California YIMBY

How California’s Sky-High Rents Cancelled Out $11 Billion in Food Stamp Benefits

California’s 17.7 percent poverty rate—more than double Minnesota’s 7.4 percent—stems almost entirely from housing costs that have spiraled beyond what typical families can afford. In San Jose, a family of four needs $57,673 just to meet basic needs, compared to…

California YIMBY Statement on SB 79 Passing Assembly Local Government Committee

“Today is a landmark moment – for California, for the YIMBY movement, and for everyone fighting to keep the California Dream alive,” said Brian Hanlon, CEO of California YIMBY. “With the Assembly Local Government committee advancing SB 79, the Legislature…

Why is Building Slowing Down in America’s Boomtowns?

Texas has long been America’s poster child for more affordable housing, thanks to its minimal regulations and abundant land. However, this hasn’t prevented Texas cities like Austin from developing the same cost pressures as California’s metro areas, which built far…

America’s Missing 15 Million Homes

American home building has slowed down significantly over the past 25 years. If the U.S. housing stock had grown from 2000 to 2020 at the same rate as it did from 1980 to 2000, there would be 15 million more…

California YIMBY Statement on AB 609: CEQA infill housing exemption

California YIMBY issued the following statement on news that AB 609, creating CEQA exemptions for infill housing, would be signed into law as part of the state budget (through AB 130, a trailer bill): “This is one of the biggest…

Taller Buildings Near Transit Would Cut Austin’s Affordable Housing Costs by $2.5 Billion

Allowing denser apartment buildings along Austin’s planned light-rail lines could slash the city’s affordable housing subsidies from $8 billion to $5.5 billion while meeting housing goals that current zoning makes impossible, according to a University of Texas study. The findings…

Location, Location, Low-Carbon: The Surprising Climate Math of Where We Live

While urban planners have long considered the impacts of density, new research reveals additional housing and neighborhood design factors that significantly impact our carbon footprint in residential developments. In “Beyond density: Examining overlooked drivers of housing and neighborhood greenhouse gas…