Tim Walz is gloating in his stolen courage. When I say that, I’m not referring to the false or otherwise intentionally misleading statements the Democratic vice presidential candidate has made over the years about his war record (or lack thereof).
Rather, I’m referring to the unearned enthusiasm he gets from housing activists, legislators, and the media, who somehow conclude that Walz is a staunch advocate for YIMBY (Yes, In My Backyard) zoning reform .
Business Insider Recent headlines have dubbed him a “YIMBY.” California Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a prolific author of state-level zoning reform legislation, also has the label applied to him. Harris’ YIMBYs are happy to have him as one of their own.
Tim Waltz is a @yimbysforharris pic.twitter.com/h41uGKpAf0
— YIMBYs for Harris ??????????????? (@YIMBYsforHarris) August 9, 2024
What exactly did Walz do to earn his reputation as a YIMBY housing champion? As far as I know, as governor of Minnesota, he signed into law a 1,400-page omnibus bill passed by Democrats that contained two policies of interest to zoning reformers in the state.
One requires state officials to study and recommend changing regulations to allow apartment buildings up to 75 feet tall with a single staircase. Another exempts local comprehensive plan updates from state environmental review laws.
Supporters of single-stair reform say allowing more single-stair apartment buildings (rather than the current two-stair standard) would lower construction costs, make more smaller apartment buildings viable and allow for more flexible floor plans — These are all good things. The research bill in Minnesota’s comprehensive plan is the first step toward achieving this goal.
Another bill would exempt comprehensive plan updates from state environmental review laws, a huge win for Minneapolis city government and the city’s zoning reformers.
Back in late 2018, the city passed a sweeping planning update that made several changes to zoning, including allowing triplexes in single-family zones, apartments along commercial corridors, and eliminating citywide Parking minimum standards.
In response, local environmental groups filed a lawsuit claiming the city failed to properly study the environmental impact of the comprehensive plan update. Last year, a judge ruled in their favor and halted the reforms in Minneapolis.
By exempting comprehensive plans from environmental requirements, the Minnesota Legislature is now allowing local reforms in Minneapolis to come back into effect.
In short, these are two rather odd but not inconsequential reforms.
But Walz actually had nothing to do with either policy.
He has not made any public statements about them. He just signed into law a huge bill that was a Democratic policy priority. What else can people expect from a Democratic governor?
In fact, the North American Architecture Center, which helped draft Minnesota’s single-staircase bill, mentioned a local architect and legislator who worked on the bill. Waltz’s name did not appear.
when new york timesEarlier this month, Ezra Klein asked Walz about the lawsuit filed by environmentalists to block zoning changes in Minneapolis, and Walz gave a rather mild, middle-of-the-road answer , without really stating his views on housing:
Minnesota has good environmental laws and that’s the way it should be. We are the guardians of 20% of the world’s fresh water. But we also have permitting, which takes too long and makes renewable energy projects more expensive, which are the projects we want to get done. I think the same thing applies to housing, we put up barriers to make it more affordable.
So Walz basically said that strong environmental laws are good and speeding up housing permitting is good, but he didn’t comment specifically on how that would affect his home state, where strong environmental laws are Used to slow down housing permits. Got it, thank you.
As it happens, this year the Minnesota Legislature is considering a slew of other bipartisan state-level zoning reforms that would eliminate parking minimums, allow for smaller multi-unit housing and accessory dwelling units in single-family zones, and Allowed in commercial areas.
They ultimately failed, in large part because of opposition from Democratic legislative leaders and lobbying by local governments.
By all accounts, Walz was also completely absent from the debate on these bills.
By contrast, other governors have made state-level zoning reform a priority and expended considerable effort getting bills to their desks.
In Colorado, Governor Jared Polis has spent considerable time and energy writing zoning reform legislation, discussing the need for zoning reform, approving individual zoning reform bills, and encouraging the Legislature to pass them.
The move paid off this year when the Colorado Legislature passed a series of bills that would allow accessory dwelling units to be built in single-family zones and apartments near transit lines.
2023 is a big year for zoning reform in Montana, stemming in large part from the housing task force formed by Gov. Greg Gianforte. Supporters of zoning reform in the state also praise the governor for being involved in the legislative process and doing everything he can to encourage lawmakers to pass zoning reform.
Waltz did nothing.
Some media coverage of his YIMBY credentials noted that he signed into law more affordable housing funding and tenant protections, requiring landlords to give tenants longer notice before filing for eviction.
Whatever one thinks of these policies, they have nothing to do with YIMBY’s unique policy agenda of reducing regulatory barriers to new housing construction.
Giving Walz unearned YIMBY credit is not only unseemly, but also unjust. This is also a bad habit that YIMBY advocates would do well to break.
When politicians can win plaudits for doing nothing, they have little incentive to do something worthwhile. This is especially true on issues like housing policy, where meaningful reform is difficult and generates much fierce opposition. Why take all the criticism for fighting for zoning reform when the people who really want it will pat you on the back for doing nothing?
Politicians should be held accountable for their actions. Sometimes that means yelling at them when they do something bad. Other times, it means not cheering for them when they’re doing nothing.
