The Democratic Senator Who Says Liberals Have Lost Their Way on Housing

This interview with U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, the co-author of the bipartisan Yes In My Backyard Act bill, talks about removing barriers to building homes. At the essence, he says, “We need to make it legal to build housing of all kinds.” He says he saw the light when he realized that zoning restrictions were created as an extension of Jim Crow laws to keep Black people from wealthy neighborhoods. To those who criticize YIMBYs for championing luxury condos, he argues that the system requires millions of dollars upfront just to navigate city laws, thus making it more difficult to build for working people. And he argues subsidies aren’t working because there’s not enough money to make a big enough dent.

Source: https://slate.com/business/2023/04/brian-schatz-senate-housing-yimby.html