
A Paradise of Small Houses: An Interview with Author Max Podemski
09/30/24 • 67 min
In this episode of the Infill Podcast, YIMBY Law's Executive Director Sonja Trauss speaks with author Max Podemski about his new book "A Paradise of Small Houses: The Evolution, Devolution, and Potential Rebirth of Urban Housing." In his book, Podemski discusses the history of housing in the United States and the factors that drove housing production in our country's early days.
Although today Americans typically view single-family detached homes as our American dream, Podemski tells the story of immigrants and working class communities whose dreams of dense, multi-family homes served as expressions of American ingenuity and social mobility. By looking at the history of cities like Boston and its triple deckers, or Los Angeles and its bungalow courts, we can see how the kinds of homes that cities are known for are tied to the the motivating factors for what types of housing was prioritized and why.
These lessons are particularly valuable today as our nation faces as shortage of homes, and Americans are seeking solutions for how to solve it. Our ideals about what kinds of homes should be prioritized in American culture are intrinsically tied to our historical views of class and race. Podemski's book gives us a unique lens into how these views have shaped our communities today. Tune in to hear more from Sonja Trauss and Max Podemski about "A Paradise of Small Houses," the history of housing in the US, and how our history is impacting us now.
Learn more about YIMBY Action: https://yimbyaction.org/
Follow YIMBY Action on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yimbyaction/
Follow YIMBY Action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yimbyaction/
Follow YIMBY Action on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yimbyaction/
Get the book: https://www.beacon.org/A-Paradise-of-Small-Houses-P2037.aspx
Area Median Income Lookup: https://ami-lookup-tool.fanniemae.com/
In this episode of the Infill Podcast, YIMBY Law's Executive Director Sonja Trauss speaks with author Max Podemski about his new book "A Paradise of Small Houses: The Evolution, Devolution, and Potential Rebirth of Urban Housing." In his book, Podemski discusses the history of housing in the United States and the factors that drove housing production in our country's early days.
Although today Americans typically view single-family detached homes as our American dream, Podemski tells the story of immigrants and working class communities whose dreams of dense, multi-family homes served as expressions of American ingenuity and social mobility. By looking at the history of cities like Boston and its triple deckers, or Los Angeles and its bungalow courts, we can see how the kinds of homes that cities are known for are tied to the the motivating factors for what types of housing was prioritized and why.
These lessons are particularly valuable today as our nation faces as shortage of homes, and Americans are seeking solutions for how to solve it. Our ideals about what kinds of homes should be prioritized in American culture are intrinsically tied to our historical views of class and race. Podemski's book gives us a unique lens into how these views have shaped our communities today. Tune in to hear more from Sonja Trauss and Max Podemski about "A Paradise of Small Houses," the history of housing in the US, and how our history is impacting us now.
Learn more about YIMBY Action: https://yimbyaction.org/
Follow YIMBY Action on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yimbyaction/
Follow YIMBY Action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yimbyaction/
Follow YIMBY Action on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yimbyaction/
Get the book: https://www.beacon.org/A-Paradise-of-Small-Houses-P2037.aspx
Area Median Income Lookup: https://ami-lookup-tool.fanniemae.com/
Previous Episode

How to Make the Federal Government More YIMBY
Americans are struggling to stay afloat due to high housing prices caused by our nation’s housing shortage. Fortunately, there is a growing number of voices advocating for pro-housing policy solutions. Up For Growth is a national, cross-sector member network committed to solving the housing shortage and affordability crisis. While many advocates focus on solutions to the housing shortage at the local and state levels, Up For Growth supports federal policies that will increase the number of homes throughout the country.
On this episode of the Infill podcast, you’ll hear from our Executive Director Laura Foote and Up For Growth’s National Policy Director David Garcia about what the federal government’s current attitude is on pro-housing policies, how we can inspire more bold policy solutions, and why it is critical to have bipartisan support for pro-housing legislation.
In particular, one federal bill that Up For Growth and YIMBY Action are supporting is the YIMBY Act. In this episode you will learn more about what the YIMBY Act does to promote pro-housing solutions and housing affordability, as well as why we need to tell our congress members to act NOW to bring the YIMBY Act to a vote before the year ends. You can email your congress members to support the YIMBY Act using our online tool below!
Email Your Congress Members About the YIMBY Act: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-your-representative-bring-the-yimby-act-to-a-vote
Learn More about YIMBY Action: https://new.yimbyaction.org/
Follow YIMBY Action on X: https://x.com/yimbyaction
Follow YIMBY Action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yimbyaction/
Follow YIMBY Action on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yimbyaction
Learn more about Up For Growth: https://upforgrowth.org/
Next Episode

Introducing "Density Zones": A New Policy Idea for Federal Intervention in Local Housing Policy
On this episode of Infill, YIMBY Law's Executive Director Sonja Trauss speaks with Dr. Adam Ozimek, Chief Economist for the Economic Innovation Group about their idea to get the federal government more involved in housing policy.
Pro-housing advocates understand that we need to incentivize local governments to remove barriers to building new homes. The Economic Innovation Group has come up with a new idea called "Density Zones" to empower local governments to facilitate more building by incentivizing them with rewards from the federal government proportional to the number of new homes built. So, how would this work?
The first step would be for the federal government to develop standardized zoning and building codes drawn from best practices nationwide. Then, municipalities would have the ability to adopt this code for specific areas within their jurisdiction. These standardized best practices would help streamline building by providing a set of rules that developers can use to operate with. Finally, areas that meet the program's targets would be rewarded with "Density Dividends," which could be used to do things like building infrastructure or new schools to accommodate the new homes.
Tune in to learn more about the ideas that the Economic Innovation Group is working on, and how they think "Density Zones" could make it easier for state and local governments to their tackle housing shortages.
Learn more about Density Zones: https://agglomerations.substack.com/p/how-the-next-president-can-solve
Learn more about the Economic Innovation Group: https://eig.org/
Learn more about YIMBY Action: https://yimbyaction.org/
Follow YIMBY Action on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yimbyaction/
Follow YIMBY Action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yimbyaction/
Follow YIMBY Action on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yimbyaction/
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