I recently read a surprisingly fun, interesting book on housing (de)regulation, Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation (2024) by Bryan Caplan, an economics professor at our very own George Mason University. It’s a graphic novel, so you’re essentially reading an econ comic book rather than a dense policy text. It’s an easy, worthwhile read that I found relevant to our current Missing Middle housing/densification discussions and recommend it.
The book makes a clear, unapologetic case for radically loosening housing (and all building) regulations—height limits, density caps, parking minimums, etc. If you lean libertarian, you’ll be smiling the whole time. If you’re more skeptical of deregulation, you’ll at least walk away with a sharper understanding of why so many economists, planners, and “YIMBY” advocates keep calling to densify your neighborhood.
Overlaps With New ‘Abundance Liberalism’ Politics
Caplan’s arguments overlap a lot with ideas in another new, popular book, Abundance (2025) by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. They’re coming at housing deregulation from a more political viewpoint in what’s referred to as “abundance liberalism” or “supply-side progressivism”, but the core housing regulation message is similar:
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We don’t build enough homes where people want to live due to over-regulation, especially in blue, high-opportunity metro areas
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Well-intentioned regulation in zoning, environmental review, permitting, etc make the right construction too slow and too expensive
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If we want broadly available prosperity, we must make it easier and faster to build what the market wants in the places where people most want to live and work
As the Democratic Party searches for a stronger identity, many are grabbing onto the Abundance concepts and Build, Baby, Build is a good way of learning about the housing-specific ideas, although the book takes a more extreme viewpoint than you’ll likely heard from most Abundance-believers. You don’t have to agree with the authors, but if you want to understand where a lot of the pro-building, pro-density conversation is coming from, especially inside the Democratic Party, it’s a good education.
Housing Policy Changes Are Coming Locally, Regionally, Nationally
In late 2024, Freddie Mac estimated that the US is short about 3.7 million homes. The national/regional/local housing shortage is the primary driver of our affordability crisis (note: interest rates aren’t to blame, we are hovering around the 30-year average mortgage rate), which has become a frequent talking point amongst families and politicians.
Many ARLnow readers are familiar with Arlington’s “Missing Middle” policy, in which exclusively single-family zoning was eliminated in 2023 across the County to allow for 2-6 unit properties (and has since gotten stuck in a legal tug-of-war), but similar bans on exclusionary zoning and/or promotion of upzoning are happening elsewhere in the DMV including in Alexandria, Montgomery County, and Fairfax County.
These housing policy shifts are not just local to the DMV, they’re occurring in other localities, at the state level (e.g. California, Oregon, Washington) and at the national level by nudging/incentivizing localities away from exclusionary zoning and overregulation. Don’t be surprised to see the Trump Administration take this on in a more forceful way at some point in the next three years.
Whether or not you support these policy changes, I believe this is just the beginning of what will ultimately be a major shift in housing and building policy over the next 10-20 years. In Arlington, we may or may not end up with the current iteration of Missing Middle (personally, I’m hoping to see a better designed second version), but I’d bet my savings that housing policy in Arlington, our neighboring DMV communities, and many metro areas nationwide looks very different over the next two decades.
Your Neighborhood vs Their Growth
I find the “human nature” of the housing (de)regulation/zoning debate to be supremely interesting because self-interest (human nature) tends to override what would otherwise be agreeable politics. I believe most people who read Build, Baby, Build or the housing portion of Abundance will find political and social arguments they objectively agree with, but the readers who are comfortably living in a single-family (or low density) home in a relatively quiet neighborhood feel the threat to their sanctuary and oppose it on emotion.
That is not meant as a slight to readers/citizens who are emotionally opposed to trending housing politics (upzoning, abundance liberalism); it’s rooted in sound arguments and something deeply personal, which makes the housing debates so complex and difficult. Housing debates can cause a die-hard libertarian to picket against deregulation that is perfectly libertarian because of where they live and the home they own.
Give It a Read, Tell Me What You Think
Don’t get me wrong, Abundance is a great read, but it’s already very popular and it’s a longer read, so I’m recommending Build, Baby, Build because it’s lesser known, a much easier read (it probably took me 60-90 minutes), housing-focused, and it was written by a professor at our local University.
It’s worthwhile for anybody who feels strongly about housing policy, but particularly those who feel strongly opposed to policy like Missing Middle so you learn about the other side of your position. If you do read it, especially if you’re part of the latter group, I'd love to hear your thoughts (good or bad) at [email protected].
If you’d like to discuss buying, selling, investing, or renting, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].
We have access to the most pre and off-market listings across the DMV of any brokerage and are happy to share what’s available with anybody who asks.
Below are some of our team’s pre/off-market listings, details and additional listings available by request:
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Glebewood – 3BR/2.5BA/1,800 sqft – Duplex (1953) – 20th Pl N Arlington VA 22207
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Ballston – 1BR+den/1BA/900 sqft – Condo (2008) – 888 N Quincy St Arlington VA 22203
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Annandale – 4BR/3.2NA/2,500 sqft – Townhouse (2003) – Aspen Hill Ct Annandale VA 22003
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Highland Park/Overlee Knolls – 6BR/5.5BA/5,000+ sqft – Detached Single Family (2025) – 22nd Rd N Arlington VA 22205
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Falls Church – 4BR/3BA/1,800 sqft – Detached Single Family (1946) – Tyler Ave Falls Church VA 22042
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Falls Church City – 4BR/4.5BA/3,000+ sqft – End-unit townhouse (1995) – Rees Pl Falls Church VA 22046
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Arlington Heights – 5BR/5.5BA/5,000 sqft – Detached Single Family (2026) – South Highland St Arlington VA 22204
