In the coming months and years, the Los Angeles housing market, already extremely tight, will feel the strain of displaced homeowners and renters looking for a way to stay in the region as their neighborhoods undergo the long process of rebuilding. And it is a long process {...} The interminable pace is due in large part to the local and state governments failure to shape the regulatory environment to encourage housing production.In a new article for The Atlantic, author Jerusalem Demsas argues that zoning reform should form part of the rebuilding efforts following the latest major fires in Los Angeles. Demsas points to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake that devastated New Zealands housing supply, prompting emergency rezoning that legalized denser housing, easing supply shortages and stabilizing prices.Similar lessons apply to Los Angeles, Demsas argues, where wildfires have destroyed thousands of homes amid an extreme housing shortage. Despite Governor Newsoms efforts to streamline rebuilding, Demsas notes, restrictions still limit new housing growth. Mayor Bass initially accelerated affordable housing approvals, Demsas adds, but later backtracked under political pressure."This is the trap California has set for itself," Demsas argues. "In order to prevent costly damages from wildfires and further residential incursions intofire-prone areas, you have toprovide more housing in dense urban corridors. B...