Housing

Abandoned businesses at a Fresno strip mall on Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Housing

Gimme Shelter: What would California look like with housing on commercial strips?

On this episode of “Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast,” CalMatters’ Manuela Tobias and the Los Angeles Times’ Liam Dillon sit down with Peter Calthorpe, a San Francisco-based architect, urban designer and urban planner to discuss a new bill that could allow a lot more housing along California’s commercial strips.

By

Manuela Tobias

• September 7, 2022

An abandoned strip mall in central Fresno on Aug. 25, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Housing

Rival fast-track housing bills? California lawmakers pick both

After weeks of negotiation, two major construction unions didn’t reach a compromise on bills about turning commercially zoned land into housing. Legislators congratulated each other anyway.

By

Manuela Tobias

• August 26, 2022

Housing

Labor unions have a week to agree on housing bills. Can they do it?

Some of the most powerful groups in the state are at an impasse regarding key housing legislation. Politicians will likely have to choose between alienating a powerful union and streamlining affordable housing development.

By

Manuela Tobias

• August 22, 2022

Mitchell Friedeck stands outside the apartment complex where he and his three children live in Nipomo on Aug. 2, 2022. Photo by Julie Leopo for CalMatters

Housing

Gimme Shelter: The limits of emergency housing vouchers in California

On this episode of “Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast,” CalMatters’ Manuela Tobias and the Los Angeles Times’ Liam Dillon sit down with Jack Lahey, homeless services coordinator in San Luis Obispo, to discuss the mixed results of a federal rental assistance program.

By

Manuela Tobias

• August 16, 2022

Housing

Could this COVID program help reduce the California housing crisis?

An emergency housing voucher program offers improvements to the decades-old federal solution to the housing affordability crisis, but landlord reluctance remains a crucial hurdle.

By

Manuela Tobias

and

Jeanne Kuang

• August 8, 2022

A rental sign in front of an apartment complex in central Fresno on June 28, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Housing

How bad is California’s housing crisis for renters?

Over the past two years, federal, state and local governments have passed several laws and invested billions of dollars to stave off an eviction tsunami. How have tenants and landlords fared through it all?

By

Manuela Tobias

• July 27, 2022

The Fresno County Superior Court on June 17, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Housing

Got an eviction notice? This California website will help you file a response.

Failure to file an answer within five days can result in an eviction. Tenant advocates and attorneys built an online tool to buy tenants some time.

By

Manuela Tobias

• July 19, 2022

Terry Fiscus, a counselor at Turning Point Community Programs, sits in his office in Sacramento on Thursday, June 23, 2022. Photo by Nina Riggio for CalMatters

Health

CARE Court: Can California counties make it work?

While lawmakers are still gung-ho about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s CARE Court, county officials are worried they don’t have the resources to implement the idea.

By

Jocelyn Wiener

and

Manuela Tobias

• July 14, 2022

Housing

Gimme Shelter: Can California build millions of new homes amid drought?

On this episode of “Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast,” CalMatters’ Manuela Tobias and the Los Angeles Times’ Liam Dillon sit down with Ellen Hanak, director of the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center, to discuss the intersection between housing growth and drought.

By

Manuela Tobias

• July 12, 2022

A for rent sign in Sacramento on June 28, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Housing

Thousands of Californians in limbo as eviction protections end

The last statewide eviction protections for low-income California tenants affected by COVID-19 ended Thursday, but many still haven’t heard back about their rent relief applications. Some local protections are still in place.

By

Manuela Tobias

• July 1, 2022