Housing Policy
Ilya Somin | 12.16.2024 5:18 PM
Homelessness has been in the news a great deal lately, and become a major focus of public debate. I've written previously about how homelessness is greatly exacerbated by exclusionary zoning rules and other restrictions that make it difficult or impossible to build new housing in response to demand. Much evidence indicates that the expansion of homelessness in recent years is primarily a problem of housing availability, rather than increasing incidence of social problems like mental illness, alcoholism, or drug abuse.
A new draft paper by Mercatus Center housing expert Salim Furth has a helpful discussion of how exclusionary zoning exacerbates homelessness. It does so by making it difficult for marginally homeless people to find housing with friends and relatives, which many could otherwise do even if they could not afford housing on their own:
In the United States, the primary definition of homelessness includes those who sleep outdoors or in a tent, car, or recreational vehicle, or who are in a homeless shelter or transitional housing provided by a homeless services agency. This often differs from the........