Oct 31, 2025 | Housing, Legislation, Litigation
By Emily Hoeven, Opinion Columnist
October 31, 2025
California continues to stay in the news for its swath of lawsuits against President Donald Trump. Attorney General Rob Bonta teed up his 45th suit against the administration this week — this time over SNAP benefits.
Yet one of the juiciest lawsuits of the year involving California has nothing to do with the president — it was filed against the state on Oct. 24. And it has mostly flown under the radar.
Oct 21, 2025 | Housing, Legislation
By Thomas Elias
October 21, 2025
A new law just signed by Newsom will eventually prove far more consequential to the future of California cities. It’s called Senate Bill 79 and will leave many California skylines altered, once it plays out, in the direction of population-dense high-rise buildings. Yes, multi-unit apartment construction is down statewide this year from last year’s figures by about 20%, making 2024 construction look like it may have been on steroids. The drop comes largely because new apartments today typically need $4,000 to $5,000 in monthly rent just to break even.
Oct 16, 2025 | Politics, Housing, Legislation
BY DAN WALTERS
OCTOBER 16, 2025
Eight years ago, as he began his campaign for governor, Gavin Newsom described fixing the state’s chronic housing shortage as a moral imperative.
“This is a question of who we are,” Newsom wrote in 2017. “Housing is a fundamental human need — let’s not forget the human face behind the dire statistics.
Oct 11, 2025 | Housing, Legislation
By Alyse DiNapoli,
Oct 11, 2025
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation upzoning many areas throughout the state that fall within a quarter- to half-mile radius of a major transit stop, aimed at spurring housing development. Senate Bill 79, sponsored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would set a uniform standard for allowable height and density minimums within a certain distance of major rail stops, including Caltrain and BART stations. The upzoning would be implemented on a tiered basis and applies mostly in urban counties in the Bay Area, Southern California and Sacramento.
Oct 10, 2025 | Housing, Legislation
BY BEN CHRISTOPHER
OCTOBER 10, 2025
IN SUMMARY
After weeks of waiting, California’s governor signed a bill that will allow mid-rise apartment buildings near major transit stops in California’s biggest metro areas. Ever since the Legislature narrowly passed a bill last month that will pave the way for more apartment buildings around major public transit stops in the state’s biggest metro areas, the California political universe has been impatiently awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature or veto in a heated statewide game of “will he, won’t he.” Today, he did.
Oct 5, 2025 | Housing, Legislation
BY HARSHA DEVULAPALLI AND RACHEL SWAN
October 5, 2025
The passage of Senate Bill 79, the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, seemed to herald the rise of pro-density urbanism in California, and the end of a seven-year crusade by a San Francisco YIMBY lawmaker. “Politics have shifted since I began this journey,” Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener said of his legislation to construct apartment complexes and other multifamily dwellings around major
transportation hubs.
