California YIMBY

Why Housing Costs More in California Than Colorado or Texas

California faces a severe housing shortage, with seven of America’s ten most expensive metros. While building more housing is critical to address this shortage, building costs in California far exceed those in other western states. In “The High Cost of…

How you can help pass our most ambitious legislative agenda yet

California YIMBY is advancing its most ambitious legislative agenda yet—one that tackles the three biggest impediments to ending California’s housing shortage: legalizing housing where it’s most needed, streamlining approvals, and reducing costs. If we can pass this package—and fend off…

The Power of Housing Choice: Lessons from Gautreaux

California cities remain racially segregated, with significant economic disparities between predominantly minority and white neighborhoods. In “The Long-Run Effects of America’s Largest Residential Racial Desegregation Program: Gautreaux,” researchers Eric Chyn, Robert Collinson, and Danielle H. Sandler examined what happened when…

More Housing Options, Lower Prices: Evidence from Houston, Portland, and Auckland

Eight states have recently passed laws allowing smaller homes like duplexes and townhomes, also known as “middle housing,” in areas previously restricted to only large, expensive houses. In “Missing No More: Planners Should Harness Private Developers to Build Middle Housing,”…

New State Legislation to Align Housing, Climate, Environmental Goals

AB 609 from Asm. Buffy Wicks Puts the “E” Back in CEQA Streamlined Review for New Homes that Reduce Pollution, Sprawl, and Other Impacts Read more about AB 609 here. Sacramento, CA – Today California YIMBY and State Assemblymember Buffy…

Legislation Introduced to Create “Building Homeownership for All” Program

AB 595 will create more homeownership opportunities for working families Sacramento, CA – Today, California YIMBY joined Assemblymember Juan Carrillo (D-Palmdale), and their fellow co-sponsors California Community Builders and UnidosUS, to announce AB 595, which seeks to expand affordable homeownership…

The Impact of Land Use Planning on Wildfire Risk: A Study in Southern California

Over the past three decades, most new homes in California have been built in or near the wildland-urban interface (WUI). As catastrophic fires in the WUI grow worse with climate change, effective fire-risk reduction strategies are essential. In Land Use…

Calling the Bluff: First the Reforms, Then the Funds

Housing costs are a contentious political issue in most American cities. Demands for building more “affordable housing” run up against a variety of politically-powerful stakeholders, who are ambivalent (at best) about neighborhood change; many constituents are fiercely opposed to even…