Soaring electricity costs are swiftly becoming more than a utility issue – they are shaping voter sentiment and local development debates. Recent polling makes clear that voters are increasingly concerned about energy costs and the impacts of large electricity-consuming infrastructure projects like data centers. Public Concern About Rising Energy Costs is Widespread According…
Soaring electricity costs are swiftly becoming more than a utility issue – they are shaping voter sentiment and local development debates. Recent polling makes clear that voters are increasingly concerned about energy costs and the impacts of large electricity-consuming infrastructure projects like data centers. Public Concern About Rising Energy Costs is Widespread According to recent…
Despite headline news speaking to the adverse consequences of the U.S. government shutdown, the first in seventeen years, the rental market seems insulated from possible demise. With all arrows pointing to rent decline, such as rents set so high as to price out the working class citizen – the majority of residents seeking housing require…
The largest single piece of federal housing legislation to come out of Congress in at least a generation has become law. However, it might be a while before many Californians notice its effects. That’s because, though the bill is politically monumental, it doesn’t do one big thing. Instead, it does a lot of little things.…
A new state law that allows denser housing development near major transit stops [went] into effect in July, opening the door to construction of more than one million new units in California’s urban centers. The law forces cities to approve taller apartment and condominium complexes around rail stops, ferry terminals and rapid transit bus stops,…
22.2 million renter households – 51.8% of all renter households in the U.S. – are considered cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their monthly income on rent. 11.2 million spend more than half of income on rent, making them severely cost-burdened. The national cost burden rate increased meaningfully from 2019 to 2022, erasing years of…
Many Californians live in earthquake denial. We laugh them off, ignore their ever-present threat to our lives and livelihoods. After all, some people reason, we’ve lived through earthquakes before. Why should the next one be different? The stark reality is that protecting ourselves from earthquakes should be on all of our minds. We need to…
The Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in housing because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, and disability. The Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988 added Familial Status as a protected class to make sure that families with children are not treated differently in housing transactions (www.hud.gov, www.justice.gov, cnyfairhousing.org). To target landlords…
In late September, Culver City became the first municipality in California to legalize the construction of mid-rise apartment buildings with a single staircase. Unless you’re a member of the niche but fervent subculture of architects, urbanists and pro-housing advocates who clamor for “single-stair reform,” this might not sound like big news. But supporters say it…
Once homeownership strongholds, suburbs are ceding ground to the new housing reality: The renter-dominated suburb. Driven by affordability, mobility, and changing lifestyles, homes for rent are extending beyond the city and into what used to be definitive homeowner territory. In America’s 20 largest metros there are nearly 1,500 suburbs with a population higher than 10,000.…