Proponents of California Proposition 36, which would undo many of the reforms brought by voter approval of Proposition 47 in 2014, are claiming that voter approval of this new measure would reduce homelessness in our state. As a Sociologist with the California Housing Partnership, I can tell you these claims are patently false. Here’s why: What Did Proposition 47 Do Read More
While state leaders ultimately decided not to approve any new long-term funding for affordable housing production this year beyond the narrowly-focused resources included in Proposition 1 approved by voters in March, they did pass more than a dozen laws that should be helpful to affordable housing providers and low-income renters to varying degrees in the coming years. The California Housing Read More
Housing advocates, agencies, policymakers, and developers in California understand that we need to build more – much more – to meet current and future housing needs, particularly affordable homes for those with low incomes. At the same time, the State’s housing production goals can feel so large and daunting that they stand apart from the day-to-day practices of housers working Read More
With the Governor’s signature yesterday on the main state budget bill (a few others remain pending), the Partnership is pleased to summarize the outcomes of this year’s difficult budget process. Facing a budget deficit of more than $45 billion, the Governor and lawmakers made many cuts to affordable housing programs but, importantly, spared those programs most critical to the continued Read More
This blog post and related research were prepared for the California Housing Partnership by undergraduate students at Stanford University as part of the Program on Urban Studies community engaged learning course “Gentrification.” Students learn about this complicated topic in class and through engaging in a real-world project with partner organizations including Faith in Action Bay Area, Silicon Valley at Home Read More
Earlier this month, California’s Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) released the final Neighborhood Change Map, which is intended to inform statewide policy for affordable housing and advance affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) objectives. The Neighborhood Change Map identifies low- and moderate-income communities of color that have undergone substantial racial/ethnic and economic changes. This map signals that the State Read More
Interested in a new funding source to support climate-friendly affordable housing? The 2022 federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers potentially billions of dollars toward decarbonization affordable housing in California. Unfortunately, the regulations and timing are different for each program which makes accessing IRA resources challenging. The California Housing Partnership held a series of workshops to provide information about the resources Read More
Discussion about the State of California’s efforts to advance the affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) objective of increasing access to opportunity have typically framed neighborhood opportunity broadly, in terms of higher and lower levels of “resources,” rather than in terms of the specific characteristics of those neighborhoods. This framing is helpful in the context of policy design and also understandable Read More
Dungeons and Dragons, in its most basic form, is a game where players overcome obstacles while on a quest. Players have near endless options when making decisions, and, even though it is imagined, the creative solutions discovered offer insights into solving problems more generally. Teamwork is fundamental. When an obstacle has multiple threats, like a two-headed beast, there are three Read More
Have you ever heard someone say that affordable housing costs too much to build? It’s hard to justify that statement unless we first compare the cost of affordable housing to the cost of private market-rate housing. Until now, we’ve never had public data on the latter, but recently, the Terner Center at UC Berkeley published Making It Pencil: the Math Behind Read More