Utah's Balanced YIMBY Bill

Utah's housing reform bill, SB34, aims to increase supply of affordable housing and may be a useful case study for other cities and states around the country.

Unlike other proposed housing reforms, SB34 keeps local governments in the driver's seat in terms of choosing how to address the affordability crunch: Municipalities have to adopt at least three new policies from the "menu" of reforms, ranging from progressive to more conservative initiatives including community land trusts, purchasing and preserving existing affordable units, and more, CityLab reports.

The balance of support for SB 34 comes from a very different place, ideologically, than similarly intended pro-housing California regulations, which found support among social justice activists and environmentalists. Anderegg describes himself as a “conservative, borderline Libertarian Republican,” and with 23 of Utah’s 29 State Senate seats occupied by Republicans, the bill’s appeal to deregulation and property rights likely carried more water than its potential to address spacial inequality and access to public transit.