Similarly, Shoup recommended the concept in New Jersey, and was able to get the research media attention, eventually leading to its implementation. He is hoping the same thing will happen in Los Angeles. “When these ideas get media attention, developers see it and can help to spread the ideas to City Council or lobbyists; it really takes lobbyists to get anything done,” he adds. “Who would listen to a professor when you have lobbyists? In the end, developers want to develop, and if there is a way for them to get a site to develop, they will listen.”

When asked if the real estate community should spend more time reviewing academic articles for research on these topics, Shoup didn't totally agree, conceding that research, not sales, is the talent of academics like him. “What I did here was the research,” he explains. “I wrote a similar article on the topic in Urban Land, and that did get some attention, but ideas don't sell themselves.”

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.”

Shoup recently published research recommending a potential solution to the housing shortage in Los Angeles and the recent legislation that is hindering development activity. He found that creative or graduated density zoning would be the best, both easiest and most inexpensive, solution. His research noted other markets where the plan worked, meaning that it isn't a new idea; however, Los Angeles City Council hasn't explored it as a solution, according to Shoup.

Similarly, Shoup recommended the concept in New Jersey, and was able to get the research media attention, eventually leading to its implementation. He is hoping the same thing will happen in Los Angeles. “When these ideas get media attention, developers see it and can help to spread the ideas to City Council or lobbyists; it really takes lobbyists to get anything done,” he adds. “Who would listen to a professor when you have lobbyists? In the end, developers want to develop, and if there is a way for them to get a site to develop, they will listen.”

When asked if the real estate community should spend more time reviewing academic articles for research on these topics, Shoup didn't totally agree, conceding that research, not sales, is the talent of academics like him. “What I did here was the research,” he explains. “I wrote a similar article on the topic in Urban Land, and that did get some attention, but ideas don't sell themselves.”