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.
Ben Christopher / CalMatters
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.
Posted inHousing & Development
No new ADUs here: When California law and homeowners association rules collide
Adam Hardesty says state law gives him the right to turn his garage into an accessory dwelling unit. His Carlsbad HOA says it doesn’t. Who’s right?
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Push to build more homes on California coast stifled after lawmakers derail housing bills
Several efforts to minimize the power and influence of the California Coastal Commission have stalled, with new bills either dead or so severely watered down that they no longer carry the promise of a more built-out coastline.
Posted inLatest News
California’s largest-ever affordable housing bond pulled from Bay Area ballot
A $20 billion affordable housing bond that was supposed to go before San Francisco Bay Area voters in November has been pushed to at least 2026 amid fears that it wouldn’t pass.