Latest News

Will controversial California housing law become permanent?

Will controversial California housing law become permanent?

From CalMatters political reporter Ben Christopher:

In 2017, California lawmakers passed one of the state’s most controversial and consequential housing laws, but they included an expiration date — 2025 — to see how things panned out.

Sen. Scott Wiener, the San Francisco Democrat who authored the bill, is pleased with the results so far. Monday, he introduced a bill to make the law a permanent fixture — with a slight tweak that could kick off another union-on-union spat in the state Capitol.

read more
California law forces new housing in cities short of state goals. Will it be made permanent?

California law forces new housing in cities short of state goals. Will it be made permanent?

BY LINDSEY HOLDEN

For more than five years, a California law has allowed residential developers to circumvent local approval processes in cities that haven’t met state housing goals. Senate Bill 35, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017, was part of a 15-bill housing package meant to stimulate construction in a state where it is sorely needed.

read more
Need for local control

Need for local control

After reading the guest opinion by Palo Alto Mayor Lydia Kou, I wanted to express my gratitude that she is encouraging Californians to support Our Neighborhood Voices.com. I only recently discovered this organization whose mission is to bring back single-family zoning and local control over land use

read more
YIMBY ‘bounty hunter’ program deserves scorn

YIMBY ‘bounty hunter’ program deserves scorn

By Susan Kirsch
February 8, 2023

Housing activists known as YIMBYs (aka “yes, in my backyard”) are turning the challenge to provide housing that is affordable into dangerous “housing wars.” According to cayimby.org, the group is searching for “bounty hunters” for a program sugar-coated by being called “research.”

read more
The Currys have the right to speak out

The Currys have the right to speak out

Basketball legend Steph Curry recently sent a letter to local officials expressing concerns about how a new housing development near his Atherton home could impact the safety and privacy of his family.

Social media swarmed at once. “How dare he,” was the collective response on Twitter, Facebook and beyond.

read more
How the state of California is screwing San Francisco on housing

How the state of California is screwing San Francisco on housing

by Tim Redmond

I have been talking to folks at the City Planning Department to follow up on my analysis of the numbers in the Housing Element, and after a good amount of research, I think can fairly conclude the following:
The state, thanks to the likes of Sen. Scott Wiener, has totally screwed San Francisco.
Here’s what’s really going on:

read more
California YIMBY Research Bounty Program

California YIMBY Research Bounty Program

The YIMBY movement is lucky to have a base that is both technically sophisticated and eager to chip in. To fully leverage this, California YIMBY is launching a research bounty program to make our research and data needs clear, reward those who volunteer to help fill these needs, and generally increase our research output without all of the typical overhead and bureaucracy.

read more
Group for more housing is not what it seems

Group for more housing is not what it seems

by Amy Kalish

In a recent article about cities risking uncertified housing elements (“Marin cities risk ‘builder’s remedy’ over housing plan delays,” Jan. 16), the Californians for Homeownership group is identified as a nonprofit, but it is more than that. I don’t consider it to be a low-income housing advocacy group, as the context suggests.

read more