CM Banks Q&A: Mangin on 'kludgy' characterization of housing advocacy tools

In the same article, you characterize down zoning, community benefit agreements, the lengthy approval processes,

rent control, and even a focus on affordable housing over other forms of development as a part of what you call kludgy, K-L-U-D-G-Y,

approach by housing advocacy community.

And when I looked up the definition of kludgy, I wanted to, it says kludgy is an informal adjective that describes something.

awkward, poorly designed, clumsy, or patched together as a temporary fix.

That's, I would say, that's a broad collection of policies and protections that tenants, housing advocates, and communities and elected officials have relied upon.

What did you believe the housing advocacy community was getting wrong, and which of these views do you still hold today?

Thanks for the question.

So I believe that all of those things you mentioned are useful tools, some of them absolutely essential.

Things like community benefits agreements, rent stabilization, absolutely essential.

My only point there.

Was that we also need to be doing this other thing along with those things, which is ensuring that we are building enough housing to address increasing housing shortages.

The paper was not about New York City.

It was about cities across the country, an increasing number of which we're experiencing, are experiencing housing shortage that drive this range of policy issues that we deal with every day.

So while all those things you mentioned, CBAs, rent stabilization, et cetera, are extremely important, have their uses, my argument was that we, the housing advocacy community, also have to advocate for more housing of all types to address the housing shortage.

Okay.