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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 10h

The Network will bring together researchers across disciplines and connect them w/ policymakers to find better ways of expanding access to housing, clean energy, and transportation.

Mentoring, grants, research-to-policy workshops, and more.

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 10h

Exciting job opportunity, courtesy of @ssrc.org & @arnoldventures.bsky.social: Come build the "Abundance Academic Network" (name is still TBD) as the inaugural Program Director!

job-boards.greenhouse.io/socialscienc...

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Reposted by Chris Elmendorf

AEA Journals @aeajournals.bsky.social · 17h

Americans understand supply and demand when it comes to cars and crops, but struggle to apply the same logic to housing markets. We spoke with @cselmendorf.bsky.social of UC Davis about what this might mean for economic messaging on housing policy. #ResearchHighlight www.aeaweb.org/research/hou...

Housing supply skepticism

Christopher Elmendorf discusses the views of the US public on the housing market.

www.aeaweb.org

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 2d

I tried Fedicia for cross-posting and it was buggy and limited. If anyone has a better tool, I'll try it.

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 2d

what is "native skeets"?

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 3d

More context, for anyone who doesn't know what the bill is about, threadreaderapp.com/thread/19669...

Thread by @CSElmendorf on Thread Reader App

@CSElmendorf: SB 79 Thread #1: Big Picture In the fall of 2018, I first met @hanlonbt. I had recently posted "Beyond the Double Veto". He reached out & suggested we get coffee. We argued about SB...

threadreaderapp.com

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 3d

Cross-posting at @volts.wtf's request, threadreaderapp.com/thread/19748...

Thread by @CSElmendorf on Thread Reader App

@CSElmendorf: I wrote a long 🧵 yesterday on my puzzlement about the chatter that @GavinNewsom or his advisors might think it'd be politically prudent to veto SB 79. Today I'll explain why I don't thin...

threadreaderapp.com

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 18d

threadreaderapp.com/thread/19691...

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 18d

- SB 79 Thread #3. The @california-hcd.bsky.social role.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/19684...

Stay tuned for more!

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Thread by @CSElmendorf on Thread Reader App

@CSElmendorf: SB 79 Thread #3: @California_HCD's role (w/ some preliminary advice) This is the most important of my SB 79 🧵s, b/c SB 79 puts HCD in driver's seat. HCD could drive SB 79 into the...

threadreaderapp.com

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 18d

- SB 79 Thread #2.2. More legal questions

threadreaderapp.com/thread/19680...

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Thread by @CSElmendorf on Thread Reader App

@CSElmendorf: SB 79 Thread #2.2: More legal issues. This one covers: 4. SB 79 in cities whose implementation ordinance may be unlawful; 5. waivers & reductions in local standards under SB 79; 6. trans...

threadreaderapp.com

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 18d

- Addendum to SB 79 Thread #2.1

threadreaderapp.com/thread/19676...

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Thread by @CSElmendorf on Thread Reader App

@CSElmendorf: This is a super important addition to my thread. ⤵️ Applying logic of Wollmer v. City of Berkeley, it's very likely that SB 79 projects will qualify for the AB 130 CEQA exemption, whethe...

threadreaderapp.com

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 18d

- SB 79 Thread #2.1: Legal questions

threadreaderapp.com/thread/19673...

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Thread by @CSElmendorf on Thread Reader App

@CSElmendorf: SB 79 Thread #2, part 1: Big Open Legal Questions I will cover: 1) general principles for construing SB 79; 2) CEQA; 3) demolitions 1/ Start w/ general principles. Will judges interpret ...

threadreaderapp.com

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 18d

Cross posting by popular demand.

- SB 79 Thread #1: The Big Picture

1/🧵

threadreaderapp.com/thread/19669...

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 18d

If you're a thinker or do-er in the housing space and you haven't subscribed to @michaelwiebe.bsky.social's substack, you're doing it wrong!

It's a living urban econ lit review, inspired by @mattsclancy.bsky.social's New Things Under the Sun.

Great stuff! Here's an example ⤵️.

Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 20d

New lit review post: filtering.

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Reposted by Chris Elmendorf

Nathan Lauster @lausterna.bsky.social · 19d

Yes.

Great piece on the "Folk Economics of Housing" here by @stano.bsky.social @cselmendorf.bsky.social, et al.

www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

The Folk Economics of Housing

(Summer 2025) - Why is housing supply so severely restricted in US cities and suburbs? Urban economists offer two primary hypotheses: homeowner self-interest and political fragmentation. Homeowners, w...

www.aeaweb.org

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 26d

Things I never thought I would see, or say. Big props to Sen. Wahab!

M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 26d

Senator Wahab, initially opposed to the bill, speaks in support, noting the limited path to homeownership in California. The process is working!

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · Aug 25

"[W]hen I hear leaders I respect hesitating, quibbling over whether SB79 is 100% perfect, I have to ask: What world are you living in?"

- Tom Steyer, climate leader & philanthropist, in today's
@sfchronicle.com

www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...

California needs to pass zoning reform — and build new housing — in order to prosper

OPINION: “If we want to revitalize our cities, we need to change how we build. That’s exactly what California Senate Bill 79 sets out to do,” Tom Steyer writes.

www.sfchronicle.com

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Reposted by Chris Elmendorf

Jeffrey Tumlin 🏳️‍🌈 🌁 @jeffreytumlin.bsky.social · Aug 23

SF continues deeply divergent ridership recovery. With downtown stations still around 40% of pre-COVID due to work-from-home, Muni now has most effective bus system in US, thanks to improvements in speed and reliability and recovery of non-downtown lines exceeding 130%

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · Aug 21

On the City of Los Angeles's demand that the CA Legislature exempt cities with "approved" fair-share housing plans from SB 79, threadreaderapp.com/thread/19583...

Thread by @CSElmendorf on Thread Reader App

@CSElmendorf: The sick irony: - L.A. started out on right foot w/ its housing element - then L.A. produced an *awful* rezoning program + faux analysis to implement it - now L.A. is telling the Legisla...

threadreaderapp.com

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · Aug 19

🧵 here, threadreaderapp.com/thread/19564...

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Reposted by Chris Elmendorf

Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · Aug 14

Interesting findings from @cselmendorf.bsky.social, Nall, and @stano.bsky.social in JEP. There is a widespread lack of understanding on how supply of housing affects housing costs, even while the same survey respondents understand other supply-cost relationships pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/...

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Reposted by Chris Elmendorf

The Niskanen Center @niskanencenter.bsky.social · Aug 8

Want people to support housing density? Make cities broadly appealing, with clean streets, better transit, rigorous schools, and a healthy business climate.

@cselmendorf.bsky.social @profschleich.bsky.social
hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/yimbyism-s...

YIMBYism started as a single-issue movement. It's time to think bigger.

New research shows that voters who like cities back denser housing. To make cities more likeable, YIMBYs need to act more like a party.

hypertext.niskanencenter.org

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · Jul 29

Wow, great news!

Alex Armlovich @aarmlovi.bsky.social · Jul 29

Senate Banking has just passed the housing megabill out of markup 24-0

First housing markup in almost two decades, and we're including almost every bipartisan housing idea on the Hill in SB jurisdiction!

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · Jul 29

There are plenty of other examples.

Equilibrium thinking isn't easy and it depends on models that at best roughly approximate reality. But if you care about outcomes, it's the way to be.

/end

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Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · Jul 29

- Should cities defund police, and/or disable police from monitoring potentially criminal activity?

The equilibrium thinker asks, "How will potential criminals respond to a lower probability of detection & punishment?" (Answer: not pro-socially.)
x.com/jenniferdole...

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Jennifer Doleac on X: "This paper is officially forthcoming at AEJ: Applied! “The effects of DNA databases on the deterrence and detection of offenders,” joint work with @annesofieanker & @r_landersoe. https://t.co/rL3qhruqJW Here is a thread describing what we do and what we find: https://t.co/RNM0cmqrdz" / X

This paper is officially forthcoming at AEJ: Applied! “The effects of DNA databases on the deterrence and detection of offenders,” joint work with @annesofieanker & @r_landersoe. https://t.co/rL3qhruqJW Here is a thread describing what we do and what we find: https://t.co/RNM0cmqrdz

x.com

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