Tim Walz, the first YIMBY VP candidate

Tim Walz is a YIMBY. He’s supported a ton of new housing that’s kept rents down in Minnesota.

Minneapolis has become a national leader on housing policy reform that’s helped the city build lots of new housing and keep rents way down.

AOLEliza Relman

Tim Walz, the freshly minted Democratic VP candidate, has a strong record of support for zoning reform and affordable housing as governor of Minnesota.

This is refreshing to see in a major party candidate, and if Harris/Walz wins, I hope to see more federal policies that tie federal funding for transit and Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to zoning reform.

In 2018, Minneapolis became the first in the country to end single-family zoning citywide — part of a comprehensive city plan designed to reduce inequities, including racial segregation. The policy — passed by the city council in a 12-1 vote — allows duplexes and triplexes on all lots that used to be reserved only for single-family houses, paving the way for smaller and more affordable homes. It also opened up multifamily housing development on commercial corridors and near mass transit.

A lawsuit in 2022 paused the policy's implementation until the Minnesota state legislature passed a law — signed by Walz — in May allowing the plan to go forward.

Over the last decade, Minneapolis has constructed a ton of new and dense housing, which has significantly improved affordability. Between 2017 and 2022, the city grew its housing stock by 12%, while rents rose just 1% — far lower than the 31% in rent growth across the US during the same period. The city's housing policies have been credited with dramatically slowing rent growth and thereby keeping inflation down. Last year, the Twin Cities became the first major metro area to keep inflation below the Fed's target of 2%.