2018May
"Number One in Poverty, California Isn’t Our Most Progressive State — It’s Our Most Racist One"
Everyone thinks California is our most progressive state. And why not? It imposes the highest tax on the richest one percent. It is aggressively implementing Obamacare. And it is standing up to President Donald Trump on everything from immigration to the environment.
...More"How this East Bay housing developer is protecting construction sites against arson"
Developer Panoramic Interests strung a huge banner across a 6-story apartment construction site in Berkeley proclaiming: “Fire Safety & Security First” with a list of the building’s security features and a phone number to call if anyone sees anything suspicious.
...More"Editorial: BART housing bill exposes lots of hypocrisy"
The Berkeley City Council went on record Tuesday solemnly urging the governor to declare homelessness a statewide emergency while noting its own “comprehensive” efforts to grapple with the housing shortage. At the same time, the council formally objected to legislation that might allow new apartments to encroach on the ocean of asphalt surrounding the North Berkeley BART Station.
...More"Parking Is Sexy Now. Thank Donald Shoup."
In an interview, the guru of progressive parking policy reflects on his decades of research and writing, which transformed how cities look at the curb.
...More"California housing is such a surreal nightmare, even Kafka would find it Kafkaesque"
I don’t know how I got to California. But I appeared here some weeks ago, in the form of an insect, like my protagonist in “The Metamorphosis.” And I’m glad I did. If I’d known weather like this in my lifetime, I might not have died of tuberculosis in Prague in 1924, at age 40.
...More"Student Housing Shortage Triggers New Builds"
San Francisco has an estimated 80,000 students but an inventory of only 9,000 beds, creating a significant shortfall, resulting in the construction of another 600-plus beds in the form of City Gardens.
SAN FRANCISCO—With a significant shortfall in housing in general, but also in student housing, the city is desperately in need of quality projects to plug the gap. Fortunately, another 600-plus beds are on the way at 333 12th St.
...More"Letters to the Editor: Prioritize transit-oriented housing"
It is painfully evident that California is experiencing an extreme housing shortage, and I believe the solution is to build more housing, not to punish small landlords who are already providing solutions. If the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act is repealed and new construction falls under rent control, many developers may simply exit the market, which would further exacerbate the problem.
...More"These 95 Apartments Promised Affordable Rent in San Francisco. Then 6,580 People Applied."
The nation’s housing policy for the poor can feel like a giant lottery. Sometimes it actually is a lottery.
For $1,200 a month, Patricia Torres and her family were renting a bedroom, a share of time in the bathroom, one vegetable drawer and one shelf in the fridge, and two cupboards over the stove. They rented not so much a home as a fraction of one.
...More"Editorial: The Bay Area’s housing crisis has become an emergency"
California’s housing crisis is centered in the Bay Area, and the region’s booming economy is increasingly inequitable and unsustainable.
That’s the message of two recent studies by two very different organizations. State legislators and local officials shouldn’t need any more evidence to take urgent action.
...More"L.A.’s Hottest New Real-Estate Amenity: Walkability"
In Los Angeles, a city known for its cars, high-end buyers increasingly want homes within steps of bars, restaurants and sports venues
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