THE FWD #239 • 637 words
Why UCLA’s Housing Voice podcast should be on every housing professional’s playlist
On long drives, I often go in a few different directions for my entertainment choices. Sometimes I really enjoy podcasts diving into movie culture (e.g., The Big Picture). Other times I need some new music to keep me going. But once in a while, I might seek something a little more informational.
Did you know that there are a slew of podcasts out there about affordable housing? These podcasts can make it easy to digest some of the latest housing issues and ideas. One podcast that may be of most interest to you is the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Housing Voice podcast.
The podcast is hosted by the UCLA Lewis Center‘s housing initiative manager, Shane Phillips (and occasionally co-hosted by professors Mike Lens, Michael Manville, and Paavo Monkkonen). Shane and his colleagues share research on housing affordability, displacement, development, and policy in conversation with the researchers doing the work. The importance of this podcast cannot be understated. As they note, “research findings don’t often get shared with those beyond academia.” And as a researcher myself, I often find the bridge between research and practice too long or completely missing.
Housing research is important to respond to the questions and concerns that get thrown around in opposition to housing.
- When a city proposes zoning changes, how do you know whether they’ll be effective?
- Who ends up paying for inclusionary zoning policies?
- Does building taller actually mean lower costs?
- What does market rate development do to surrounding rent prices?
We often point to the research to justify policy recommendations and best practices. But opponents still cry foul when the research is broken down for them: “My community is different!” or “Those researchers were biased!” Yes, not everything will be applicable to Virginia or a specific community in Virginia. Yes, if you look hard enough you can find “research” that aligns with your choice of perspective. And publication bias is a real thing that leads to a focus on positive findings. But good research acknowledges its own limitations and gives others the opportunity to take the research ball and run with it.
That’s exactly what makes the UCLA Housing Voice podcast so valuable—it creates space for researchers to acknowledge what they don’t know while sharing what they do. Each episode typically runs about an hour and features conversations with researchers whose work directly addresses the questions housing advocates face daily. Recent episodes have covered everything from California’s SB 9 duplex law impacts to the economics of tenant protections.
What makes this podcast particularly valuable is how Phillips and his co-hosts translate academic jargon into practical insights. They don’t just present findings—they dig into what the research means for practitioners, policymakers, and communities grappling with housing challenges.
Why should Virginia housing folks tune in?
While much of the research focuses on markets outside of Virginia, the fundamental questions are universal. How do inclusionary zoning policies perform across different market conditions? What are the unintended consequences of various tenant protection measures? These are also Virginia issues.
Plus, Virginia-based researchers have appeared on the podcast, including our colleague, Emily Hamilton. Recent episodes have featured work from scholars studying everything from combatting NIMBYism to the cost of development approvals—issues that directly parallel what we see across the Commonwealth.
Ready to add some housing research to your commute? You can find Housing Voice on all major podcast platforms. Start with their episode on “The Relationship Between Market-Rate Development and Displacement”—it’s a great primer on one of the most contentious debates in housing policy today. If you come across research that interests you that you want to investigate in Virginia, drop us a line.
Do you have a favorite housing podcast we should know about? Let me know!