Housing news was buzzing this week with Governor Newsom’s move to sue Huntington Beach for failing to meet its housing goals, a move the Los Angeles Times headlined a “War on NIMBYs.”  Editorial Boards at the Times and Sacramento Bee parent McClatchy had different views on the first ever test of the CHC- sponsored law.  Rent caps and allowing students to sleep in college parking lots?  Those are two of the ideas floated to ease the pain the housing crisis has inflicted on workers, students, and others struggling to afford the rent, the Mercury News and Sacramento Bee report.  A note for those of us white-knuckling long commutes to far-away jobs: check out the CalMatters podcast below for an audio recap of the week’s biggest housing stories.

STATE HOUSING POLICIES

To fight the housing shortage, California is right to come down hard on Huntington Beach
Los Angeles Times
You almost have to feel sorry for the city fathers of Huntington Beach. Almost. City Council members tried, for a while, to do the right thing by state law. In 2013, they approved a housing plan that conformed to state requirements for the construction of affordable housing. Then, in 2016, after being confronted by furious homeowners complaining about over-building in their fair city and “negative neighbors” and “slums, crime, and disease,” they folded by amending the housing plan so it was no longer in compliance.

Editorial: To solve California’s housing crisis, the state and cities must aim for the same goal
McClatchy DC
First Gov. Gavin Newsom said he wanted 3.5 million new homes to be built to address California’s housing crisis. Next he sent a shock wave through municipalities with a lawsuit no one saw coming. Newsom, through the Attorney General’s Office, sued the city of Huntington Beach on Jan. 25 for failing to have a housing plan that addresses the needs of all residents in the Orange County coastal community. The governor’s action was the first of its kind under a new law that allows the state to sue a local jurisdiction found to be out of compliance with its housing goals.

California doesn’t have enough land set aside to meet Gov. Gavin Newsom’s housing goals, report says
Los Angeles Times
Among the hurdles Gov. Gavin Newsom will face in his goal to see 3.5 million new homes built across California over the next seven years is that the state hasn’t set aside enough land for that development, a forthcoming report by UCLA concludes. Cities and counties have zoned land to allow for the construction of 2.8 million homes, according to research from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. Because not all that land can be developed quickly for home construction, the state would probably have to double or triple the amount of land zoned for housing for the governor to reach his goal, said Paavo Monkkonen, an associate professor of urban planning and public policy at UCLA.

Emergency Pod: Newsom’s audacious housing budget
CALmatters
There was so much housing news in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first budget proposal that Matt and Liam couldn’t wait a week to talk about it. We don’t get to everything Newsom wants to do, but we analyze some of the bigger developments, including: The unprecedented infusion of housing cash, A looming crackdown on cities who don’t meet their housing goals, Newsom’s comments on Senator Scott Wiener’s attempt to strip cities of their zoning power around public transportation.

Newsom raises the housing bar on himself
CALmatters
Gavin Newsom began his governorship this month by promising to confront what he described as California’s most important issue, an ever-increasing shortage of housing. “This is the issue,” Newsom said as he introduced his first state budget. California’s chronic housing shortfall, particularly for low- and moderate-income families, and its soaring costs are an existential threat to the state’s economy and its social fabric.

HOUSING CRISIS

‘The future is not pretty:’ Bay Area politicians, tech leaders hash out housing solutions
Mercury News
With new options on the table to solve the Bay Area’s housing shortage, local elected officials and employers need to pick their favorites and make them happen. That was the message behind a gathering of 200 politicians, corporate leaders, developers and transit providers in Mountain View on Friday. Attendees heard from three panels of housing heavyweights about a range of options: from multiple housing bills in the works, to dozens of ripe-for-development properties owned by VTA and other transit agencies, to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s challenge to local tech companies to invest in housing.

HOMELESSNESS

Why Do These 4 Myths About Homelessness Persist?
KQED
This time of year, many California counties are conducting point-in-time counts to figure out who is homeless and why. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires these counts from any community that wants federal funding for housing and other services for the homeless. But if governments and service providers have developed a more data-based understanding of who’s living in shelters, vehicles and on the streets, the rest of us often operate off our gut instincts. Are you willing to check yourself?

What to do with homeless college students? Let them sleep in the parking lot, new bill says
Sacramento Bee
California’s housing crisis has left hundreds of thousands of community college students either homeless or facing the threat of being homeless. A new California State Assembly bill offers a potential remedy — letting students sleep in their vehicles in campus parking lots and structures. Assembly Bill 302, sponsored by Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, would require the California Community College system to make their college parking system accessible overnight to any enrolled student in good standing.

LOCAL HOUSING INITIATIVES

L.A. approves $120 million to encourage building faster, cheaper homeless housing
Los Angeles Times
Wanted: Fresh ideas to speed up the construction and lower the cost of housing for homeless people — without cutting quality. The Los Angeles City Council made that pitch formal on Tuesday, voting 14-0 to set aside $120 million, a substantial slice of the Proposition HHH homeless housing bond, for a pilot program that will ask developers for strategies to change the way publicly subsidized housing is built.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING CONSTRUCTION

California construction workers, builders are near deal that could mean a flood of new building
Los Angeles Times
California developers and construction workers have long been fighting over wages for carpenters, plumbers, electricians and others who build homes. Now, statewide business and labor groups are working on a deal that both sides hope could lead to a flood of new building. The negotiations, which have been going on for more than a year and now involve Gov. Gavin Newsom, are aimed at writing new state legislation that guarantees minimum pay, benefits and training for construction workers, likely in exchange for relief under state environmental law governing development.