This week in affordable housing news…:

State update:

• CHC’s three sponsored bills will be heard later this month in Senate policy committees, and it is time to resubmit your organization’s support letters now that the legislation has moved to its second house. As a reminder: AB 2011 (Wicks) will open underused commercial sites to affordable housing, while creating strong labor protections that support all of the workers on these projects; AB 2334 (Wicks) increases the number of sites qualifying for expanded Density Bonuses available to 100% affordable projects; and AB 2006 (Berman) aims to streamline the state’s compliance monitoring system. Submit support letters today through the Legislature’s Position Letter Portal, and email copies to Jennifer Armenta, CHC’s Policy Associate (jarmenta@calhsng.org). Sample letters are available here.

• In another sign of shifting labor politics in the Capitol, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) reintroduced a bill this week that would make it easier for religious groups to build affordable housing on land they own—a proposal that died in 2020 due to opposition from the Building Trades. “This bill has the potential to be a game-changer for affordable housing,” Wiener told the San Francisco Chronicle, saying the time is right to revisit the idea: “That (church-owned) land would effectively be earmarked for 100% affordable housing.” The bill, SB 1336, would require projects with over 10 units to pay workers prevailing wage but does not include a “skilled and trained” hiring requirement.

• No surprise here: In a major blow to one of the most oft-repeated NIMBY arguments against new housing, a new study from the University of California-Irvine’s Livable Cities Lab finds affordable housing does not negatively affect housing prices or crime rates—and in fact boosts property values and reduces crime, especially in places experiencing higher rates of poverty. “Affordable housing at the very worst has no impact on crime or housing values,” said one of the study’s authors, George Tita, a UC Irvine professor who coauthored the report, which focused on the impact of affordable housing in Orange County. In a UCI press release, Lucy Dunn, retired president and CEO of the Orange County Business Council, called the study a “powerful tool that we all can use as we continue to advocate for doing the right thing.”

ICYMI – Top news stories:

Twilight of the NIMBY
New York Times
Suburban homeowners like Susan Kirsch are often blamed for worsening the nation’s housing crisis. Ms. Kirsch’s nonprofit, Catalysts for Local Control, opposes just about every law the California legislature puts forward to address the state’s housing and homelessness problem. In Zoom meetings with her members, she describes lawmakers’ intentions in dark terms and drives the message home with graphics that say things like, “Our homes and cities are under attack.” It might seem kitschy if it weren’t so effective. Susan Kirsch was 60 when she began her fight against 20 condos down the block. Eighteen years later, the hill remains dirt.

Will Newsom’s big homelessness plan work?
Los Angeles Times and CalMatters – Gimme Shelter Podcast
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s big idea to tackle California’s homelessness problem is a new program to provide court-ordered treatment for homeless residents with severe mental illness. The governor wants lawmakers to act quickly to pass the plan, which would target up to 12,000 residents who need the most help. This episode of “Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast” delves into the details of the plan and why many civil liberties advocates are concerned that it would deprive homeless residents of their rights. Our guest is Los Angeles Times staff writer Hannah Wiley, who has been writing about the governor’s idea, known as CARE Court, since it was unveiled earlier this year.

We’ve got to stop requiring parking everywhere
New York Times – Column by Farhad Manjoo
While California’s cities are some of America’s least affordable places to live; housing for cars is abundant and cheap—and often free for the taking. The Bay Area devotes about 20 percent of its incorporated land area to parking and roadways, a statistic that sounded unbelievable to me until I looked up the same number for Los Angeles County, which devotes about 200 square miles of space—about nine Manhattans—for parking alone. Now California, the state that in many ways set the standard for America’s car-dependent lifestyle, could be on the verge of reforming parking statewide. One bill moving through the state Legislature would prohibit cities from enforcing most minimum parking requirements near public transit, while a competing bill would give developers greater leeway in avoiding the rules.