy updates and research summaries, among many other googies. ❤️

In this episode, California YIMBY research director M. Nolan Gray chats with Luca Gattoni-Celli . Luca is the chief executive of YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, which just scored its first big win legalizing foruplexes and simplexes countywide in Arlington. In this episode, we discuss how a pro-housing coalition pulled off single-family zoning abolition in one of America’s richest suburbs, the ideological diversity of the YIMBY movement, and the future of pro-housing advocacy in Northern Virginia.

In this episode, California YIMBY research director M. Nolan Gray chats with Jerusalem Demsas. Jerusalem is a staff writer at The Atlantic and a widely published author on housing and city planning, among many topics. In this episode, we discuss how she became a YIMBY, the importance of the freedom to move, and why DC builds so much housing—even it could build more. We’re joined this week by California YIMBY policy director Ned Resnikoff.

In this episode, California YIMBY research director M. Nolan Gray chats with Chris Elmendorf. He’s the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at the UC Davis School of Law and an expert on California housing law. In this episode, we take stock of where we’re at in the Regional Housing Needs Assessment process, explain tools like the builder’s remedy, and explore where we go from here. We're joined by Aaron Eckhouse. Aaron is the regional policy manager at California YIMBY and our leading man on RHNA issues.

In this episode, California YIMBY research director M. Nolan Gray chats with Sonia Hirt. Hirt is a professor of architecture and urban planning at the University of Georgia and the author of Zoned in the USA. In this episode, we talk about the current zoning reform push, how other countries do zoning, and what we still have to learn from Jane Jacobs.