Ben Christopher

Ben Christopher covers housing policy for CalMatters. Ben has profiled the people who fell through the cracks of California’s rickety COVID rent relief program, demystified the perennial debate between state regulators and local governments opposed to new housing, covered innovative ideas from cities on how to tackle their local housing shortages and explained how complicated legislative proposals about zoning, bonds and corporate ownership of single-family homes affect everyday Californians. 

His favorite reporting assignment so far: Touring the various two- and three-story structures that have sprouted up across San Diego under the regulatory guise of “accessory dwelling units” thanks to that city’s one-of-a-kind program. Prior to taking over the housing beat in the spring of 2023, Ben wrote about elections and politics for CalMatters, covering four election cycles, including the 2021 gubernatorial recall campaign. He has been known to craft the occasional politics-themed crossword puzzle. 

Ben has a past life as an aspiring beancounter: He has worked as a summer associate at the Congressional Budget Office and has a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Oakland where he enjoys riding his bike, baking (and then eating) pies and working on his repertoire of dad jokes.