The Cost of a Hot Economy in California: A Severe Housing Crisis
“The explosive costs of housing have spread like wildfire around the state,” said
Scott Wiener, a Democratic senator from San Francisco who sponsored the bill.
“It’s time for the state to strengthen their own laws so that advocates can hold cities accountable.”
Still, few elected officials are eager to risk community anger by forcing through construction
that would, say, put a 10-story apartment building at the edge of a neighborhood of single-family homes.
It has pushed the debate over housing to the center of state
and local politics, fueling a resurgent rent control movement and the growth of neighborhood “Yes in My Back Yard” organizations, battling long-established neighborhood groups and local elected officials as they demand an end to strict zoning and planning regulations.
