Senate Bill 79, among the most controversial housing proposals in recent memory, overcame opposition from local governments, organized labor unions and many legislative Democrats.
Ben Christopher / CalMatters
Posted inHousing & Development
Breakthrough on California housing could put taller buildings in single-family neighborhoods
A powerful California construction union is no longer fighting a bill that would ease barriers to the construction of tall apartment buildings near train and bus stations.
Posted inHousing & Development
Hidden in Trump’s spending package: A surprise boost to California’s affordable housing
President Donald Trump’s spending bill includes cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and more. But it also increases a federal tax credit that helps build affordable housing in California.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California, epicenter of nation’s housing crisis, is finally getting a housing agency
Aside from giving housing and homelessness its own box atop Gov. Gavin Newsom’s organizational chart, the reorg is supposed to simplify the state’s snarled affordable housing financing system.
Posted inHousing & Development
One of the biggest obstacles to building new housing has now vanished
In a legislative battle a decade in the making, lawmakers just exempted infill urban development from the California Environmental Quality Act. That’s a big deal.
Posted inHousing & Development
How gentrification is killing the bus: California’s rising rents are pushing out commuters
Across Los Angeles, rent hikes have led to fewer bus and train riders in an example of how California’s housing crisis is also making its transit crisis harder to solve.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Newsom picks more housing over CEQA in backing two bills meant to speed construction
The California environmental law known as CEQA can be used to block construction in developed areas. Gov. Gavin Newsom is supporting changes to encourage more housing.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Welcome to the first fire-resistant neighborhood. Now what about the rest of California?
Dixon Trail, in the San Diego suburb of Escondido, is the first purpose-built “wildfire resilient neighborhood” in the United States. Making that a reality for the millions of Californians who already live in harm’s way is a daunting and costly challenge that lawmakers are only just beginning to grapple with.
Posted inHousing & Development
‘Too damn hard to build’: A key California Democrat’s push for speedier construction
Oakland Democrat Buffy Wicks said California lawmakers will soon see 20 bills to speed up housing construction, along with more on energy, water and transit.
Posted inHousing & Development
‘Limited to no impact’: Why a pro-housing group says California’s pro-housing laws aren’t producing more
A passel of recent California laws was supposed to supercharge the construction of desperately needed housing. According to YIMBY Law, they haven’t even come close.