The Homework: October 28, 2025
Welcome to the October 23, 2025 Main edition of The Homework, the official newsletter of California YIMBY — legislative updates, news clips, housing research and analysis, and the latest writings from the California YIMBY team.
News from Sacramento
On October 10, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a historic package of housing reforms into law – including all of California YIMBY’s priority bills for this session. These include SB 79, California YIMBY’s transit-oriented housing bill, which began its life as SB 827 in 2018 – and helped re-set the debate about housing policy across the United States.
In addition to this landmark YIMBY victory, Gov. Newsom signed legislation that will make it even easier to build ADUs (SB 9 and AB 1154); streamline permitting by allowing builders to get third-party permit reviewers when cities can not meet specified deadlines (SB 253); create the option of having third-party inspectors for certificates of occupancy when cities fail to inspect within a limited “shot clock” (AB 1308); end the abuse of historic preservation to block duplexes and lot splits (AB 1061); and require state housing rules and regulations to be translated into the non-English languages most commonly spoken in the state (AB 413).
California YIMBY staff are now re-grouping to prepare for the 2026 legislative session, but want to express our sincere gratitude to our bill authors in the legislature (and their hard-working staff), our legislative partners and co-sponsors, and our allies in the business, labor, and environmental communities. 2025 was by far the biggest year for pro-housing reforms in our history; we could not have done it without you.
Back to Business
Meanwhile, we are entering the second year of the two-year legislative cycle. That means the deadline for any committee to hear and report bills introduced in their house in the odd-numbered year will be January 23rd, and the final day for each house to pass those bills is January 31st.
Earlier this year, the State Senate elected Senator Monique Limón as its next Senate Pro Tem. Senator Limón will officially become the 50th Senate President pro Tempore of the State Senate on November 17, 2025.
With the new leadership in the Senate, we anticipate some changes in committee assignments and new committee chairs in the months ahead.
California YIMBY is currently working on finalizing our legislative package for the 2026 legislative year – stay tuned!
Be sure to stay tuned for future editions of The Homework (and follow California YIMBY’s Twitter and Bluesky channels), to stay current on housing policy research, news, and legislative updates.
Housing Research & Analysis
Fire Safety: How Urban Apartments Save Lives
It’s a common misconception that, when it comes to fire safety, it’s better to be in a low-slung, single-unit house than an apartment building in an urban area. But new research from Pew Charitable Trusts turns that conventional wisdom on its head, with compelling evidence – and important lessons for any state concerned about both affordable housing supply, and fire risk.
In “Modern Multifamily Buildings Provide the Most Fire Protection,” researchers Liz Clifford, Alex Horowitz, and Seva Rodnyansky from The Pew Charitable Trusts sought to understand why.
Their findings: Modern apartments built since 2000 are four times safer than modern houses built during that same time period.
Key Takeaways:
- Modern apartments are dramatically safer. Apartments built since 2000: 1.2 deaths per million residents. Single-family homes built since 2000: 4.9 deaths per million residents. Apartments built before 2000: 7.7 deaths per million residents. Single-family homes built before 2000: 8.6 deaths per million residents.
- It’s the buildings, not the residents. Modern apartment residents have a median income of $56,000, compared to $101,000 in modern houses, and live more often in lower-income neighborhoods; yet, they have significantly lower fire death rates.
- Building codes for modern apartments require superior safety equipment. New apartments must have sprinklers, fire-rated walls between units, self-closing doors, and compartmentation. Detached houses—even modern ones—aren’t required to have these features.
Building Up Also Means Jobs: How Cities Improve Construction Labor Conditions
When Minneapolis converted an abandoned Ford auto plant into a dense neighborhood, it created thousands of union construction jobs while making housing more affordable. A 22-year analysis reveals that smart growth policies like these consistently produce more construction work, higher wages, and stronger union representation than low-density suburban development.
In Smart Growth and Good Construction Jobs: How Urban Density Benefits Union Density, Neil deMause, with Greg LeRoy, examined whether anti-sprawl policies help or hurt construction employment across 193 metropolitan areas.
Key Takeaways:
- Wages grow faster in dense metros: Aggregate construction wages increased 74.3% from 2012 to 2020, compared to 43.8% in sprawl areas, while individual wages rose 11.3%, compared to 4.7%.
- Jobs grow 53% faster despite similar population growth: Dense metros increased employment 56.9% versus 37.3%, though both grew at 7.3% versus 6.9% population rates (p. 19-20).
- Density strengthens unions beyond state policy: Chicago union rates exceed those of nearby sprawling cities by 30+ points under identical state laws, with a modest correlation between density and unionization (0.372) in the largest metros.
Houser Headlines
- California Wants to Make It Easier to Build Housing. Los Angeles Objects. – WSJ
- Newsom Signs Ambitious Bill to Boost Housing Density Near Public Transit | KQED
- Landmark California law would put more housing near BART and Caltrain
- Newsom Stares Down LA Revolt in New California Housing Fight
- YIMBYs Hit a Milestone in California. What’s Next?
- Gavin Newsom signs law overhauling local zoning to build more housing
- Newsom signs historic housing bill to bring density to transit hubs
- San Jose metro area No. 1 in declining home building permits
YIMBY Social – Top Posts
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