California and New York, in dealing with serious housing shortages affecting their largest metropolitan regions, offer a surprising study in contrasts. In New York, the ostensibly progressive state legislature pursues punitive rent regulations and public subsidies to solve New York City's housing problems—misguided policies that will only increase shortages. Local control of land-use policy remains sacrosanct, no matter how dysfunctional the outcome. Communities' right to exclude all but the most affluent residents remains unchallenged. By contrast, California's legislature has conducted a robust debate about how the state government should overcome local resistance to new housing development, and taken some sensible ameliorative steps. Admittedly, serious challenges remain to boosting the state's supply. Senate Bill 50, a pro-housing bill, failed to advance, and the legislature recently passed a statewide rent-increase cap, albeit one less onerous than New York's recent law.
But California's legislature has also vigorously advocated accessory dwelling units, or additional units—within existing homes and in backyards—built on lots exclusively zoned for traditional single-family detached properties. Beginning in 2017, the legislature enacted bills requiring communities to make building ADUs easier. Such laws, when embraced by local governments, have had a positive impact on cities' housing supply. In Los Angeles, for example, ADU permits increased from 117 in 2016 to 4,171 in 2018. While pent-up demand partially accounted for this increase, ADUs now comprise 20 percent of units that have received building permits citywide.
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