If you want middle class homeownership in California, you need to build condos.
If you want to build condos, you need to fix the defect liability laws. My piece for @sacyimby.bsky.social
housesac.substack.com/p/sacramento...
There is exactly *one* big city mayor in the Bay Area who supported SB79, the holy grail of YIMBY housing reforms. It was Barbara Lee. No other big city mayor in the Bay Area chose to do so.
Do with that information what you will.
In 2026, smart sophisticated people who definitely know how things work smugly nod to each other and say, “This is so typical. The government will do anything to keep home prices from ever going down at all.”
2/2
In 2008, the government engineered a collapse in housing that drove prices in some neighborhoods to less than half their replacement value, after which construction inevitably collapsed until rising rents brought those prices back up to replacement value.
1/
I don't think there's any plausible scenario in which a big spurt in homebuilding wipes out the wealth of incumbent homeowners, but that's not really what Trump is talking about when says he wants to protect property values. It's a segregationist dog whistle, always has been.
Without strong public transit, mobility doesn't work for anyone. Join me this morning at 10a at the Ferry Bldg to kick off signature gathering for Connect Bay Area. We need your help to win
luma.com/le1g7slf?tk=...
Populism feeds on failure.
When housing, energy, and healthcare are scarce, trust collapses and demagogues fill the gap.
The fix isn’t smaller government; it’s capable government that builds, delivers, and earns trust.
"In 2020, [Portland, OR] approved building [middle housing] on lots zoned for single family homes... A new report from the City says, it's working. 1,400 new units built in just a few years and each one is $300,000 less expensive than a typical single family home." @nbcnews.com
"Though [Democratic] cities are far better than [Republican cities] in almost every regard, the homelessness crisis that the housing crisis begets negates all of it in most people’s eyes."
Economic power in action 💵 💪🏽
Searches for "Cancel Disney plus" surged yesterday. "Cancel Netflix" shown for comparison.
Altadena embraces housing density in contrast to Pacific Palisades archive.ph/pgwjt
You might want something more academic, but I think showing a portion of “L.A. Plays Itself” would be awesome. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Ang...
New Construction Defect research: @ternerhousing.bsky.social
"High insurance costs add roughly 2-4% to a condo project’s hard cost. An estimated that 80-85% of the condo projects are sued."
Why build condos if it costs more and you have to sit in court?
ternercenter.berkeley.edu/blog/the-fin...
New York State's Housing Finance Agency has a new NOFO of mezzanine debt for mixed-income housing (per Center for Public Enterprise / Montgomery County best practices).
The NOFO prioritizes projects within NYC that were upzoned as part of City of Yes.
hcr.ny.gov/system/files...
When four homes replace a SFH, each new home is about the same price as the original, and at 5 units or more, the new homes tend to be more affordable. But the critical comparison is to the 1-for-1 replacement — a mansionization, in other words.
Tell Jerome to email me if he wants a list of building code excuses
As Congress shuts down in order to suppress any revelation that Trump was associated with a pedophile ring, let’s remember that, as far as we know, there are no drag queens or trans people in the Epstein Files.
Just realized that before the 1980s downzoning, LA was probably permitting more multi-family housing units than any metro area in the country.
More than NYC.
Chart: The more Democratic a congressional seat, the greater the population decline
California is going to lose congressional seats unless housing costs come down enough to reverse population decline, and those congressional seats are going to come out of the bluest parts of the state. Blue state NIMBYism is a gift to right-wing authoritarians. www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
Working families earning between $28k and $75k will receive new homes in Oceanside through a $100 million project. But look at this mess: 6 different funding sources. Housing would be significantly cheaper and faster if we just allowed people to build.
buff.ly/p5LOgLy
I don't follow Oakland but the political context of this is interesting. Planning staff report recommended CPI increase in impact fees and changes to align with state law only. A council member dismissed their whole thing with 1 paragraph. I am always saying that as a city elected, you can do this!
UCLA's Small Lots, Big Impacts competition will build housing on 12 city-owned vacant lots this year, with winning designs placing 6+ units per site. The initiative targets LA's 25,000 vacant parcels to create affordable homeownership through shared land costs.
ICE grabbed this U.S. citizen army veteran & held him for 3 days for no reason whatsoever other than he’s Latino. We must put an end to this racist police state.
ICE OUT OF CALIFORNIA
For young Americans, holding off on buying a home has become the new norm. Last year, the average age of a first-time homebuyer was 38 years old.
www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
Upzoning wealthy areas delivers housing:
(There are more homes under construction in the two block radius of this formerly single family West LA neighborhood than all of DTLA)
Long before the hyphy movement had people ghostriding the whip, the Oakland Black Cowboys were "Riding High"
"more than 1,000 counties — one out of three in the nation — do not have the equivalent of even one full-time local journalist."
Uhhh... this is catastrophic for democracy.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/new-...
I'm hiring a Director of Housing!! Come help us develop creative approaches to increase housing supply. In my completely unbiased opinion, we're doing really exciting & impactful work on one of the most critical policy issues of our time. Join our team!
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/42...
I grew up in OC's Little Saigon. My ambition and patriotism were shaped by immigrant kids around me. SE Asian immigrant investment pushed up value of Mom's house, allowing me to invest in my own business. American immigration is our innovation and investment advantage
California should automatically rezone all land within .5 miles of an Amtrak or commuter rail station as high density mixed use. Bring back the old railroad town village.
