This week in affordable housing news…: 
State Update:

• California’s shortage of affordable housing affects everyone in the state, but it is hurting women of color and single mothers most of all, according to a new report from the Gender Equity Policy Institute (GEPI), which finds women burdened by a gap between rising rents and stagnant wages at much higher rates than men. “I think we’ve become kind of almost numb, kind of inured, to gender inequality,” said GEPI President Nancy Cohen. “But let’s be clear: It’s not natural. It’s the result of historical and current discrimination.” The report found 49% of women in California are rent burdened—including 59% of Black women, 66% of women who live alone, and 73% of single mothers. Asm. Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), whose housing committee requested the report, called the findings “a rallying cry for action:” “Women can’t build lives in California without being able to afford a roof over their head,” Wicks said, highlighting the CHC-sponsored AB 2011 as one potential solution. “Unless [we] act on reforms now to unlock a wave of new affordable housing construction and access, we now know in shocking detail which women will be left behind.”  

• Governor Newsom signed the first of the major housing bills on his desk this week, adding his signature to AB 2097 (Friedman), legislation that prohibits local governments from enforcing minimum parking requirements on new housing near transit. In a short video accompanying the signing, the governor connected the bill to his broader climate policy strategy: “Housing solutions are also climate solutions,” the governor said. “We’re making it easier to build housing near daily destinations, like jobs and grocery stores, and schools. This means more housing at lower prices—closer to walkable neighborhoods and public transit, reducing housing costs for everyday Californians and eliminating emissions from cars. That’s what we call a win-win.” 

ICYMI – Top news stories:

L.A. to reopen Section 8 housing waiting list for first time in five years. Here’s what you need to know. 
Los Angeles Times 
The city of Los Angeles will be reopening the waiting list for its Section 8 housing vouchers program for the first time in five years. Starting Oct. 17, Angelenos will have two weeks to submit an application online for a chance to be added to a lottery waiting list. The last time Los Angeles opened its Section 8 waiting list was in 2017—and nearly 188,000 people applied for only 20,000 available vouchers. “We only have so many vouchers that can be utilized over a certain period of time,” said Doug Guthrie, chief executive and president of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. There are 30,000 vouchers available, Guthrie said, but the city’s housing authority is anticipating more than 365,000 new applicants — giving hopefuls a one-in-10 chance of being selected. 

Coronado, three other cities lose legal bid to limit affordable housing 
San Diego Union-Tribune 
A legal tussle over accommodating new affordable housing in the San Diego region ended Tuesday when the California Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit brought by Coronado, Solana Beach and other cities. The litigation challenged zoning requirements for low-income housing imposed by the San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG, in 2020. Imperial Beach and Lemon Grove were also plaintiffs in the case, which was subsequently rejected by two lower courts. “We are pleased to have closure and move forward,” said Hasan Ikhrata, the agency’s executive director. “It is time to build much-needed housing for the San Diego region.” 

Could extreme heat be just what California needs to finally solve homelessness? 
Los Angeles Times 
Heat has always made being unhoused harder, but California’s September heat wave was unprecedented. When the temperature rises to new extremes and stays elevated for days at a time, tens of thousands of homeless people end up at greater risk of heatstroke, cardiac arrest and dehydration. Unlike cities on the East Coast and in the Midwest, which rely on a robust network of shelters to spare homeless people from the dangers of extreme cold, cities in the West have long let people languish outdoors in our generally good weather. But what happens when climate change turns that good weather bad? Will extreme heat—and the very real images of suffering that go with it—push California to adopt a legal right to shelter or housing?