Here’s a puzzle: Since 2009, over 55 percent of San Franciscans have been renters, yet on that city’s 11 member Board of Supervisors, at least nine are homeowners. In Los Angeles, 63 percent of homes were occupied by renters in…
Mobility and Climate Justice: It’s Not Just About Electric Vehicles
A new report from the Greenlining Institute evaluates the effectiveness of California’s clean transportation programs and proposes several important areas or reform. Key takeaways: The government should increase funding for community-driven, anti-racist clean mobility programs with a holistic approach to…
Affordable Housing for Humans Means Less Housing for Cars
A new analysis by Garcia & Tucker (2021) at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation crunches the numbers on Asm. Laura Friedman of Glendale’s proposed Assembly Bill 1401, which would eliminate parking requirements statewide for housing developments within a…
California Mayors, City Councilors, Equity Leaders Endorse California AB 1401 to End Costly Parking Mandates
“Affordable Housing for Humans, Not Unaffordable Parking for Cars” Mandates Add Up to $80,000 Per Parking Spot to Cost of Housing, Rent “200 Square Mile Parking Crater” SACRAMENTO – Today Mayors, City Councilors, and equity leaders from across California endorsed…
The Rise of the YIMBYs: A National Pro-Housing Movement
How are YIMBY groups changing the political dynamic in cities across the US? A new paper from Jonathan Levine at the University of Michigan examines “ideas common to the pro-housing coalition, together with internal controversies and their implications for vital…
Want to Fight Climate Change? Legalize More Multi-family Housing
How does legalizing apartments help combat climate change? A compelling new study by Berrill et al (2021) shows the dramatic energy efficiency benefits of multifamily housing, with strong evidence that a world with more apartments is a world with fewer…
Black Housing Heroes: Terry Taplin
Losing my apartment motivated me to run for Berkeley City Council. My partner and I were living in southside Telegraph in Berkeley, renting an old apartment that was falling apart. After losing our place, we were temporarily homeless and crashed…
The Embarcadero Institute’s Double-Counting Report is Wrong
As cities around California contend with their latest Regional Housing Needs Assessments — a periodic assignment of housing targets mandated by state law which compels local jurisdictions to legalize the housing needed to accommodate new residents — the anti-housing activists…
Black Homeowners in Crisis from COVID
A new report from Neighborhood Housing Services of LA County is sounding the alarm on the dire straits that Black homeowners in Los Angeles County are facing as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to homeownership, and its role…
Getting By on Increased Supply: The Portland Experience
Does legalizing multi-family homes (a.k.a. “upzoning”) just boost asset values for speculative real estate portfolios, or does it produce a tangible benefit with new housing supply? Some research has already explored the nuances around this question, but a new study…