Latest News
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the news items cited here do not necessarily represent the opinion of Catalysts for Local Control. We try to present a balanced picture of the news on the subject of housing and legislation.
Gavin Newsom signs law overhauling local zoning to build more housing
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.
San Francisco rezoning clash: Both sides warn city could become ‘Miami Beach’
By J.K. Dineen, Ko Lyn Cheang, Staff Writers
Oct 9, 2025
Mayor Daniel Lurie and opponents to his proposed upzoning plan don’t have much in common, but there is one thing they seem to share these days: They each warn that if their side loses San Francisco could resemble Miami Beach. Both sides made their final cases at packed town halls this week in the city’s Sunset and Pacific Heights neighborhoods. And both sides are using the glass-tower filled Florida city as a worst-case scenario boogeyman of what could happen if their side doesn’t prevail.
Why this wealthy Bay Area suburb is at the center of the next big fight over California housing
BY BEN CHRISTOPHER
OCTOBER 8, 2025
In January 2023, the town council of Los Altos Hills, a mansion-studded bedroom community perched above Silicon Valley, reluctantly voted to legalize some apartment buildings. But town officials felt they had no choice. Bowing to state mandates to plan for more residential development, they zeroed in on three sites with apartment potential. The most promising of the three was Twin Oaks Court, a cluster of lots on a dead-end street sprouting from a frontage road along the I-280 freeway. State housing regulators signed off on the plan that spring.
The Books Are Cooked
By Lori Brooke and John Crabtree
October 5, 2025
Housing affordability is a real and urgent challenge for many San Francisco residents. Instead of addressing the root causes of a lack of housing affordability San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener, backed by lobbying group CA YIMBY and flush with real estate and tech cash, has promoted a false narrative — that deregulation, demolition, and luxury development will somehow deliver “housing for all.”
What YIMBY bill means for housing growth
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.
How Wiener Pushed SB79 Through
By Kate Talerico
October 3, 2025
This bill has been hailed a ‘landmark’ victory for California YIMBYs. But it only narrowly escaped defeat Sen. Scott Wiener’s bill survived more than a dozen amendments and two hostile committee chairs, showcasing both his persistence and divisions among Democrats when it comes to housing
Battle for influence splinters Sierra Club chapter
by Riley Cooke
October 2, 2025
Longtime members of the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club are raising alarms about what they call a hostile takeover of their organization by a pro-housing coalition. The internal divide in the chapter — and the organization as a whole — stems from a tension between the Sierra Club’s historic environmental and conservation policies and a new wave of climate activists who are struggling to find the space to advocate for denser housing and public transportation.
Palo Alto Struggles to Plan for South San Antonio Growth
by Selena Young
October 1, 2025
The South San Antonio area is slated for up to 2,000 new housing units in the next eight years under the City of Palo Alto’s housing plan. However, city infrastructure and particularly poor traffic management are complicating these plans. At a recent Planning and Transportation Commission meeting, commissioners agreed they would need to work closely with Mountain View on developing traffic, pedestrian and public transportation goals for the housing units to succeed.
Is it better to rent or own in California? That depends.
By JEFF GOERTZEN1 | JONATHAN LANSNER
September 28, 2025
The debate over renting vs. owning has long posed a challenge for households in California. Arguments have morphed in recent years as home prices and mortgage rates soared beyond the increasing rents. To illustrate the complexities, we’ve created a hypothetical rent vs. buy scenario to track housing finances over a 30-year period. However, the math doesn’t account for the intangibles: the flexibility of renting compared to the stability of owning.