Jerusalem Demsas, editor-in-chief of The Argument, spoke at Homewise's Livability Speaker Series in Albuquerque, arguing that by-right development and fewer zoning restrictions are key to solving the city's housing shortage.
Jerusalem Demsas presented at Homewise’s Livability Speaker Series, advocating for fewer barriers to development Journalist Jerusalem Demsas, right, speaks during a panel discussion with Mayor Tim Keller and Bernalillo County Manager Cindy Chavez (not pictured) at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Thursday. Demsas also gave a speech on housing. Kylie Garcia/Journal Kylie Garcia Kylie Garcia Journal Staff Writer Published June 12, 2026 - 7:50 p.m. Modified June 12, 2026 - 10:35 p.m. The course of a person’s life is shaped by many factors, but few are as central and influential as housing. That was the point that journalist, author and speaker Jerusalem Demsas made during the final talk of Homewise’s Livability Speaker Series in Albuquerque at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Thursday. Drawing from years of researching and writing about housing policy, Demsas — currently the editor-in-chief of The Argument and formerly a staff writer at The Atlantic — shared how planning, zoning and local decision-making influence affordability and livability. The event, which drew in a crowd of more than 200, comes as Albuquerque grapples with a housing crisis, spurred in part by low supply. Estimates from Root Policy Research indicate the city is 13,000 to 28,000 units short of meeting demand. Research shows housing is largely connected to economic growth and addressing issues of homelessness, which Demsas said has shaped her belief that communities need a variety of housing types and need to build with ease to grow supply and push down costs. “What I see across the country are cities that are way further along than Albuquerque in this crisis, states that wish they had the problems of Albuquerque and they could intervene at this moment … when the supply crisis was just a few tens of thousands of homes, when it was manageable,” Demsas said. Demsas said cities like Albuquerque can intervene now by implementing liberalism — a political and economic approach that emphasizes individual rights — into its housing policies. One route local governments can take to do that is to embrace what’s known as by-right development, which means the government body collaborates with the public to create a straightforward outline and set of rules for builders. If a project follows those rules, a builder can proceed with that project without a review or approval. This approach differs from Albuquerque, which Demsas said is largely zoned for single-family housing. If someone wants to build a cottage or other type of housing, that person has to go to the city and ask for permission, or what’s known as a variance, she said. But Albuquerque has inched toward easing those rules. In 2023, the city updated its zoning laws to allow for the construction of casitas in certain neighborhoods. More recently, the city has also made serious efforts to update policies to allow for more variety, such as taller housing structures and cottages — though such efforts have failed. Demsas said by-right development is one of several pro-housing policies that she favors — because it cuts red tape and allows builders to build various types of housing faster — but is often criticized. Much of her talk covered those critiques and her rebuttals against them. The first was that building more won’t solve affordability because it could impact demand, incentivizing more luxury projects and, thus, raising prices. Demsas said this is a fair question, but pointed to what she said is a decade of research showing that rents decline when more housing is built. She also pointed to Austin, Texas, which has in recent years seen its housing stock increase by 30% and median rents fall from $1,546 to $1,296. “The best way to create tomorrow’s affordable housing is to build new housing today,” Demsas said. Another criticism Demsas hears of by-right development is that it removes community input. Demsas’ response, she said, is that the people attending local planning and zoning meetings are not often representative of a community. Demsas pointed to a 2022 study from Boston University researchers showing that, compared to the general population, people attending local planning and zoning meetings and serving on those boards were more likely to be older, wealthier men who own homes. “Is that who gets to decide whether or not a new apartment gets built? That’s what the community process is. It’s who has time to come repeatedly on a Tuesday night, Thursday during the day, leave their kids, doesn’t have a second job, has the time and energy to (participate in meetings),” Demsas said. “That’s not democracy,” Demsas added. “I don’t think democracy is supposed to be (that) the system works if you put in (your) all. It’s supposed to be designed for people who have multiple jobs, who have children (and) who don’t have time to learn what a zoning variance is.” Demsas also touched on misconceptions about gentrification and how people generally seem to view developers as untrustworthy — something she said a by-right process would address by leaving no room for bribery or partiality in development. Demsas said she believes a fear of the unknown is ultimately at the root of the opposition. To conclude her talk, she left the audience with this: “ Growth is good, new people are good.” “It's not a cost a community has to bear; it’s a benefit that people get to live with new people in their areas,” she said. “Right now, we’re creating a system where the default is that we don’t build housing, and someone has to prove it’s worth it. But people shouldn’t have to prove they have the right to have shelter. They should just get shelter.” Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com .
