In land-rich countries like Canada, the primary cause of soaring housing costs is not a lack of land, labor, or materials. Instead, government-imposed costs—including taxes, development fees, and slow, bureaucratic permitting processes—make up the vast majority of the price of a new home.

"Not In My Backyard" opposition is no longer just for housing or power plants. Communities are banning new storage units, viewing them as aesthetically unpleasing and economically stagnant. This "storage shaming" highlights a growing local demand for high-value land use.

Smaller, high-growth cities finance major infrastructure by using Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). They place the financial burden on developers to extend sewer and water lines, incentivizing them with tools like PIDs and TERS. This allows the city to expand rapidly without taking on massive public bond debt.

Local city governments are often captured by "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBY) homeowners who block essential development. A practical solution is to elevate planning and zoning authority to the state level. States, motivated by tax revenues and broader growth, are inherently more development-friendly.

Umansky argues that policies like L.A.'s ULA tax, a transaction tax applied even on sales at a loss, scare away national developers. This political climate causes them to invest in other major cities, starving the local market of new development and investment capital, even for prime sites at a discount.

Individual neighborhoods rationally reject development to avoid localized costs like noise and traffic, even though the broader region would benefit. This collective action failure requires higher-level government intervention to internalize the costs and benefits of growth for the entire area.

A mix of old and new buildings is crucial for a vibrant neighborhood. Because new construction is expensive, it drives up rents, excluding smaller businesses and lower-income residents. Older buildings provide the affordable spaces necessary to foster a diverse economic and social ecosystem.

From 2009 to now, speculative retail construction halted, creating a "dead cycle." This prolonged lack of new supply, combined with steady retailer expansion, has resulted in historically low vacancies. Well-located properties now have waiting lists, giving owners immense pricing power for the first time in over a decade.

The financial model for data center development has inverted. Companies can no longer expect tax incentives. Instead, they must now budget a significant portion of project funds for community buy-in, solving local concerns, and providing direct local benefits to get projects approved.