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How has the US added housing supply since 2000? Are conservative places building a lot more than liberal places? In new research, I show that: —Additional homes were disproportionately in high-income, conservative, greenfield areas —BUT infill growth was more likely to be located in liberal areas

The question of what places are adding housing supply most quickly has become a subject of avid political debate. There's a frequently repeated claim that conservative communities are more accepting of new homes than are liberal places, which, many argue, "aren't building enough."

And, overall, that story is true. Between 2000 & 2020, more conservative metropolitan areas like Houston & Phoenix added many more homes than liberal ones like Chicago & New York City. Ideologically conservative regions are adding homes more quickly.

When I examined trends among cities, I found that cities with more conservative residents added housing much more quickly... *But* more liberal cities added much more housing in infill areas. Liberal cities did a better job adding homes through construction in existing neighborhoods.

My findings reaffirm that liberal places are doing a poor job adding homes. BUT they also show that conservative places are doing a poor job adding homes other than on greenfields—as in, outside existing neighborhoods. Journal article: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Free pre-print version ⏬

This also suggests that conservatives aren’t actually less NIMBY-favoring; they’re just more willing to dump subsidies on greenfield sprawl as conflict avoidance