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.
A Critical Examination of Abundance/YIMBY
By David Fields
June 12, 2025
The discourse surrounding development and housing affordability often finds itself at a contentious crossroads, epitomized by the rise of “YIMBY” (Yes In My Backyard) or “Abundance” activism. While seemingly advocating for increased housing supply, a closer look at the core tenets and outcomes, as presented by its critics, reveals a more complex agenda: one primarily focused on maximizing developer profits through land value extraction and rent appreciation, rather than genuinely addressing the needs of working-class communities for affordable housing and universally accessible amenities.
Despite advancing, fate of housing bill SB 79 remains uncertain
by Gennady Sheyner
June 11, 2025
An ambitious and divisive housing bill that seeks to encourage taller and denser developments near transit lines survived a key vote in the state Senate last week with the assistance of state Sen. Josh Becker, though its ultimate fate remains uncertain is it moves to the Assembly.
“We’ve Been Sold a Story That Isn’t Remotely True”: How Private-Equity Billionaires Killed the American Dream
By Issie Lapowsky
June 9, 2025
In the canon of spectacular resignations, Megan Greenwell’s is up there. On her last day as editor in chief of the beloved sports blog Deadspin, Greenwell published a blistering essay on the site about her soon-to-be former bosses at the private-equity firm Great Hill Partners, which had acquired Deadspin and other former Gawker properties earlier in 2019. In the essay, Greenwell accused Great Hill of undermining Deadspin’s staff at every turn and seeking a “quick cash-out” on its investment.
Third times the charm: Wiener’s transit housing bill clears Senate for first time
Andrew Keatts
June 4, 2025
California’s most significant attempt to supercharge dense homebuilding is closer than ever to passage.
Why it matters: The state’s housing shortage and affordability crisis could be beginning to translate into significant policy changes. State of play: SB 79, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, passed the Senate Tuesday and now moves to the Assembly for approval. The bill would allow private developers to build dense apartment buildings between four to seven stories near transit stops, regardless of local development restrictions.
The new state housing numbers, the Yimbys, and a bit of Econ 101
By MICHAEL BARNES
JUNE 2, 2025
On May 1, the California Department of Finance Demographics Unit issued its annual press release on population and housing estimates for the state. Unlike other housing reports, DOF measures net housing production, not building permits. It’s a different perspective on housing. With additional help from recent information on San Francisco, I want to propose two questions:
People are moving to a cheaper Calif.region but living there has growing risks
By Ariana Bindman
May 30, 2025
Growing a third of America’s crops and generating billions of dollars each year, California’s Central Valley is both an economic stalwart and an increasingly popular home to millions of people. But according to new research from scientists at several state universities, climate change, urban development and agricultural activities could be making an environmental problem in the region even worse, increasing health risks for the residents who live there.
How gentrification is killing the bus: California’s rising rents are pushing out commuters
By CALMATTERS | CALmatters.org
May 29, 2025
The northern tip of the Vermont Square neighborhood in South Los Angeles gentrified in many of the usual ways over the last decade.
Median incomes shot up. The neighborhood’s share of Black residents declined. On the list of fastest growing home prices across the region, Vermont Square cracked the top ten. Along Western Avenue, new apartment buildings popped up as visible markers of change.
But there is a less obvious, if no less profound, marker: Fewer people began riding the bus.
Why did the California Senate shunt a cost-cutting housing bill?
By DAN WALTERS
May 29, 2025
Last week, the California Senate appeared to double down on making housing development more difficult and costly, shunting a bill aimed at making it easier to build housing for lower-income families by exempting some projects from the California Environmental Quality Act.
Cities sue Colorado over housing reform laws
By Danielle McLean
May 27, 2025
Six cities outside Denver sued the state of Colorado to block a pair of laws forcing communities to reform local land-use restrictions to allow for more housing construction, claiming the legislation violates their home rule rights.
The lawsuit follows a May 16 executive order signed by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis that ties distribution of more than $100 million in state funding for cities and towns to whether they complied with laws passed during the 2024 and 2025 legislative sessions to address the statewide housing shortage.