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Urban housing, very different from
Minnesota's North Shore housing. |
The housing crisis is no longer a problem isolated to big cities; it’s a reality creeping into smaller communities, even here along the shores of Lake Superior. Businesses can’t find workers because workers can’t find homes. Families struggle to stay in neighborhoods they’ve called home for generations. Young professionals, eager to build their lives, are forced to settle elsewhere due to the lack of affordable options.
The YIMBY movement’s focus on cutting through restrictive zoning laws, streamlining permitting processes, and advocating for higher-density developments aligns with what many of our communities need. By opening doors to new housing solutions, YIMBY champions the idea that growth is not a threat—it’s an opportunity. Addressing these barriers is not just about putting roofs over people’s heads; it’s about creating vibrant, sustainable communities where everyone can thrive.
I met David Schafroth in eary 2022 while doing research for an article on affordable housing. With a passion for housing, and a wealth of knowledge about housing issues, it was no surprise to recently learn of his advocacy for YIMBY, a national pro-housing social movement that is focused on encouraging new housing, opposing housing density limits and supporting public transportation.
As the name suggests, the acronym YIMBY stands for Yes In My Back Yard, taking a stance against the truckloads of red tape strangling the housing market.
Though YIMBY is not without its critics, from where I sit YIMBY is addressing the right issues with uncommon common sense. Read the interview and tell us what you think by leavong a comment.
EN: You are trying to set up a local chapter of a national group that’s striving to address homelessness. What is the name of the national organization?
David Schafroth: North Shore YIMBY (NSY) is a group of neighbors from Northeastern Minnesota advocating for abundant, affordable housing and inclusive, sustainable neighborhoods. We're a chapter of YIMBY Action, a national pro-housing nonprofit that works with activists across the country to pass high-impact pro-housing legislation, elect pro-housing candidates, and get more housing built.
EN: What is the scope of your local chapter?
DS: NSY is focused on helping achieve housing abundance in Cook, Lake, St. Louis, and Carlton Counties. Our efforts are twofold: One, we help advocate on behalf of particular projects, and two, we advocate for pro-housing policy reforms at the local and state level.
EN: What is the current status?
DS: NSY is operational in its advocacy work. If you’re looking to build in NE MN and would like neighbors to advocate on your behalf, contact us at hello@northshoreyimby.org.
EN: What makes homelessness such a challenge problem to eliminate?
DS: I view this as more of a political question than a policy question. On the policy side, the evidence is clear and overwhelming: there are plenty of policies that reduce the frequency, rate, and intensity at which individuals are priced out of housing and priced into homelessness. Homelessness is the result of the demand to live in an area exceeding the supply of places where individuals are permitted to live in an area. When the demand to be housed in an area exceeds the supply of places to be housed, the price of housing trends upwards. When rents go up, rates at which homelessness is experienced go up as well. Supply and demand is a fundamental law of economics which is as true to Duluth's present housing market as it was when Adam Smith wrote on rent and housing in 'The Wealth of Nations'.
The most cost-optimal policies are those which remove and reform the regulatory barriers which inhibit new housing construction within a jurisdiction. The question is whether political will exists to implement such policies.
Unfortunately, the political environment of Duluth seems more concerned with ensuring that only the right housing is built for the right people in the right places in the right ways than it is with seeing more housing built in Duluth. The only person who gets fired when rates of homelessness go up in Duluth is the Mayor. There's no incentive for staff in the Planning Department, the department tasked with overseeing the policies controlling who can build what, where, and how in Duluth, no incentive to remove barriers and improve the processes governing housing development in Duluth.
There is plenty of Federal funding available to municipalities that want to reform their processes and remove barriers to housing development. Earlier this fall, the City of Duluth applied for HUD's Pathways to Removing Obstacles (PRO) for Housing Grant. The PRO Housing grant funds "streamlining permitting processes and expanding by-right development" and "reducing barriers to development such as residential property height limitations, off-street parking requirements, density restrictions, and minimum lot sizes".
The City of Duluth's application proposes to implement neither of these; it identifies a lack of funds available for public housing construction by the City of Duluth as the greatest barrier to housing construction in Duluth. That tells me that staff in the City of Duluth's Planning Department think that the only way to address homelessness in Duluth is to try throwing more money at the issue, and hope that this time the outcome will be different from all the other times Duluth has tried throwing more money at the issue.
For instance, Duluth's PRO Housing grant application discusses duplexes in Duluth in glowing terms. Just don't ask the City of Duluth how many lots exist served by existing infrastructure where it's legal to build duplexes by-right. I asked that exact question to the Planning Department earlier this summer -- they had no response, and refused to respond to further inquiries when pressed on why that was.
I don't see the Planning Department as having the culture necessary to tackle the root cause of homelessness within Duluth. I see the Planning Department as having a culture that prioritizes office politics over seeing more housing built in Duluth. Changing an organizational culture requires political leadership, and frankly, I don't see Duluth as having the political leadership necessary to tackle the root cause of homelessness within our community: the mismatch between the supply of housing permitted to be built in Duluth and the demand to live in Duluth.
EN: What people or events motivated you to become so passionate about this issue?
DS: Our members come from a diverse range of backgrounds, life experiences, and professions. What unites us is our acceptance that the cost of housing is governed by the economic laws of supply and demand.
I moved to Duluth 8 years ago. Every year, without fail, my rent has gone up. There is no denying that Duluth has a shortage of housing units available relative to the demand to live in Duluth. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to afford to live in Duluth. It's the same for a lot of members of our organization.
Every week, I hear a new horror story about someone trying to do the right thing for the community and all the barriers they encounter. It's well past time that someone began to speak up for all Duluthians, including the future Duluthians that will need somewhere to live in our community.
EdNote: As an afterward David sent this follow-up:
PS - I'm not sure if I mentioned it, I recently went down to UMN's School of Architect & Design to present as a subject matter expert on the interaction between policy, process, and American starter home production. I have to say that I am inspired at some of the conversations which the next generation of architectural practitioners are having--definitely a break from the "traditional" schools of architecture.
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
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