"I Will Do Anything To End the Homelessness Except Build More Homes"

McSweeney's | May 9, 2018

Homelessness in America has reached crisis levels and I am determined to do everything in my power to fix the problem as long as it doesn’t involve changing zoning laws or my ability to drive alone to work or, well, changing anything, really.

...More

"Is Fruitvale gentrifying? Did it prevent displacement?"

City Observatory | May 8, 2018

What does Fruitvale tell us about gentrification and displacement?

Gentrification solved, or at least prevented.

That was the celebratory headline announcing a recent study from UCLA’s Latino Politics and Policy Initiative, looking at changes in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood.

...More

"Our view: Construction unions should not stand in the way of housing for the homeless"

Biz Journals | May 4, 2018

Which is in the greater public interest of San Francisco: Making substantial progress in finally providing housing for homeless people, or fully preserving the occupational prerogatives and political influence of the building trades unions?

...More

"There Will Be No Exit From California’s Housing Hell"

CityLab | May 4, 2018

SB 827 may have been great economics, but it was poor politics.

The recent defeat of SB 827—California State Senator Scott Wiener’s bill that would have legalized apartment construction in area’s well served by transit—

...More

"No exit from housing hell"

City Observatory | May 3, 2018

Distrust and empowering everyone to equally be a NIMBY is a recipe for perpetual housing problems

The recent defeat of SB 827–California State Senator Scott Wiener’s bill that would have legalized apartment construction in area’s well served by transit–was the subject of a thoughtful post-mortem in the Los Angeles Times: “A major California housing bill failed after opposition from the low-income residents it aimed to help. Here’s how it went wrong.”

...More