California's Housing Crisis: A Deeper Failure
Governor Gavin Newsom's signing of SB 79 is a modest step towards addressing California's housing crisis, but it is not enough to fix the state's broken housing system.
The bill sets mandatory density minimums near transit stops and reduces red tape, but supporters' enthusiasm may be misplaced, as
SB 79 represents movement, not transformation—a modest measure of progress in a state that continues to fall catastrophically short of its own housing promises.
California is building too little, too slowly, and too expensively, with Sacramento embodying the structural paralysis at the heart of the state's crisis.
- SB 79 is a modest measure of progress, not a solution to the housing crisis.
- California is not meeting its own housing promises, building too little and too slowly.
Author's summary: California's housing crisis persists despite modest reforms.