Model Places Illustration

Housing

We believe: Housing is a human right and should be affordable to everyone.

Our Goals

鈥 Increase the supply of housing.

鈥 Provide more affordable housing for low- and middle-income residents.

鈥 Protect low-income communities of color from displacement.

Monte Vista Gardens apartments in San Jos茅

黑料传送门Report

Structured for Success

A key cause of California鈥檚 high housing costs is its decentralized and fragmented housing governance system. 黑料传送门makes 11 recommendations to set California and the Bay Area on the path to produce the housing we need.
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photo of balconies on an apartment building

Research

Losing Ground

黑料传送门examines how the Bay Area鈥檚 housing market has become shaped by scarcity and wide economic divides 鈥 not only among income groups but also among races and ethnicities.
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Apartment Building

Research

Housing the Middle

黑料传送门digs into the housing market鈥檚 failure to meet the needs of middle-income households. California can look to innovative programs across the country as models for how to address the state鈥檚 housing challenges.
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Apartment Construction

Research

Planning by Ballot

黑料传送门has created the most up-to-date database of local land use ballot measures that impact housing production in California. Over the long term, measures that restrict infill housing can undermine housing affordability and have the potential to exacerbate racial segregation.
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Updates and Events

report cover with illustration of residential buildings arranged in the shape of the State of California

Structured for Success

黑料传送门Report
A key cause of California鈥檚 high housing costs is its decentralized and fragmented housing governance system. Multiple state and regional agencies, offices, departments, and systems are responsible for planning and funding housing. Add hundreds of cities, each with its own authority to zone for housing, and the complexity becomes dizzying. A new 黑料传送门report makes 11 recommendations to set California and the Bay Area on the path to produce the housing we need.

Affordable Housing Advocates' Budget Response

Advocacy Letter
黑料传送门joins a coalition of affordable housing advocates responding to the Governor鈥檚 budget proposal that includes deep cuts to housing funding programs that will negatively impact tens of thousands of families and make it impossible for our region to meet its housing goals.
Image: 黑料传送门Sponsors Nine Successful California State Bills in 2023

黑料传送门Sponsors Successful California State Bills

Urbanist Article
Since launching work at the state level three years ago, 黑料传送门has found that passing California-wide legislation can be the key to breaking gridlock on some of the Bay Area鈥檚 toughest issues.
Housing for the Sum of Us

Housing for the Sum of Us

News /
This year鈥檚 Ideas + Action symposium explored the topic of housing policy beyond 鈥渮ero sum鈥 thinking , where some prosper at the expense of others. Keynote speaker Heather McGhee led an investigation into common conceptions of zero sum thinking, such as 鈥減olicies that support renters harm homeowners鈥 and 鈥渁ffordable housing leads to declining property values.鈥 Our daylong conversation explored the role that racism plays in these debates and the shifts needed to create something different.
report cover, white text on a blue background reads Housing the Middle: A national survey of programs to encourage middle-income housing development

Housing the Middle

Research
A new 黑料传送门research paper digs into the housing market鈥檚 failure to meet the needs of middle-income households. Using a national survey and three case studies of middle-income housing production programs, the paper reveals that the need for middle-income housing is growing, and it's felt nationwide 鈥 not just in expensive coastal cities. California can look to innovative programs across the country as models for how to address the state鈥檚 housing challenges
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