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The Affordable City: Strategies for Putting Housing Within Reach
From Los Angeles to Boston and Chicago to Miami, US cities are struggling to address the twin crises of high housing costs and household instability. Debates over the appropriate course of action have been defined by two building more housing or enacting stronger tenant protections. These options are often treated as mutually exclusive, with support for one implying opposition to the other.
Shane Phillips believes that effectively tackling the housing crisis requires that cities support both tenant protections and housing abundance. He offers readers more than 50 policy recommendations, beginning with a set of principles and general recommendations that should apply to all housing policy. The remaining recommendations are organized by what he calls the Three S’s of Supply, Stability, and Subsidy. Phillips makes a moral and economic case for why each is essential and recommendations for making them work together.
There is no single solution to the housing crisis—it will require a comprehensive approach backed by strong, diverse coalitions. The Affordable City is an essential tool for professionals and advocates working to improve affordability and increase community resilience through local action.
Shane Phillips believes that effectively tackling the housing crisis requires that cities support both tenant protections and housing abundance. He offers readers more than 50 policy recommendations, beginning with a set of principles and general recommendations that should apply to all housing policy. The remaining recommendations are organized by what he calls the Three S’s of Supply, Stability, and Subsidy. Phillips makes a moral and economic case for why each is essential and recommendations for making them work together.
There is no single solution to the housing crisis—it will require a comprehensive approach backed by strong, diverse coalitions. The Affordable City is an essential tool for professionals and advocates working to improve affordability and increase community resilience through local action.
280 pages, Paperback
Published September 15, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
August 18, 2021
It's a glorified third way think tank report basically saying the best solutions are market centered, with some protection to reign in the worst abuses of the market. The author uses some intelcutal slight of hand, using studies which support his view to make broad overstepping statements while caveating "not to overgeneralize" then when folks studies challange his assumptions he dismisses the same on off studies he champions on his "supply centeic" theory of housing affordability. While claiming to support supply, stability and subsidy, the book focuses extensivley on supply and leaves subsidy to the largely abstract and the theoretical realm of imagined federal policy.
His call for all 3 is a poltical gambit and should be read as the author saying "bernie left, stop attacking people like me for focusing on supply, we need to come together and realize people like me are the serious adults in the room". The authors at times uses intersectional rhetoric to mask the shade he throws at rent control and the utter neglect or public housing, giving it only one paragraph in which he says he thinks tax credit driven affordable housing development basically does the same thing as public housing. If you yell at me for not focusing on public housing your fracturing the "housing reform movement".
All the games cities play on "affordable housing" making the line much higher than most can afford, the lack of enforcement for affordable housing "incentives", and the state of none elite cities dealing with blight as well as pockets of gentrification are completely ignored in this analysis. His entire supply side theory assumes higher end mixed income development will put pressure on developers to drop costs, an assumption explicitly challenges in the books appendix which argues much of the cost of new development is not discretionary but costs are fixed by investors (bank) actuarial projections, materials costs, building management costs, land costs etc. While the author includes this as a attack on those who blame greedy landlords for hgh housing costs, if this is true, than more supply CAN'T decreases housing costs, because those costs are largely fixed.
It's basically a yimby text pretending to be inclusive of other perspectives and even says we should coordinate with Apple and Google to help fund new hosuing construction. Another text using intersectionality and "coaltional unity" to mask they attempts to breath new life into a dying neoliberal concensus and manicure the scope of acceptable poltical conversation to obscure community control and grassroots alternatives.
Plus the style is annoying. 52 1-3 page "recomendations". The throw the shit at the wall and see what sticks theory allows the author to include a bunch of shit so you can't be overtly accused of having a clear bias even though everything you write would lead the reader to a clear answer.
His call for all 3 is a poltical gambit and should be read as the author saying "bernie left, stop attacking people like me for focusing on supply, we need to come together and realize people like me are the serious adults in the room". The authors at times uses intersectional rhetoric to mask the shade he throws at rent control and the utter neglect or public housing, giving it only one paragraph in which he says he thinks tax credit driven affordable housing development basically does the same thing as public housing. If you yell at me for not focusing on public housing your fracturing the "housing reform movement".
All the games cities play on "affordable housing" making the line much higher than most can afford, the lack of enforcement for affordable housing "incentives", and the state of none elite cities dealing with blight as well as pockets of gentrification are completely ignored in this analysis. His entire supply side theory assumes higher end mixed income development will put pressure on developers to drop costs, an assumption explicitly challenges in the books appendix which argues much of the cost of new development is not discretionary but costs are fixed by investors (bank) actuarial projections, materials costs, building management costs, land costs etc. While the author includes this as a attack on those who blame greedy landlords for hgh housing costs, if this is true, than more supply CAN'T decreases housing costs, because those costs are largely fixed.
It's basically a yimby text pretending to be inclusive of other perspectives and even says we should coordinate with Apple and Google to help fund new hosuing construction. Another text using intersectionality and "coaltional unity" to mask they attempts to breath new life into a dying neoliberal concensus and manicure the scope of acceptable poltical conversation to obscure community control and grassroots alternatives.
Plus the style is annoying. 52 1-3 page "recomendations". The throw the shit at the wall and see what sticks theory allows the author to include a bunch of shit so you can't be overtly accused of having a clear bias even though everything you write would lead the reader to a clear answer.
December 5, 2021
This is not a housing bible (and Shane admits as much), but rather a collection of policy recommendations to help ease the housing crisis. There is no one size fits all policy solution for every city's housing needs. After thoroughly introducing readers to the affordability crisis, Shane details dozens of policy recommendations, candidly exploring the pros and cons of each. These recommendations fall among three categories: supply, stability and subsidy.
If you've stumbled upon this book via YIMBY twitter (like me), you're likely already familiar with (and supportive of) several of the policy recommendations related to supply.
While increasing housing supply is a necessity, so are policies to help stabilize and subsidize housing for lower income tenants (as Shane argues, quite convincingly). Don't expect to find a silver bullet solution, as Shane does a good job of addressing the vulnerabilities of each of his policy recommendations - showing where they should and shouldn't be applied. Every city needs something a bit different and critical thinking will be essential for making sure proper policies are applied by local governments.
The Affordable City feels like something that might be assigned in a college course; however, despite its academic language, it remains extremely accessible (even for someone with no professional or educational urban planning background, such as myself). I'd recommend it to anyone interested in local politics, housing/real estate or the current affordability crisis.
If you've stumbled upon this book via YIMBY twitter (like me), you're likely already familiar with (and supportive of) several of the policy recommendations related to supply.
While increasing housing supply is a necessity, so are policies to help stabilize and subsidize housing for lower income tenants (as Shane argues, quite convincingly). Don't expect to find a silver bullet solution, as Shane does a good job of addressing the vulnerabilities of each of his policy recommendations - showing where they should and shouldn't be applied. Every city needs something a bit different and critical thinking will be essential for making sure proper policies are applied by local governments.
The Affordable City feels like something that might be assigned in a college course; however, despite its academic language, it remains extremely accessible (even for someone with no professional or educational urban planning background, such as myself). I'd recommend it to anyone interested in local politics, housing/real estate or the current affordability crisis.
November 9, 2021
I am not sure there is ever a time we shouldn’t be learning about affordable housing. That said, this book feels even more valuable now. The author provides a solid overview of many of the reasosnt for the housing cost explosion, but at it's core it's a passionate argument against using housing scarcity to build wealth for America's privileged.
Mr. Phillips covers a long, diverse list of resources/frames of reference cities, and other governmental entities should be reviewing (boosting supply, subsidizing housing, and boosting stability for renters) if they want to address housing costs. The real question though is do they have the political will to effectively take the windfall profits of homeowners and transfer them to those with fewer housing resources?
This is a policy book, so it doesn’t have a ton of politics within it (or it has so much it blinds the reader from seeing it). The focus is the program or activity, and not the political will to support it, or later gut it.
This was a well written book. It both feels like a text book, and a summary document. It has some good ideas that I think can and should implemented. It is also simplifies many complex ideas and I worry that it gives them too easy a pass. Ironically in the simplicity, it feels that the point could be missed that in order to implement many of the ideas we would have to restructure our entire society and system around wealth building. This, as you can tell, would not be simple.
I also wish there was a little more of an overarching theme than “we need a balanced policy approach and the three s’s.” Without that, there is a feeling that the book tries too hard to be comprehensive, and is unfocused.
Mr. Phillips covers a long, diverse list of resources/frames of reference cities, and other governmental entities should be reviewing (boosting supply, subsidizing housing, and boosting stability for renters) if they want to address housing costs. The real question though is do they have the political will to effectively take the windfall profits of homeowners and transfer them to those with fewer housing resources?
This is a policy book, so it doesn’t have a ton of politics within it (or it has so much it blinds the reader from seeing it). The focus is the program or activity, and not the political will to support it, or later gut it.
This was a well written book. It both feels like a text book, and a summary document. It has some good ideas that I think can and should implemented. It is also simplifies many complex ideas and I worry that it gives them too easy a pass. Ironically in the simplicity, it feels that the point could be missed that in order to implement many of the ideas we would have to restructure our entire society and system around wealth building. This, as you can tell, would not be simple.
I also wish there was a little more of an overarching theme than “we need a balanced policy approach and the three s’s.” Without that, there is a feeling that the book tries too hard to be comprehensive, and is unfocused.
March 24, 2024
The Affordable City brings together the best ideas from movements for abundant housing over the long term and for an equitable housing system that treats individuals and communities well today. Phillips shows that these approaches are not inevitably at odds but can be shown to be complementary. Along the way, he dispels common real estate economics myths and sharpens the arguments for well-designed upzoning ("supply"), tenant protection ("stability"), and provision of affordable housing to low and very low income people ("subsidy"). The book functions both as a quick reference guide for best practices and a crisply educational book to read in sequence.
April 24, 2022
Affordable housing book club pick - a great, digestible read to get more informed on tools to make housing more affordable. I learned a lot. It does read like a text book, but the chapters are short and to the point with a different technique highlighted in each.
In summary: it’s all about achieving a balance of supply, stability, and subsidy and knowing the unique context of a geography.
Catch me at all the public meetings here in ATL advocating for upzoning!
In summary: it’s all about achieving a balance of supply, stability, and subsidy and knowing the unique context of a geography.
Catch me at all the public meetings here in ATL advocating for upzoning!
December 30, 2021
A thorough and easily digestible guide to underlying concepts of housing affordability and a suite of policy options activists, planners and policymakers can use to encourage the development of stable, affordable housing in the long term goal of moving away from our current housing ideological framework.
Phillips has an underlying goal of trying to bridge the perceived divide between YIMBYs and tenant-activists, or at least attempting to help them find long-term agreement. This effort is necessary, valuable, and the result is a book that helps me to articulate and navigate some of the tensions (wicked problems!) inherent in housing activism and comes closest to articulating my own position.
I wish he'd gone a bit deeper on LVT but that is, as always, my own little bailiwick.
Phillips has an underlying goal of trying to bridge the perceived divide between YIMBYs and tenant-activists, or at least attempting to help them find long-term agreement. This effort is necessary, valuable, and the result is a book that helps me to articulate and navigate some of the tensions (wicked problems!) inherent in housing activism and comes closest to articulating my own position.
I wish he'd gone a bit deeper on LVT but that is, as always, my own little bailiwick.
January 9, 2022
OK introduction to policy options for housing reform. The policy summaries are sound but tend to rely on simplistic hypotheticals or journalist posts from curbed and vox, rather than the huge body of existing academic research.
This is reflected in the author's commentary on the balance between supply/subsidy/stability, which wildly understates the impact of supply deficits imo.
This is reflected in the author's commentary on the balance between supply/subsidy/stability, which wildly understates the impact of supply deficits imo.
April 18, 2022
As someone who has learned what extraordinarily surface-level knowledge they have on the housing affordability crisis from lurking on housing twitter, this was a very illustrative intro to some of the many issues at play and showcases a sweeping range of levers we can use to alleviate them. The combination of overregulation (mostly of housing supply) and underregulation (mostly of landlords and the rental market) in the US is astounding and hair-pullingly frustrating. Imagine what a country this would be if we fixed these things!
I wouldn’t say the purpose of the book is to persuade, but the author made a good point to address common objections and present both sides, which strengthens the arguments. This is basically a textbook so the prose tends to be dry and information-dense. It’s basically a laundry list of policy recommendations, but the first part lays out some very helpful mental models and key takeaways to remember that tie it all together; most importantly, if we do the right things, there should be little to no tension between supporting housing supply and tenant protection.
Overall I came away both hopeful that there are solutions to be had, including tons of low-hanging fruit (why on earth do the various mortgage interest deductions exist), but also somewhat soured because that means the real bottleneck is winning at politics and changing hearts and minds or whatever, which is fundamentally more difficult than “just” implementing the recommendations here.
I wouldn’t say the purpose of the book is to persuade, but the author made a good point to address common objections and present both sides, which strengthens the arguments. This is basically a textbook so the prose tends to be dry and information-dense. It’s basically a laundry list of policy recommendations, but the first part lays out some very helpful mental models and key takeaways to remember that tie it all together; most importantly, if we do the right things, there should be little to no tension between supporting housing supply and tenant protection.
Overall I came away both hopeful that there are solutions to be had, including tons of low-hanging fruit (why on earth do the various mortgage interest deductions exist), but also somewhat soured because that means the real bottleneck is winning at politics and changing hearts and minds or whatever, which is fundamentally more difficult than “just” implementing the recommendations here.
January 8, 2025
Reading this was a satisfying follow-up to 4+ years of very frustrating efforts in housing advocacy. The author spells out with clear and simple math why subsidy-only solutions don't make any sense. The example about San Francisco providing home ownership assistance to 10 lottery-picked families while leaving everyone else out in the cold was particularly painful to read. I'm also more convinced than ever that the mortgage interest deduction was a mistake. Unfortunately, I think the political fight is even more intractable than Phillips acknowledges. Americans are just too attached to the idea of building wealth through real estate, and I don't how that's going to change.
January 1, 2022
A tall glass of water in the desert that is Housing Discourse on twitterdotcom; pragmatic, informative, balanced, direct, and lots of other good adjectives.
October 4, 2022
a bit repetitive at times, but this is a really informative and accessible primer on affordable housing policy!
December 11, 2025
The Affordable City by Shane Phillips serves as a comprehensive policy guide aimed at addressing the affordable housing crisis. Each chapter, typically only a few pages long, focuses on a specific policy strategy designed to tackle the issue.
While some cities make it easier to build new housing and others implement tenant protections, solving the housing crisis will require both approaches. Additionally, housing subsidies are necessary for those the market does not serve. Phillips categorizes these three strategies as supply, stability, and subsidy.
A core argument in the book is that the goals of affordable housing and housing as a perpetual investment that appreciates in value are incompatible. The author suggests that we need to shift away from viewing housing as an investment and instead treat it as a basic necessity.
Phillips proposes that landlords should be required to undergo training on how to be responsible and effective landlords. He also advocates for applying the same regulations to small landlords as to large ones, and establishing a rental registry to track rent prices and tenant duration.
Though I personally disagree with it, Phillips argues that community input on growth and development should only take place upfront in growth management planning, rather than at the development approval stages. This requirement was recently adopted by the Montana legislature. Additionally, he proposes synchronizing local elections with federal elections to increase voter turnout, particularly among young renters.
Increasing housing supply in relation to demand helps stabilize prices, and the resulting higher vacancy rates in lower income housing gives renters more leverage.
To address zoning barriers, Phillips recommends upzoning large areas, not just commercial corridors or single neighborhoods, and ensuring that housing is allowed in commercial zones.
Research shows that short-term rentals (e.g., Airbnb) contribute to higher rents in cities, so Phillips calls for stricter restrictions on these types of rentals.
He also suggests eliminating density limits to allow for “missing middle” housing and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in single-family zones.
Another key recommendation is the removal of mandated minimum parking requirements, which often lead to an oversupply of parking, higher housing costs, increased car use, and urban sprawl. Instead, cities should eliminate mandatory minimum parking requirements.
Phillips also encourages the development of micro-units and opposes regulations that govern personal preferences such as building setbacks.
To streamline the development process, Phillips advocates for by-right development approvals, reducing time and costs, and exploring additional ways to lower construction expenses.
The federal government, he argues, should support countercyclical homebuilding during economic downturns when construction costs are typically lower.
Phillips emphasizes the need for tenant protections, such as just-cause eviction requirements and the right to legal counsel. He notes that rent stabilization policies can have mixed results and should therefore be implemented with care.
His proposed anti-gouging rules would limit annual rent increases to no more than 10%, except when a new tenant moves in or when funds are needed for structural repairs. If rent stabilization is applied, it should only affect units 15 years or older and should reset when a new tenant occupies the unit.
Phillips cautions against vacancy control, where rent controls remain in place even when a new tenant moves in, as it often leads to unintended negative consequences.
To encourage the creation of more subsidized, low-income housing, Phillips suggests implementing density bonuses or inclusionary zoning. However, inclusionary zoning should be applied selectively, having the requirement not too stringent and mainly applied in high-density areas, to avoid scenarios in which it deters development altogether.
When redevelopment displaces tenants, Phillips recommends that developers either pay for relocation or cover the difference between old and new rent, or provide tenants with the right to return to the new development at their previous rent.
For long-term subsidized housing, Phillips argues that subsidies should be tied to the property for a period of 50 to 99 years.
In some cases, the government should step in to purchase naturally occurring affordable housing to preserve it permanently.
Phillips also calls for formalizing a process where landlords can offer buyouts to tenants in exchange for terminating their lease for redevelopment. This would ensure transparency and help protect tenants from being taken advantage of.
He also advocates for prioritizing displaced tenants in affordable housing placements.
Evictions for redevelopment should be difficult to execute unless the project creates significantly more housing units, and displaced tenants should receive generous buyout packages.
Phillips emphasizes the importance of just-cause eviction protections, ensuring that renters can only be evicted for specific, legitimate reasons.
To further deter illegal practices, he recommends requiring government notification for all eviction notices and rent hikes.
He proposes offering free or reduced-cost legal counsel for tenants facing eviction, arguing that the savings from reduced homelessness would more than justify the cost.
Strong enforcement of housing and building codes is another key part of his policy recommendations.
Phillips advocates for banning discrimination against Section 8 voucher holders and ensuring that the total rent amount cap for Section 8 reflects actual market rents.
To prioritize housing stability over wealth creation, he suggests ending homeownership assistance programs or, if they continue, implementing a land trust model that recaptures a significant portion of home appreciation upon resale. Instead, he advocates for more funding for rent assistance or the construction of subsidized affordable housing, such as through low-income housing tax credits, public housing, or low- or no-interest loans to nonprofits for the purchase or development of affordable housing. These approaches would cost less than current subsidies for homeownership, like the mortgage interest deduction.
Phillips also supports implementing a progressive real estate transfer tax, increasing with the value of the property, and taxing properties that are “flipped” (i.e., sold within a year for a profit).
He makes the case for property taxes as a more stable and predictable source of revenue than sales, income, or business taxes. Property taxes, which can deter land hoarding, should be the core of the tax system.
He also suggests taxing underutilized and vacant properties to encourage development and use.
When it comes to vacant urban public land (excluding parks), Phillips recommends leasing rather than selling it to maximize revenue, offering lease discounts for developments that include affordable housing components.
He argues for keeping impact fees low, assessing them based on square footage rather than per unit, and charging them at the issuance of the certificate of occupancy rather than the building permit. Impact fees and community benefit requirements should not be exempt for single-family housing; in fact, they should be highest for single-family housing and lower for "missing middle" housing.
Phillips calls for reforming or eliminating homeowner subsidies, such as the mortgage interest deduction, property tax exclusions, and capital gains exclusions, which collectively cost $125 billion annually and contribute to rising housing prices.
Finally, Phillips advocates for significantly increasing funding for affordable housing construction, both through the low-income housing tax credit and by returning to direct public housing construction. He also calls for increased funding for Section 8 rental assistance and low- or zero-interest loans for housing acquisition and development, with the condition that developers set aside units for low-income tenants.
The Affordable City is a relatively short yet highly informative book, making it an excellent resource for anyone committed to taking meaningful action to address the affordable housing crisis.
While some cities make it easier to build new housing and others implement tenant protections, solving the housing crisis will require both approaches. Additionally, housing subsidies are necessary for those the market does not serve. Phillips categorizes these three strategies as supply, stability, and subsidy.
A core argument in the book is that the goals of affordable housing and housing as a perpetual investment that appreciates in value are incompatible. The author suggests that we need to shift away from viewing housing as an investment and instead treat it as a basic necessity.
Phillips proposes that landlords should be required to undergo training on how to be responsible and effective landlords. He also advocates for applying the same regulations to small landlords as to large ones, and establishing a rental registry to track rent prices and tenant duration.
Though I personally disagree with it, Phillips argues that community input on growth and development should only take place upfront in growth management planning, rather than at the development approval stages. This requirement was recently adopted by the Montana legislature. Additionally, he proposes synchronizing local elections with federal elections to increase voter turnout, particularly among young renters.
Increasing housing supply in relation to demand helps stabilize prices, and the resulting higher vacancy rates in lower income housing gives renters more leverage.
To address zoning barriers, Phillips recommends upzoning large areas, not just commercial corridors or single neighborhoods, and ensuring that housing is allowed in commercial zones.
Research shows that short-term rentals (e.g., Airbnb) contribute to higher rents in cities, so Phillips calls for stricter restrictions on these types of rentals.
He also suggests eliminating density limits to allow for “missing middle” housing and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in single-family zones.
Another key recommendation is the removal of mandated minimum parking requirements, which often lead to an oversupply of parking, higher housing costs, increased car use, and urban sprawl. Instead, cities should eliminate mandatory minimum parking requirements.
Phillips also encourages the development of micro-units and opposes regulations that govern personal preferences such as building setbacks.
To streamline the development process, Phillips advocates for by-right development approvals, reducing time and costs, and exploring additional ways to lower construction expenses.
The federal government, he argues, should support countercyclical homebuilding during economic downturns when construction costs are typically lower.
Phillips emphasizes the need for tenant protections, such as just-cause eviction requirements and the right to legal counsel. He notes that rent stabilization policies can have mixed results and should therefore be implemented with care.
His proposed anti-gouging rules would limit annual rent increases to no more than 10%, except when a new tenant moves in or when funds are needed for structural repairs. If rent stabilization is applied, it should only affect units 15 years or older and should reset when a new tenant occupies the unit.
Phillips cautions against vacancy control, where rent controls remain in place even when a new tenant moves in, as it often leads to unintended negative consequences.
To encourage the creation of more subsidized, low-income housing, Phillips suggests implementing density bonuses or inclusionary zoning. However, inclusionary zoning should be applied selectively, having the requirement not too stringent and mainly applied in high-density areas, to avoid scenarios in which it deters development altogether.
When redevelopment displaces tenants, Phillips recommends that developers either pay for relocation or cover the difference between old and new rent, or provide tenants with the right to return to the new development at their previous rent.
For long-term subsidized housing, Phillips argues that subsidies should be tied to the property for a period of 50 to 99 years.
In some cases, the government should step in to purchase naturally occurring affordable housing to preserve it permanently.
Phillips also calls for formalizing a process where landlords can offer buyouts to tenants in exchange for terminating their lease for redevelopment. This would ensure transparency and help protect tenants from being taken advantage of.
He also advocates for prioritizing displaced tenants in affordable housing placements.
Evictions for redevelopment should be difficult to execute unless the project creates significantly more housing units, and displaced tenants should receive generous buyout packages.
Phillips emphasizes the importance of just-cause eviction protections, ensuring that renters can only be evicted for specific, legitimate reasons.
To further deter illegal practices, he recommends requiring government notification for all eviction notices and rent hikes.
He proposes offering free or reduced-cost legal counsel for tenants facing eviction, arguing that the savings from reduced homelessness would more than justify the cost.
Strong enforcement of housing and building codes is another key part of his policy recommendations.
Phillips advocates for banning discrimination against Section 8 voucher holders and ensuring that the total rent amount cap for Section 8 reflects actual market rents.
To prioritize housing stability over wealth creation, he suggests ending homeownership assistance programs or, if they continue, implementing a land trust model that recaptures a significant portion of home appreciation upon resale. Instead, he advocates for more funding for rent assistance or the construction of subsidized affordable housing, such as through low-income housing tax credits, public housing, or low- or no-interest loans to nonprofits for the purchase or development of affordable housing. These approaches would cost less than current subsidies for homeownership, like the mortgage interest deduction.
Phillips also supports implementing a progressive real estate transfer tax, increasing with the value of the property, and taxing properties that are “flipped” (i.e., sold within a year for a profit).
He makes the case for property taxes as a more stable and predictable source of revenue than sales, income, or business taxes. Property taxes, which can deter land hoarding, should be the core of the tax system.
He also suggests taxing underutilized and vacant properties to encourage development and use.
When it comes to vacant urban public land (excluding parks), Phillips recommends leasing rather than selling it to maximize revenue, offering lease discounts for developments that include affordable housing components.
He argues for keeping impact fees low, assessing them based on square footage rather than per unit, and charging them at the issuance of the certificate of occupancy rather than the building permit. Impact fees and community benefit requirements should not be exempt for single-family housing; in fact, they should be highest for single-family housing and lower for "missing middle" housing.
Phillips calls for reforming or eliminating homeowner subsidies, such as the mortgage interest deduction, property tax exclusions, and capital gains exclusions, which collectively cost $125 billion annually and contribute to rising housing prices.
Finally, Phillips advocates for significantly increasing funding for affordable housing construction, both through the low-income housing tax credit and by returning to direct public housing construction. He also calls for increased funding for Section 8 rental assistance and low- or zero-interest loans for housing acquisition and development, with the condition that developers set aside units for low-income tenants.
The Affordable City is a relatively short yet highly informative book, making it an excellent resource for anyone committed to taking meaningful action to address the affordable housing crisis.
January 28, 2022
The Affordable City: Strategies for Putting Housing Within Reach (and Keeping it There) (2020) by Shane Phillips is a book that puts forward a pro-urban view on what to do about housing. Shane Phillips is an urban planner at UCLA.
The book states that three things should be sought simultaneously, they are Supply, Stability and Subsidy.
Phillips sees Supply as being increased by allowing increased density. No mention is made of removing green belts to allow for more suburbs to be added outwards.
There are 13 recommendations for increasing density and removing parking limits. Then there are 16 recommendations for stability and 11 recommendations for subsidy. It would be interesting to quiz people who have read the book to see how many of the dizzying number of recommendations could be remembered.
Phillips puts a big emphasis on transparency for when tenants are moved. The books two later chapters also concentrate on people who rent. Indeed Phillips has written pieces for the Atlantic about why more people should rent.
There are numerous examples in the book of policies that Phillips admires. Remarkably these examples are mostly in Los Angeles and San Francisco. These two cities are, of course, known for their unaffordable housing.
Writers like Randal O’Toole and Kevin Erdmann make the point that Americans like suburbs and that letting cities expand as has happened in the American South and South West leads to cities like Houston, Dallas and Atlanta that are large and have rapidly expanded and that have affordable housing. Alas Phillips can’t really point to a successful city in the US with affordable housing where that affordable housing was reached by policies like those that he advocates.
The Affordable City is a good book to read to find out what some people who put forward YIMBY values support who are not in favor of suburban expansion. Phillips makes the case about as well as it can be made.
The book states that three things should be sought simultaneously, they are Supply, Stability and Subsidy.
Phillips sees Supply as being increased by allowing increased density. No mention is made of removing green belts to allow for more suburbs to be added outwards.
There are 13 recommendations for increasing density and removing parking limits. Then there are 16 recommendations for stability and 11 recommendations for subsidy. It would be interesting to quiz people who have read the book to see how many of the dizzying number of recommendations could be remembered.
Phillips puts a big emphasis on transparency for when tenants are moved. The books two later chapters also concentrate on people who rent. Indeed Phillips has written pieces for the Atlantic about why more people should rent.
There are numerous examples in the book of policies that Phillips admires. Remarkably these examples are mostly in Los Angeles and San Francisco. These two cities are, of course, known for their unaffordable housing.
Writers like Randal O’Toole and Kevin Erdmann make the point that Americans like suburbs and that letting cities expand as has happened in the American South and South West leads to cities like Houston, Dallas and Atlanta that are large and have rapidly expanded and that have affordable housing. Alas Phillips can’t really point to a successful city in the US with affordable housing where that affordable housing was reached by policies like those that he advocates.
The Affordable City is a good book to read to find out what some people who put forward YIMBY values support who are not in favor of suburban expansion. Phillips makes the case about as well as it can be made.
July 10, 2022
I write zoning codes for a living (no, it is not what I thought I’d do when I went to planning school), so I think a lot about issues with housing in this country. This book gave me a lot to think about when I think about housing, and how to write zoning to encourage as much of it as possible. Though that is a specialized interest in the topic, this is written for a broader audience, and certainly merits being read by one. I hope it is.
August 4, 2021
A succinct and timely work, bringing together many of the best ideas for housing affordability as studied in recent decades. Despite its unusual format and policy focus, I would recommend this book even to those who are not close to the world of housing, land use, and transportation policies.
As cities across the country struggle to tackle both high housing costs and household instability, we often find politicians, advocacy groups, and even housing experts debating whether the appropriate solution should be increased housing supply, greater housing subsidies, or stronger tenant protections (stability). In this book, Shane Phillips makes clear that a city can only be successful if all three work in tandem.
In just over 200 pages (short read!), Shane manages to cover 54 discrete policy recommendations. Critically, he doesn't just speak to their benefits - the tradeoffs that come with each potential choice are both clear and supported by real-world evidence from around the globe.
Those tradeoffs are important, and not commonly understood. From the very start, he shows that even so-called "win-win" policies typically have a loser somewhere, and legislation and projects won't succeed if the needs of those experiencing a loss aren't addressed. Along the way, he demonstrates that no single arm of policy (supply, subsidy, or stability) will succeed alone. This evidence aims to bring together pro-affordability groups who should be aligned in politics, but are often found in opposition to one another, each group speaking past the other.
The book can be read in sequence, or as a quick-reference guide for later review.
As cities across the country struggle to tackle both high housing costs and household instability, we often find politicians, advocacy groups, and even housing experts debating whether the appropriate solution should be increased housing supply, greater housing subsidies, or stronger tenant protections (stability). In this book, Shane Phillips makes clear that a city can only be successful if all three work in tandem.
In just over 200 pages (short read!), Shane manages to cover 54 discrete policy recommendations. Critically, he doesn't just speak to their benefits - the tradeoffs that come with each potential choice are both clear and supported by real-world evidence from around the globe.
Those tradeoffs are important, and not commonly understood. From the very start, he shows that even so-called "win-win" policies typically have a loser somewhere, and legislation and projects won't succeed if the needs of those experiencing a loss aren't addressed. Along the way, he demonstrates that no single arm of policy (supply, subsidy, or stability) will succeed alone. This evidence aims to bring together pro-affordability groups who should be aligned in politics, but are often found in opposition to one another, each group speaking past the other.
The book can be read in sequence, or as a quick-reference guide for later review.
June 26, 2025
This was a great primer on affordable housing strategies that feels like it should be required reading for anyone working in local government. Chapters are very short and each cover specific topics, so the book can also be used as something of a manual for looking up quick refreshers on specific topics. It's fairly dense, and if you don't have a lot of familiarity with housing terminology it can be challenging, but without the academic or experiential background to test the veracity of his claims, I can at least attest that all of his recommendations seem to come from a place of equity and justice for all. A core theme of the book, which needs to become a core theme of our society, is that we need to stop treating property ownership as a wealth generating tool at the expense of affordability to low income households. We can't say we want our cities to be affordable and open to all while also demanding that the homes we buy or the properties we manage continue to increase in value by leaps and bounds every year.
March 10, 2021
This is a valuable read at an important time. Phillips brings forward a panoply of ideas on how to bend the housing cost explosion, but at it's core it's a passionate argument against using housing scarcity to build wealth for America's privileged.
As with any such policy-focused book, I find myself wanting more depth about the politics of making this work. For example, Phillips writes glowingly about Seattle's HALA (Housing and Affordable Living Agenda) effort, much of which was weakened, fell apart or remains stalled after the report came out.
But with that caveat, he covers a long, diverse list of tools cities, states and the federal government could use (boosting supply, subsidizing housing, and boosting stability for renters) if they have the political will to effectively take the windfall profits of homeowners and transfer them to those with fewer housing resources. Those interested in one of today's key challenges are advised to get a copy.
As with any such policy-focused book, I find myself wanting more depth about the politics of making this work. For example, Phillips writes glowingly about Seattle's HALA (Housing and Affordable Living Agenda) effort, much of which was weakened, fell apart or remains stalled after the report came out.
But with that caveat, he covers a long, diverse list of tools cities, states and the federal government could use (boosting supply, subsidizing housing, and boosting stability for renters) if they have the political will to effectively take the windfall profits of homeowners and transfer them to those with fewer housing resources. Those interested in one of today's key challenges are advised to get a copy.
May 10, 2022
I would have given this a 3.5/5 but rounded to a 4. It is a well-written, accessible book that provides a range of policy recommendations for addressing the housing crisis. I work on housing law and policy issues in Canada, and while this is American-centric, still provides a lot to think about.
Some might read this as too simplistic, or perhaps too centrist/“third way”. As someone quite lefty myself, I do believe a theoretical shift on how we view housing, as a right rather than a commodity or investment vehicle is what’s needed first if we want to address housing. I do believe a holistic approach to housing that is rooted in the local context is required, which speaks to supply, stability, and subsidy. It also includes addressing income too.
This is a great guide book to help frame policy, advocacy, organizing in addressing this issue.
Some might read this as too simplistic, or perhaps too centrist/“third way”. As someone quite lefty myself, I do believe a theoretical shift on how we view housing, as a right rather than a commodity or investment vehicle is what’s needed first if we want to address housing. I do believe a holistic approach to housing that is rooted in the local context is required, which speaks to supply, stability, and subsidy. It also includes addressing income too.
This is a great guide book to help frame policy, advocacy, organizing in addressing this issue.
September 21, 2023
unnecessarily verbose and repetitive, should have been a 3-part blog post rather than a book. the author also hedges so much to avoid antagonizing any ideology that the writing becomes absurdly diffident about staking any coherent position. if you know anything about housing policy, you'll already know everything this book talks about -- if you know nothing about housing policy, this book can be confusing and/or misleading. (the whole chapter on rent control, for example, completely ignores the main arguments against rent control, all to avoid offending hypothetical readers who might like rent control).
however, the book contains a great collection of case studies on various policy initiatives (even if the presentation and lessons learned are inconsistent). that might be the main thing to take from this book.
however, the book contains a great collection of case studies on various policy initiatives (even if the presentation and lessons learned are inconsistent). that might be the main thing to take from this book.
November 26, 2020
3/5 Stars
This was a well written book. It took me back to my school days, written in a way that reminds me of reading a book for class. It has some good ideas that I think we can and should implement. Others would simply hurt small business and people trying to make their way in the world. In order to implement many of his ideas we would have to restructure our entire society and system around wealth building. So some of his ideas are grandiose and naive. But that is not to discount many of his ideas that would work very well in our system and could greatly improve the mission as given by the books title.
This was a well written book. It took me back to my school days, written in a way that reminds me of reading a book for class. It has some good ideas that I think we can and should implement. Others would simply hurt small business and people trying to make their way in the world. In order to implement many of his ideas we would have to restructure our entire society and system around wealth building. So some of his ideas are grandiose and naive. But that is not to discount many of his ideas that would work very well in our system and could greatly improve the mission as given by the books title.
January 1, 2021
I think the individual topics are helpful to begin to see the wide breadth of ways we can try and address the housing crisis, but I do think they come out a little simplistic - perhaps that is the point. I wish the book had a little more of an overarching theme than “we need a balanced policy approach and the three s’s.” The result is that it feels a little all over the place and hard to remember many of the points. Not going to start a revolution but a helpful reference to consider solutions to specific problems.
December 5, 2023
Very good introduction to the topic of housing affordability. Well organized conceptually into housing supply, housing stability and housing subsidies as three interdependent and complementary approaches to making housing more affordable. Covers a lot of ground with many chapters on individual policy approaches, so this doesn't allow as much depth into each topic, but this book is a good starting point.
February 14, 2024
I know very little about housing policies and strategies but live in a large city heavily impacted by high rents, low housing supply, and higher than the national average home prices. Phillip's book is 3-4 pagelong chapters on policy changes and strategies that address supply, stability, and subsidy. No one solution will fix housing everywhere, no one solution is the ultimate solution that is universally applicable.
May 11, 2021
Strong attempt to address housing issues by valuing the interests of the un- or poorly housed as well as those for whom housing is a major source of financial savings. Some sections are written to be read, others to be used as reference, but overall a thoughtful approach to a thorny public policy problem.
March 25, 2023
Lots of policy fixes to increase the supply of housing, prevent displacement, and make the transition to more and more social housing. Not as much discussion on how to build enough power to get laws like this to pass, but I guess that wasn't the central purpose of the book. I didn't know a lot of details about what it takes to get homes built so I found the book enlightening.
April 18, 2021
This was an extremely easy to read book about housing policy. It's dry - if you are looking for a humanized narrative I would recommend reading "Golden Gates" by Conor Dougherty - but as a policy book it is very accessible and digestible.
June 14, 2021
Great overview of strategies that can be used by activists and officials to create policy change to address the housing crisis in our cities. I will keep this handy as a reference and will reread sections regularly.
September 2, 2022
SO MUCH CONTENT. was definitely hard to get through because it was so dense and written more like a textbook but eye opening and gives me so much more vocabulary and understanding to talk about housing. very much an economist perspective though
September 29, 2023
This book describes many good ideas to increase the supply of housing and to make housing more affordable. Too focused on allowing developers to build with fewer restrictions, which I see as problematic, but generally the approach is sound.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2021
Overall a very solid book that concisely puts excellent policy recommendations all in one place. This book serves as a good jumping off point to see what can and cannot work in your community.
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