A dearth of housing options, long a challenge for the nation’s cities, is now making itself increasingly apparent in both the suburbs and countryside of the U.S., according to a new report.
The group Up for Growth, which is based in Washington, has released its latest annual study, this time showing that all fifty of the nation’s states, along with the District of Columbia, are confronted with what is described as an “underproduction” of new housing.
Of the top ten states listed in the Housing Underproduction in the U.S. 2023 report as having the greatest underproduction, seven are in the West: Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, California, Oregon, and Washington.
Housing underproduction is now an issue in roughly 60% of all of the country’s suburban counties and 42% of what are defined as the nation’s “small-town counties.”
At the same time, approximately 32% of all rural counties are short of adequate housing.
“Not a single state is providing enough housing for its citizens, and the nation is poorer, less diverse, and less dynamic than it could be if everyone who wanted it had access to affordable shelter in high-opportunity areas,” continues the report.
Charting housing development patterns reaching back to the 1920s, the report notes that the lack of current housing is due to a combination of “exclusionary zoning practices, restrictive land-use codes, and discriminatory housing policies.”
The report also tackles the Not In My Backyard movement which, it says, is likely to be made up of homeowners opposed to the building of multifamily or affordable units in their neighborhoods.
“These community members often spend excess time, energy, and money preventing others from accessing the benefits that come from living in a high-opportunity neighborhood,” the report continues of what are popularly called the NIMBYs.
In a statement accompanying the report, Mike Kingsella, chief executive officer of Up for Growth, remarked: “Policymakers must make the straightforward but difficult choice to prioritize new funding sources that allow for diverse housing types, to invest in construction innovations, and to bolster infrastructure funding despite the risks posed by NIMBY opposition.”
Adds Kingsella: “Only then will we slow the pace of housing underproduction and, over time, begin to reverse it.”
Founded in 2018, Up for Growth is dedicated to finding housing solutions through the use of data-driven research and what it calls “evidence-based policy.”
By Garry Boulard
