2018
"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
...More
"I Will Do Anything To End the Homelessness Except Build More Homes"
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?"
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"
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"
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"
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"To solve affordability crisis, Bay Area housing stock must grow 50 percent in 20 years"
When a region is fortunate enough to host the birth of a new industry, its population tends to increase. New jobs are created, attracting workers from outside the region who may bring their families. Those new employees need goods and services, which, in turn, attracts more workers and their families to arrive.
...More"Opinion: Real progressives would embrace Scott Wiener’s SB 827 housing bill"
There’s plenty of talk about “greedy developers” being the cause of our housing crisis but the people making out in this crazy market aren’t builders, but existing homeowners.
...More"There’s no good alternative to building more homes in expensive cities"
People can live elsewhere instead, but we’ll all be poorer if they do.
The sweeping land use reform bill introduced recently by California state Sen. Scott Weiner, a San Francisco Democrat, died in committee this week, bringing to an end an ambitious plan to change zoning in broad swaths of the state by allowing four- to five-story buildings near all rail transit stations and major bus corridors.
...More"Uber acquires e-bike startup Jump, expanding transportation options"
Uber is pedaling full throttle into electric-bike rentals. The ride-hailing company on Monday said it is buying Jump Bikes, the first company to provide stationless bike sharing in San Francisco.
...More
