The Homework Newsletter

The HomeWork: August 10, 2022

August 09, 2022

Welcome to the August 10, 2022 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

This Thursday, the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees will hold their Suspense hearings to determine which bills make it to the floor for a full vote and which bills will be held in Committee. Many of California YIMBY’s priority bills are going to be heard by their respective committees, including:

  • AB 2873* (Jones-Sawyer), which will help track the demographics of the affordable housing construction workforce
  • AB 2221* (Quirk-Silva), which will accelerate ADU development by clarifying ambiguities in existing law
  • AB 2097* (Friedman), which will remove expensive parking mandates around transit
  • SB 886* (Wiener), which will help universities build student and faculty housing faster and at lower cost by streamlining the environmental review process
  • AB 2011 (Wicks) fast-tracks new affordable housing on land zoned for commercial uses, and includes strong provisions for affordability, labor standards, and environmental protection.

* indicates a bill is sponsored by California YIMBY

All bills that make it out of the Appropriations Committee will head to the Assembly or Senate floors for a vote. If passed, the bills will then be transferred to the Governor’s desk and await his signature. Both Assembly and Senate floor votes are expected to start as early as next week, and will continue until the end of the month.

Housing Research & Analysis

Single-Unit Zoning: Locking Out Diverse Communities in Sacramento

The Othering & Belonging Institute (OBI) at UC Berkeley has a new report out on zoning in the Sacramento region, and their findings are a stark reminder of the racist and classist impacts of exclusionary, single-unit-only zoning.

Key takeaways:

  1. Stephen Menendian et al (2022) report that zoning codes in the Sacramento area are “exceptionally hostile to density”—this is a region in which “only 10.7 percent of total land, and 19.9 percent of residential land, is available for multi-family homes.”
  2. Municipalities in the Sacramento region with the most single-family zoning tended to have whiter, less diverse populations.
  3. Similar to the Bay Area and Los Angeles, the cities with more single-family zoning also had a wealthier, healthier, better-educated, and more economically mobile population on average.

How Upzoning Increased Home Building in New Zealand

Recent land use reforms have made New Zealand the belle of the housing policy ball, but the island nation’s largest city of Auckland actually got a head start with a broad upzoning in 2016. In a new study by Greenaway-McGrevy & Phillips (2022), researchers find strong evidence that the upzoning led directly to increased housing construction, contrary to fears that upzoning would only increase land prices without encouraging more supply.

Key takeaways:

  1. “We find strong evidence that upzoning stimulated construction.”
  2. In the five years following Auckland’s upzoning, an estimated 26,903 new homes were permitted as a direct result.
  3. This finding remains statistically significant even when controlling for “spillover effects” of construction being redirected from other areas. In other words, the results show that the total volume of homebuilding increased dramatically, not just the location.

Houser Headlines

Partners’ Corner

In this edition of The Homework, California YIMBY is inaugurating a new section that will highlight the work and ideas of our many aligned and supportive partners in the field. Our first submission is from Modern Power, a newsletter about building the movement for abundant housing – and other issues – in California:

“Building more housing in California is the tentpole issue for the Abundance Movement; AHN and AB 2011 represent important opportunities to start making the Abundance Agenda real. Now is the time to get engaged to help these efforts get across the line and further develop an Abundance coalition with allies in Labor to push forward on progress in California.”

Upcoming Events


Sustainable Growth Yolo – August Happy Hour and General Meeting

Join Sustainable Growth Yolo on a tour and picnic as we imagine a Moffett Boulevard with more affordable homes and accessible transportation.

Sustainable Growth Yolo

Thursday, August 11 @ 4:30pm

Sudwerk Brewing Co. 2001 2nd St, Davis, CA 95618

East Bay for Everyone – Intro to Housing for New Members

This zoom presentation will teach you the basics of housing politics and how to have an impact as a newcomer to the pro-housing movement.

East Bay For Everyone

Thursday, August 11 @ 6:30pm

Westside for Everyone – Conversation with Katy Young Yaroslavsky, LA City Council Candidate

Come meet Katy Young Yaroslavsky, the candidate for Los Angeles City Council District 5, who led in the primaries. This will be an opportunity to learn more about her housing platform, followed by Q&A.

Westside for Everyone

Thursday, August 11 @ 7:00pm

YIMBY Social – Top Posts

CAY - Social Post - 8.10.22

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We welcome your ideas and feedback — send story tips and ideas to Homework@cayimby.org.

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