Covering housing in Los Angeles and California @politico. DMs open; bsky.app/profile/liamjdillon…
Los Angeles, CA
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This type of dense, walkable mixed use urbanism is illegal to build in much of the United States.
ALT Mario Brothers movie trailer
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BREAKING: Group of homeless families in LA are taking over multiple homes — inspired by @moms4housing protest in Oakland latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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RIGHT NOW: Activists are taking over two more publicly owned vacant homes in LA — across the street from a third they took over on Saturday. It’s a protest against vacancies amid housing and coronavirus crises
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If you had asked me who was most likely to go on a rent strike first, I would not have guessed The Cheesecake Factory
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On this salary Caitlin Clark would qualify for low income housing in San Francisco
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Wealthy Silicon Valley suburb Woodside — median household income $250k — declares the entire town "mountain lion habitat" in an attempt to sidestep a new state law allowing duplexes on single-family home lots almanacnews.com/news/2022/02…
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Can't wait to see you again in 2024, Dialysis Initiative!
ALT Results of dialysis initiative losing
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Remarkable. Just moderated a panel where the mayors of San Jose, Oakland and Sacramento all said they were in favor of eliminating single-family only zoning in their cities
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Rarely does this argument get distilled directly to its essence like this example sfchronicle.com/sf/article/S…
ALT But the resistance in Japantown demonstrates the challenges Breed faces as she tries to spread homelessness services and housing around the city. The overwhelming majority of the city’s shelter, drop-in centers and permanent supportive housing units are in the Tenderloin and SoMa. “We support supportive housing,” said Richard Hashimoto, president of the Japantown Merchants Association. “But just not in this neighborhood.” By Tuesday, more than 6,500 people signed an online petition to stop the sale of the Japantown hotel, which is currently a temporary shelter for homeless people during the pandemic. “They’re not going to spend as much money in Japantown as a tourist would,” Hashimoto said, referring to the would-be tenants who are often living on the margins of society and struggling with mental illness and drug addiction. “That’s a huge economic loss for us.”
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The homeless families — about a half dozen — are targeting properties in El Sereno they say are owned by @CaltransHQ.
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NEW: L.A. must rezone to allow for 250,000 new homes by October after the state rejects the city's housing plan.
Potentially billions in affordable housing grants at stake.
Me with @DavidZahniser latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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Incredible. A new California state law allows nonprofits first right to purchase foreclosed homes so a Virginia-based nonprofit started buying homes in California and then flipping them at profit to finance their programs in Virginia.
Last summer, two CA-based house-flipping corps created their own affordable housing nonprofits and began using SB 1079 to purchase and flip foreclosed homes, according to public records.
Learn more:
kqed.org/news/11923467/how-n…
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People are always astounded when I tell them NYC has a larger homeless population than Los Angeles County. There are such fewer tents in New York because New York mandates sufficient shelter spaces
underrated how NYC’s right to shelter law basically means homeless tent camp discourse is not a thing there
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Awful story about UC Davis students camping out overnight in freezing weather to get in line to for a student housing lease for NEXT YEAR. And many of them didn't get it davisvanguard.org/2023/02/st…
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BREAKING: L.A. Mayor @ericgarcetti freezes rent hikes in hundreds of thousands of apartments across the city latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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UPDATED STORY: Two mothers with children and a single adult — all homeless and housing insecure — have occupied a vacant home in L.A. and intend to stay: "They say it’s a crime to come and occupy these houses. But this is not a crime. This is justice.” latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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Huh. GOP tax plan keeps the mortgage interest deduction but only for really, really rich people.
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I just don’t understand what you could do with 14 bathrooms
ALT Selling sunset 14 bathroom house
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Just finished with those moving into the El Sereno house. A couple updates that we'll be adding into the story.
1) It's three families. Two mothers with children and a single man moving in today
2) Today it's just one house, but they plan to take over more in the neighborhood
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In Manhattan Beach, a woman painted her Airbnb rental with emojis because it’s “time for the emoji.”
Her neighbors say the emoji house is “bullying” and worry that if the city doesn’t stop it, it’ll become a slippery slope to a “poop emoji house” latimes.com/california/story…
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NEW: More than 200,000 people have lost their homes nationwide to road construction over the last three decades.
And some of the largest modern freeway projects — from LA to Houston to Tampa — are once again forcing out residents in communities of color
latimes.com/projects/us-free…
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I will never stop being fascinated by fundamental conservative contradiction of hating regulation but loving zoning. And the liberal contradiction of loving affordable housing but hating it near them.
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I feel like this incredibly awesome video may not have its intended effect of reducing interest in fireworks
#Fireworks are illegal in the City of Los Angeles and even small ones can cause a lot of damage.
This watermelon was completely destroyed by a firework the size of a stick of gum.
🎆 This #FourthOfJuly be safe, find a professional show near you: mayor.la/TscG30kLVcz
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Some goalposts officially moved today. In 2018, California Gov. @GavinNewsom campaigned on the CONSTRUCTION of 3.5m new homes by 2025.
Today, four years later, his administration put out a report on a ZONING PLAN to support the building of 2.5m new homes by 2030.
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NEW: A California lawmaker is proposing new state legislation to block freeway expansions in underserved communities, citing displacement and negative health and environmental effects. latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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So excited to share that I’m starting a new assignment in the fall for @latimes based in LA covering housing affordability and related issues across California. The focus will be understanding how affordability challenges and housing policies affect Californians daily lives.
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Looks like the city of Sacramento — following Portland and Minneapolis — has ended single-family home only zoning.
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Eight months later, a total 180 in the L.A. Coronavirus Housing Density Takes game
ALT Op-ed on sprawl saving LA from coronavirus
ALT Op-ed on LA's sprawl causing coronavirus
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Meet the Los Angeles developer who wants to tear down single-family homes to build dozens of apartments — projects that never before would have had a chance to get built before recent changes in California law latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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NEW: California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has announced the first charges for price gouging in the wake of L.A.'s wildfires. He's accusing a La Canada Flintridge real estate agent of allegedly raising prices of his rental by 38% — far in excess of the 10% limit latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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The most important investigation you'll ever read:
Why do so many apartments in Los Angeles come without refrigerators?
latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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This new freeway project in Bakersfield took 271 homes in majority Black/Latino neighborhoods.
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Wow. Newsom now talking about housing. He says if cities and countries don’t meet their housing production goals, the state will take away gas tax money from them
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Here, a liberal homeowner and retired teacher in San Jose who converted a 1930s triplex into a single-family home, grapples with his stance on single-family zoning and President Trump's embrace of it for exclusionary reasons mercurynews.com/2020/08/20/s…
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Looks like San Diego’s mayor is going all-in on YIMBY. Per tweets on his State of the City, he wants to eliminate all height limits in the city — outside the coastal zone — get rid of parking requirements near transit and allow unlimited density for low-income/homeless projects.
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The whole apartment complex loves Berry Bowl, a lovely bowl that serves fresh berries every morning! *5 seconds later* We regret to inform you the bowl is a spy
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Judge orders L.A. city and county to provide shelter for everyone on skid row by fall latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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In response to Texas abortion law, Newsom calls for legislation to restrict assault weapons latimes.com/california/story…
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Lol, The city of San Francisco's 58-page guide called "Getting a City Permit" begins with: "Obtaining a city permit can undoubtedly be one of the most confusing processes you may ever experience."
sfchronicle.com/bayarea/heat…
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The next time a millionaire in Beverly Hills wants to remodel their kitchen they might not be allowed. Why? Because a judge has issued a moratorium on building permits as punishment for the city's lack of an affordable housing plan latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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“I never said I was Jewish; I said I was Jew-ish” is an all timer
“I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos said. “I said I was `Jew-ish.'”
George Santos, GOP congressman-elect, admits some lies and tries to spin others. nypost.com/2022/12/26/rep-el…
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Sacramento is on the verge of become the first city in California and one of the first across the country to end single-family home zoning latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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We have photos from today's occupation by homeless/housing insecure families of a vacant state-owned home in El Sereno via @latfoto
Another group of homeless moms and families are taking over a house — this time in L.A. latimes.com/homeless-housing… @latimes @LANow @latimesphotos @dillonliam
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* Transplant who got a PhD at Berkeley in the 70s.
* Lived in SoCal for 30 years in a home that appreciated more than 500% while property taxes were capped. Now worth $1.25m
* Leaving for Arizona because: “I feel like this state doesn’t care about me.”
latimes.com/california/story…
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Who's moving out of California?
Poor and middle class people with less education.
Who's moving into California? Wealthy people with more education (via @PPICNotes) ppic.org/blog/whos-leaving-c…
ALT Graph of CA migration patterns based on education
ALT Graph of CA migration patterns by income
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Jello Biafra's 1979 San Francisco mayoral platform included banning cars, seizing vacant homes and making cops run for election in the neighborhoods they serve.
He also wanted to force business people to wear clown suits
A California Senate vacancy would give Newsom the opportunity to seat Feinstein next to her most storied challenger: 1979 mayoral candidate Jello Biafra.
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Big fan of Philly/I-95 but would love some of this “urgent rebuilding” energy for the San Diego/Los Angeles train — second busiest rail line in the US — which has basically been out of service for nine months
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NEW: Gov. @GavinNewsom now declares a statewide eviction moratorium for renters affected by coronavirus. It also requires tenants to declare in writing to their landlords that they can't pay their rent
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California's top transportation official says the era of expanding the state's 15,000 miles of freeways solely to allow more car and truck traffic is over.
“That is the past,” @ToksOmishakin said. “We cannot do projects like that moving forward.”
latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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New study of San Francisco's initial response to COVID-19 risks among its homeless population found hotel isolations with services not only produced better health outcomes, it left beds available in hospitals for others.
Homeless people exposed to coronavirus were put in hotels. For hospitals, the move paid off latimes.com/science/story/20…
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I cannot tell you how often I get complaints about how much the state spends on low-income rental housing. Meanwhile … latimes.com/politics/essenti…
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It takes San Francisco longer than anywhere else in the state to entitle and permit housing per new @California_HCD data. 450 days from a project being submitted to being entitled and then another 525 days until its permitted. That's almost three years! hcd.ca.gov/apr-data-dashboar…
ALT HCD housing development timeline
ALT HCD housing development timeline part II
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A San Francisco affordable housing project for 145 homeless residents was 30% faster to build and 25% cheaper than similar projects in the city because of streamlined financing and approval processes per new @TernerHousing research ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp…
ALT Summary of cost and time savings for affordable housing
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As it stands at the moment, there appears to be significantly more statewide financial relief for homeowners than renters. There is not a statewide eviction moratorium nor statewide rent grace periods.
Families should not lose their homes because of COVID-19. Very pleased that Wells Fargo, Citi, JPMorgan, and US Bank have agreed to a 90 day grace period for mortgage payments for those impacted by #COVID19.
A big sigh of relief for millions of CA families.
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When @Scott_Wiener walks onto the California Senate floor..
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It costs UC Santa Cruz student Matthew Chin $750 a month to rent a driveway where he parks a used 1970s trailer that serves as his home. Welcome to California's student housing crisis. We discuss it on the latest @CAHousingPod latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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NEW: California's homeless population up to 181,399, a nearly 6% increase since last year. More than two-thirds are unsheltered.
The homeless population would rank as the state's 25th largest city, bigger than Oceanside, Pasadena and Berkeley huduser.gov/portal/sites/def…
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New California Gov. @GavinNewsom is proposing a huge new investment in low-income housing and a host of new policies to boost housing production overall in his first budget
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Reminder that this language has a long history as thinly coded racism that has had the effect of keeping suburban neighborhoods segregated and that numerous studies have shown little to no link between affordable housing and increased crime latimes.com/politics/story/2…
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This is a Great LA rent story via @realoverheardla Instagram
ALT Short renting in LA story
ALT Rent offer of $3 less a month
ALT Confirmation of $3 less a month
ALT Can’t get kombucha for $3
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Cannot underscore how big a deal this is. The new governor says if cities don’t meet their housing goals they will lose transportation funds. A huge stick. “If you’re not hitting your goals, I don’t know why you should be getting the money.”
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A fair question why only people with cars get this rebate. LA, for instance, just made a major cut in bus and train service. That’s seems like as much — or more — a quality of life issue as a dollar more a gallon.
At post-State of the State presser, Newsom economic adviser @deemyers says amount of relief for gas rebate proposal is still undecided, but total amount would be billions.
“You’ll have to be a California resident and you’ll have to own a car and we’ll go from there,” she says.
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NEW CALIFORNIA HOUSING LAWS NOW IN EFFECT:
1. Annual rent increases capped at 5%+ inflation and evictions must be for cause.
2. No blanket bans on Section 8 tenants
3. Up to 3 casitas allowed on most single-family parcels
Here’s how the rent cap works:
latimes.com/california/story…
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New legislation in New York state to eliminate single-family home only zoning there therealdeal.com/2021/12/10/n…
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US DOT @SecretaryPete said today that @latimes reporting on the more than 200k people displaced for freeway projects over the last 30 years was "very concerning" and that the agency was beefing up its civil rights office to oversee projects funded by the new infrastructure law.
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"San Francisco 49ers rookie cornerback Ambry Thomas reacts to housing prices in the Bay Area on a Zoom conference with reporters."
espn.com/blog/san-francisco-…
ALT Wide-eyed photo
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After four years on the California housing beat, can report that Californians — coastal or inland, liberal or conservative — find a lot of ways to prevent poor people of color from living near them latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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Incredible. Landlord of the guy in DC who opened his door to dozens of protestors escaping tear gas the other day is Steve Maviglio — CA Democratic consultant and spokesperson against rent control campaigns h/t @uhshanti washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/…
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Just this afternoon, California's largest landlord organization voluntarily implemented a rent freeze and YIMBY groups and @AIDSHealthcare — who are almost always the bitterest of enemies — co-signed a letter to the governor asking for a renter relief package.
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A key vote today in Los Angeles on whether to allow affordable housing in areas zoned for single-family homes. City officials had tried to bury a publicly funded study that called such zoning a major factor in maintaining racial and economic disparities latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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It now regularly can cost more than $1 million to build one apartment for low-income families in California latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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Just realized the frontrunner in the California recall election is the moderator in that crazy libertarian debate clip about driver's licenses piped.video/watch?v=ZITP93pq…
ALT Larry Elder debate moderator
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California lets parents pass their low property taxes to their kids. Those kids now are making a ton renting out their parents' homes. Jeff Bridges and his siblings pay $6k a year in taxes and listed their home for $16k a month in rent. Some beneficiaries: latimes.com/politics/la-pol-…
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LA Mayor @KarenBassLA in August: No one drives the 90 Freeway and tearing it down would make up for demolitions and lead to much-needed housing. It's a "freeway to nowhere."
Bass now: Everyone drives the 90 Freeway. Who could possibly support removing it? latimes.com/california/story…
ALT Dear Secretary Buttigieg, I write to express my support for Streets for All’s application to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Program. This $2 million proposal would support a feasibility study for Marina Central Park, a newly created space that would be constructed in place of the Marina Freeway (California State Route 90). Originally envisioned as part of a much larger freeway project, the 3.1-mile Marina Freeway between Lincoln Blvd. and Slauson Ave. in Culver City opened in 1968. The freeway destroyed homes in both Culver City and the Del Rey Neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles, and made access to Centinela Creek difficult. The freeway also exacerbates air and noise pollution and impacts water quality through polluted run-off. Furthermore, because the eastern segment was never built, the freeway essentially became a “freeway to nowhere,” traversing a very short distance for an eight-lane highway. The daily traffic volumes prove
ALT Two months later Spongebob
ALT Mayor Bass Issues Statement Regarding Potential Marina 90 Freeway Project Los Angeles – Mayor Karen Bass today issued the following statement: “I want to be very clear – I do not support the removal or demolition of the 90 freeway. I’ve heard loud and clear from communities who would be impacted and I do not support a study on this initiative. I thank Angelenos for continuing to make their voices heard about this important issue.”
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Portland today approved allowing fourplexes in its single-family home neighborhoods today and sixplexes if half are dedicated to low-income residents portlandmercury.com/blogtown…
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Among the supporters speaking at the protest this AM, @UTLAnow President Alex Caputo-Pearl. He said the groups' missions were aligned: "You cannot separate housing from public education."
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Weeks before a new state law could make the records public, the city of Inglewood has authorized the purging of more than 100 police shooting investigations dating back to 1991 latimes.com/politics/essenti…
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New York private equity firm Blackstone is buying a portfolio of nearly 6,000 older, low-cost apartments in San Diego for more than $1 billion — likely the largest real estate deal in the region's history. sandiegouniontribune.com/bus…
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The California Assembly just passed a bill that would block freeway expansions in underserved communities across the state. Would be first in the nation if it becomes law. Still needs Senate approval by end of August. By my count, four Democrats voted no, but many didn't vote.
ALT Vote count on freeway bill
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.@Google announces a $1 billion investment in housing in the Bay Area. Most interestingly, they plan to support the development of 15,000 homes on their own land blog.google/inside-google/co…
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“My conscious won’t allow it.” The city manger of a small Bay Area community resigns because residents won’t allow new homes near transit, an affront, he says, to climate change, income inequality and housing affordability h/t @aacosta30
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High-end supermarket Erewhon suing under California’s environmental laws to stop a neighboring 520-unit apartment complex in Los Angeles latimes.com/business/story/2…
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L.A. is closing its Dodger Stadium coronavirus testing site — the largest in the country — tomorrow to convert it into a vaccine distribution site. Officials hope it'll be able to process 12,000 vaccinations a day once fully operational latimes.com/california/story…
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The boom in remote work means a boom in population — and housing prices — in Lake Tahoe, Palm Springs and many other places you'd like to take a vacation latimes.com/homeless-housing…
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Just overwhelming evidence that — even in the absence of federal guidance — California has fared so much better than New York because Newsom and Breed were guided by public health expertise and a close working relationship compared to Cuomo and De Blasio propublica.org/article/two-c…
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Two of the Black women involved in the Moms 4 Housing protest in seizing a vacant corporate-owned home in Oakland last year have won local elections — Carroll Fife to Oakland City Council and Dominique Walker to Berkeley rent board vice.com/en/article/3anqx5/t…
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Given the LA Sheriff Department's provably false statements about the arrest of reporter Josie Huang over the weekend, a good time to revist @mayalau's piece about how police PR machines operate latimes.com/california/story…
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Nearly seven decades ago, Californians put a barrier to building low-income housing in the state constitution. It's still there today — and it's the only provision of its kind in the country latimes.com/politics/la-pol-…
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Looks like Oregon has passed legislation to allow fourplexes and end single-family home only zoning in most of the state — the first to do so. This comes on top of successful legislation earlier this year for a statewide rent cap and anti-eviction provisions
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California's taxes are LOWER than Texas' for middle-income workers via @foxjust bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
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