Housing

The sudden demise of the year’s most controversial state housing bill was celebrated by some and bemoaned by others. But very few—supporters, opponents, and even the author himself—can claim to have seen this coming.

Inside the Capitol’s corridors and pro-development quarters around the state, the California Environmental Quality Act is increasingly disparaged as a villain in the state’s housing crisis. But the act’s environmentalist defenders are pushing back, saying many projects slip too easily through—leading to overdrawn groundwater tables and disappearing forests. And whatever the urgency to build more housing, environmentalists say there’s nothing to preempt a rigorous review of commercial proposals—even ones as visually appealing as vineyards in the Napa Valley.

Michael Weinstein, rent-control advocate and president of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, had a rough time in Sacramento last week.

A growing number of California seniors are building "in-law units" or "granny flats," and having their adult children move into their backyards—or vice-versa.

With fresh political attention on mental health, advocates are hoping California embraces humane and effective ways of averting some problems and solving others.

California is getting old. Within a decade, more than 20% of the state’s residents will be seniors -- a higher proportion than currently resides in Florida, a state famous for its large population of snowbird retirees.

Susan Kirsch, Livable California, Mill Valley I read “California’s hottest housing bill moves ahead—with a break for smaller counties” while sitting in a café in Athens, Greece. I was struck by the irony of being in the birthplace of democracy while Sacramento legislators deliver death by a thousand cuts. Senate Bill 50 marches ahead under […]

A bill aimed at protecting California tenants from “egregious” rent hikes cleared a key hurdle in the state Legislature today, less than 24 hours after pro-tenant groups learned their latest try to expand tighter rent controls throughout California is flailing in the Capitol.

A controversial bill that would force California cities to allow denser housing around public transit cleared a major hurdle, but only after its sponsor agreed to go easier on smaller-sized counties.

Please subscribe to the Gimme Shelter podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play, Spotify or Overcast.  Ready for another fight over rent control? Six months after a statewide initiative that could have expanded rent control across California was rejected overwhelmingly at the polls, a group of progressive state lawmakers are back with a suite of pro-tenant legislation […]