Researcher ORCID Identifier
0009-0008-9202-3213
Graduation Year
2025
Date of Submission
4-2025
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Award
Best Senior Thesis in Public Policy
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Government
Reader 1
Professor Jessica Zarkin
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2025 Ryan A.T. Lenney
Abstract
While substantial literature exists on the causes of California’s housing crisis, relatively little is known about the state legislature’s attempts to increase housing supply. This study attempts to address that shortcoming by creating a catalog of all recent changes made to land use law in California. It finds that the state legislature has passed 167 laws related to planning, zoning, and entitlement processes over the previous decade. Through an analysis of the content of those laws, this study identifies 12 policy subtopics. Subtopics that were subject to significant political opposition typically saw less legislative activity. Exceptions to this finding may result from the “clean-up process,” whereby a legislator passes an ambitious bill one year, then returns to the same subtopic in later years with remedial legislation, often facing less opposition.
To provide additional context on the impact of recent land use legislation, this study relies on 13 interviews with stakeholders in local government and housing development. Interviewees report that only a small subset of reforms has yielded new opportunities for housing development, with those related to the Housing Accountability Act and density bonus being the most useful. Interviews with stakeholders also indicate that incrementalism in policymaking can be a viable approach to land use reform in California, but only on issues that are not significantly affected by special interests such as environmentalists and construction labor unions. On policy reforms that have achieved initial success, this study finds that the state may need to provide additional education and legal support to ensure full implementation of the law.
Recommended Citation
Lenney, Ryan A.T., "The Law of the Land: An Analysis of Recent Reforms to Housing Policy in California" (2025). CMC Senior Theses. 3884.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3884
