Advancing the ADU: A West Coast Comparative Perspective – Shane Phillips

Abstract

In the span of a few years, California has gone from approving virtually zero accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to permitting more than 12,000 annually. But ADUs aren’t a new idea in the Golden State: state officials have been trying to spur increased ADU production for 40 years, engaged with obstinate local governments in an endless game of policy whack-a-mole.

In this lecture, Shane Phillips will explore what it took to finally make ADUs a reality in California, the key regulatory barriers to their expansion, and how the lessons from West Coast cities from Vancouver to Los Angeles could be applied in Iowa.

About the speaker

Shane Phillips is an urban planner and policy expert based in Los Angeles. He is currently managing the UCLA Lewis Center Housing Initiative and teaching public policy as an adjunct instructor at the University of Southern California. Phillips previously worked as the director of public policy for Central City Association of Los Angeles, a Downtown LA business advocacy organization, and has held roles with the Los Angeles Streetcar project and in city hall. He has kept a blog on housing and transportation issues, “Better Institutions,” for many years.

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Community and Regional Planning with generous support from the Gordon Family Endowment, and by the Polk County Housing Trust Fund.