As we were studying City-specific implementation analysis we also reviewed around two dozen academic papers on IH/IZ. There is significant research that is dated (prior to 2015), too specific and not applicable to Albany, or just looked like bad research; we didn’t include any of these papers.
We teased out the 6 most interesting studies and included our takeaway below. Different people can read research and will find different points compelling; we are always open to hearing where a reader thinks we are misconstruing the findings.
Do Inclusionary Zoning Policies Affect Local Housing Markets? An Empirical Study in the United States
Our main takeaway:
“By leveraging a national dataset … we have demonstrated that mandatory IZ policies can lead to a shift towards multifamily housing developments without decreasing overall housing permits or increasing rents. Additionally, we observed a modest increase in home prices, and these effects varied based on policy stringency and market conditions.”
Upzoning With Strings Attached: Evidence From Seattle’s Affordable Housing Mandate
Our main takeaway:
“Overall, this study’s findings suggest preliminary mixed results for the (IH/IZ). Although upzoning allows for the construction of larger, taller multifamily buildings, it appears that (IH/IZ)’s affordability requirements act as a tax on some additional development.”
Inclusionary Zoning and Housing Market Outcomes
Our main takeaway:
“Despite its intentions, inclusionary zoning may exacerbate regulatory constraints and affordability challenges by acting as a tax on new housing construction.”
Before the ground breaks: Is inclusionary zoning a shield or a signal of gentrification?,
Our main takeaway:
This was an interesting paper that looked at the benefit or cost, geographically, from IH/IZ. It is challenging to describe a single major point from this paper, plus it also focuses on New York City which is dissimilar to Albany. There are two preliminary points that this paper suggests:
- “the results suggest that one of the fears associated with IZ—an undue rise in housing prices—is perhaps unfounded”
- “our findings suggest that IZ has complex, uneven effects on local housing markets, at least in New York City. While both home sales prices and rental incomes increased over time, the most consistent and statistically significant growth occurred not within IZ designated areas, but in their immediate surroundings”
Inclusionary Zoning: What Does the Research Tell Us about the Effectiveness of Local Action?
Our main takeaway:
While this paper is somewhat old (2019) it does suggest the potential for positive outcomes, “IZ may also increase economic opportunity by providing access to low-poverty schools and
improving educational outcomes for children”, “The limited literature evaluating IZ policies’ effects on integration suggests that they do generally improve economic integration and provide low-income residents access to high-opportunity neighborhoods”, “evidence that IZ laws negatively affect private market prices and development is mixed.”
Can Inclusionary Zoning Be an Effective Housing Policy in Greater Boston? Evidence from Lynn
and Revere
The main takeaway:
“We find that Inclusionary Zoning policies are most effective when targeted at affordable rental
units for low to moderate income earners. IZ is unlikely to produce substantial units for
extremely low income households. Tools that are particularly effective for supporting IZ are
parking requirements and density bonuses. Since IZ is dependent on market-rate construction,
it is most likely to be successful in robust housing markets that have consistent housing
production”
We also found this research paper to be interesting from a policy design perspective although it was adjacent to our search goals.
What do we get from these papers? In aggregate these papers add up to neither a compelling case for or against IH/IZ. There is no compelling, generally agreed upon research that suggests that IH/IZ is a slam dunk for communities as a primary tool for advancing low income housing and related goals.