Nowhere to Live

""A thorough exposition of the fundamental importance of property rights coupled with a biting and well-documented indictment of superfluous governmental regulation which not only stifles such rights but also leads to a critical shortage of affordable housing."" --David L. Callies, FAICP, emeritus professor of Law, University of Hawaii ""In Nowhere to Live: The Hidden Story of America's Housing Crisis, Jim Burling takes on what perhaps is the most vexing problem in our society today. The term 'affordable housing' relates to the acute shortage of housing in America that meets the varying needs of diverse groups of people. The causes are 'hidden' mostly because those advantaged by the current system don't want us to see them. Burling, a leading property rights lawyer, presents a masterful description of American regulation of land use, starting with judicial prohibitions of actual nuisances, through government regulations designed to prevent nuisances, through broad rules precluding apartment houses whose very presence, and possibly lower-class or non-white inhabitants, would be deemed detrimental by more affluent area homeowners. Similarly, explaining legal principles in easy-to-follow English, Burling illustrates how traditional constraints on water and air pollution have been expanded through mazes of incremental regulations and application requirements. Throughout, government attempts to pass the costs of favored policies from taxation to indirect exactions on housing producers and purchasers have made the building of needed homes prohibitive, or at least unnecessarily expensive and time consuming. Jim Burling's well-articulated solution harnesses market actions of landowners, builders, and erstwhile consumers to satisfy our pressing housing needs. Nowhere to Live is a riveting book that will be a much-needed addition to the housing debate."" --Steven J. Eagle, professor emeritus of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University ""Nowhere to Live: The Hidden Story of America's Housing Crisis doesn't just make the general point that regulation has led to our housing crisis but actually pulls together compelling evidence both across time and across different types of government intervention. It's easy to see how outright bans on construction would, in fact, impede construction, but readers will be surprised to learn the blatantly racist origins of much of zoning laws and the large role that eminent domain has played in reducing housing. Although land regulation can be a dry subject, Burling has turned it into an engaging story where the reader wants to turn the page and learn what happens next."" --Dana Berliner, senior vice president and litigation director, Institute for Justice ""In case you ever wondered how we got to the point where we could no longer house our population, look no farther. In this compact volume, Jim Burling examines the various threads of government policy that have led us to this predicament. Here, you will see how reactions to race, class, nationality, faith and fear all combined through various local, state and national policies--effectuated through planning and zoning laws--to make housing unaffordable for some and generally unavailable for others. It is a sobering read and points the finger directly at the government agencies responsible. As Walt Kelly's Pogo put it when I was growing up, 'we have met the enemy and he is us.'"" --Michael Berger, senior counsel, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP ""Jim Burling is one of America's leading property rights litigators. In this book, he offers an outstanding overview of the law and history behind the policies underlying the nation's housing crisis. Essential reading for anyone interested in the most important property rights and land use issue facing the United States today."" --Ilya Somin, professor of Law, George Mason University ""James Burling has been one of America's most effective defenders of property rights for more than four decades, and in Nowhere to Live, he offers a clear and compelling account of the roots of America's housing crisis in misguided-- and sometimes ill-intentioned--departures from basic principles of property law. The book is comprehensive and nuanced, without ever losing steam or focus, and I learned a lot from reading it. Nowhere to Live is essential reading not only for legal experts but for interested citizens seeking to understand the dynamics of America's housing crunch and the role of private property in a flourishing society."" --James Y. Stern, professor of Law and director, William & Mary Property Rights Project