The Obama Administration Releases a Pro-Development Playbook

"The Obama administration Monday is calling on cities and counties to rethink their zoning laws, saying that antiquated rules on construction, housing and land use are contributing to high rents and income inequality, and dragging down the U.S. economy as a whole," according to an article by Lorraine Woellert.

The White House's unprecedented YIMBY rhetoric is published in the "Housing Development Toolkit" [pdf]. According to Woellert, the toolkit shares "economic evidence and policy fixes to help local political leaders fight back against the NIMBYs that tend to hold sway over municipal zoning meetings."

According to Woellert's summary of the Obama Administration's position on the issues of development in urban areas, the paper "[calls] for more density, speedier permitting and fewer restrictions on accessory dwelling units such as basement and garage apartments. The plan rejects some of the arguments made by environmentalists, labor unions and other liberal constituencies that have stood in the way of development and endorses changes long sought by builders and the business community."

The "Housing Development Toolkit" offers a more active follow-up to a speech delivered in November 2015 by Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, which argued for relaxed land use controls in cities around the country.