Blog

Californians are abundantly clear: We need more housing

June 06, 2019

What do an overwhelming majority of Californians want? Affordable housing near jobs and transit! When do we want it? This year!

The evidence keeps piling up: across the state, Californians overwhelmingly support legislation like the More HOMES Act (SB 50).

Last night, the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released a poll that found that 62% of Californians support efforts to change local zoning to allow apartments and multi-family homes near jobs and transit. The results were almost identical to the poll we did at California YIMBY. In social science, this is what we call a “validation of prior results.”

Interestingly, PPIC also asked if Californians were willing to reduce the amount of “local control” city governments have — control that allows them to block new affordable housing. Again, Californians overwhelmingly said “yes.”

It’s what we’ve been saying all along: Californians want the state legislature to immediately pass comprehensive housing legislation that dramatically increases the supply of affordable housing.

We just can’t afford to wait another year. Most of our cities saw a double-digit rise in homelessness since last year. That’s why we’re working hard to organize in cities and towns across California.

Join our organizing team. Sign-up to volunteer in Sacramento and a California YIMBY organizer will be in touch.

Don’t have time to volunteer? No worries, help power our grassroots team by chipping in $5 or more.

Some members of the legislature have made clear that they don’t see the housing crisis as “their” problem. Some have even said we need to “take a breath” before acting to alleviate the suffering of so many of our neighbors. Meanwhile, Californians are driven into poverty and homelessness, air pollution is on the rise, and our nurses, teachers, and other workers are leaving the state in droves.

We need to keep the pressure on legislators to act now, not kick the can down the road. We need to send a clear and powerful message: End this housing crisis, today.

Will you sign-up to volunteer?

If not, can you make a donation so we can keep the pressure on the legislature to act this year and pass a comprehensive housing package?