In April of this year, Gov. Bob McDonnell issued an Executive Order to establish a “housing policy framework” for the commonwealth. Among the goals were establishing policies on “…workforce housing, economic development, healthy neighborhoods, effective coordination of transportation, environmental issues” and more.
That Executive Order led to a report that, on the face of it, looks harmless enough. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s much to be concerned about — including the administration’s continuing push to make housing even more expensive for Virginians through a heavy dose of central planning.
The interested parties – housing advocates, developers and such — applauded the recommendations, which isn’t unexpected. But what were they cheering?
Was it the proposal to “reduce undue housing development”? Or perhaps it was the idea to reduce “commuting volumes and distances”…all in the name of promoting “sustainable and vibrant communities”?
Perhaps all those. And that’s where the concerns come in. “Sustainability” is one of those nice-sounding buzzwords that masks a troubling policy goal: to limit both your freedom to live where and how you want while driving up housing costs in general.
Not long after McDonnell issued his Executive Order, Dr. Ron Utt wrote a critique that is still relevant:
…the E.O. is chock-a-block with New Age nostrums like sustainable communities, mixed use development, work force housing, residential access to transportation systems (transportation choice?), reducing commute times (With housing? How?). Discerning readers will recognize that none of these McDonnell proposals would discomfort the state’s environmentalists, urban planners, Piedmont Environmental Council, rail and transit unions, New Urbanists, and advocates of restrictive smart growth regulations.
It would seem so…and they want the General Assembly to put taxpayer dollars to work ensuring these policies come to life. This puts the McDonnell administration firmly in line with the Obama White House, which has made a point of turning the nation’s cities into mirror-images of planning-heavy Portland, Oregon.
So how will any of this raise housing costs? It’s not a mystery. As Wendell Cox has noted: “Any time that which is in demand is rationed, prices rise.” By subsidizing high-density growth, and producing zoning laws that mandate it, we restrict the types of available housing and drive up prices. It’s an ancient economic concept, and in the context of the McDonnell administration’s report, an ironic one too.
The report contains a section on encouraging “economic literacy” among school children so they can avoid the pitfalls of making bad financial choices. Maybe the first folks who ought to take advantage of such a program are McDonnell’s housing planners.
