Should We Be Listening to Academics?

Should the real estate market look to academics and professors for guidance on crucial market issues? It couldn’t hurt. Recently, research from professors and academics at UCLA has addressed the critical Los Angeles housing shortage, the affordability gap, financing options and development costs, and has offered solutions to these issues. However, local governments or lobbyists seem to miss this important research and the potential solutions.

“Academics are not the most convincing people to elected officials. I think it really takes interest from journalists, who can spread ideas in simple terms,” Donald Shoup, a professor in the Department of Urban Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, tells GlobeSt.com, adding that his research has only implemented when media outlets publish it. “Most of the ideas that I have recommended and researched have been put into motion only when they were picked up by journalists. When I do this research, I often hope that journalists will take an interest in it.”