Infill urban housing and there's not a close second.
Upzone the coastal elites
@aboutdave.bsky.social
Patent attorney, astrophysicist, & Stack-and-Packist 🏙️🥑🔋⛷️. Ready to help enforce state housing law.
Infill urban housing/upzoning/walkability is by far the top answer to this question, and there isn't really a close second.
Kevin J. Kircher@kevinjkircher.com · 8h agoClimate pals, what are your favorite examples of actions that simultaneously reduce climate pollution and help us adapt to climate changes that we can no longer avoid? Joint Adaptation and Mitigation (JAM), if you will.
If HCD lets this absurd Beverly Hills SB 79 misinterpretation slide, it could amount to the biggest de facto rollback of pro-housing legislation in California history. cayimby.org/blog/sb-79-o...
Glad to see the AG stepping up. Of note, state is asserting Park counts as urban use. www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/a...
Exclusive: In Menlo Park housing fight, Bonta sends a potential warning to California cities
The decision by California’s attorney general offers a glimpse into how the state intends to enforce a growing collection of city housing laws aimed at limiting local development.
sfchronicle.com
The only way we are going to solve California’s housing shortage is by having every city in the state “rubber stamp” unremarkable new apartment buildings and townhomes.
David Pollack@davidmpollack.bsky.social · 2d agoIf you reduce the barriers to entry for building, more local, small developers would invest in architecture for personal, subjective reasons and there would be fewer mediocre hot takes on design. www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
I think about this every time I hear from a US traffic engineer about why they can’t implement a bikeway upgrade, citing the importance of adherence to standards. Standards that result in these outcomes *should* be questioned.
Kevin Wilson@kwilsonhfx.bsky.social · 5d agoShocking.
I continue to hope that the California left will one day realize that housing scarcity is toxic to the causes they care about.
Benjamin Schneider@benschneider.bsky.social · 5d agoProgressive LA Mayoral Candidate Nithya Raman told Vanity Fair that her main difference with DSA is on housing. www.vanityfair.com/story/nithya...
YIMBY Law continuing to do excellent work. www.yimbylaw.org
YIMBY Law
yimbylaw.org
Ben Christopher@frombenc.bsky.social · 5d agoICYMI In the battle over whether SB9 ought to apply in the LA fire storm burn areas, Malibu and Pasadena agreed to let the state law to go into effect, settling a lawsuit filed by @yimbylaw.bsky.social LA County, LA City and the state of California fight on. calmatters.org/housing/2026...
ICYMI In the battle over whether SB9 ought to apply in the LA fire storm burn areas, Malibu and Pasadena agreed to let the state law to go into effect, settling a lawsuit filed by @yimbylaw.bsky.social LA County, LA City and the state of California fight on. calmatters.org/housing/2026...
Two cities burned in LA fires settle YIMBY lawsuit
Two California cities agreed to allow multiplex development in single-family neighborhoods after a YIMBY nonprofit sued.
calmatters.org
My position is that CEQA must be radically strengthened to safeguard California's wild spaces. This commitment is the thing that sets our state apart. The only way this preservation is feasible is through a parallel commitment to urban zoning capacity for a California with 100+ million residents.
Banning missing middle housing will only further delay the reconstruction of Altadena and make it harder for the most vulnerable Eaton Fire survivors to return. California YIMBY is opposed to SB 1090. www.ocregister.com/2026/07/26/l...
Let Altadena’s fire survivors rebuild
Lawmakers should be helping my family rebuild, not throwing up roadblocks on their path home.
ocregister.com
The votes* on this are really shameful. *Note earlier version of the bill that passed the Senate was very different
M. Nolan Gray 🥑@mnolangray.bsky.social · last wk.Banning missing middle housing will only further delay the reconstruction of Altadena and make it harder for the most vulnerable Eaton Fire survivors to return. California YIMBY is opposed to SB 1090. www.ocregister.com/2026/07/26/l...
"Mansiontop" >4-5 story condo building. >5-10 units >Ground-floor/underground parking >Lower floors each have two or three cheaper 2-3 bedroom homes >Top floor is a single 2,000+ sf mansion w/ a private roof deck I expect to see a lot of these built in CA over the next decade
If we want to make homeownership more attainable in California, we have to start building condos again. Today, we barely do. Here's why that matters — and why I'm working on reforming California's construction defect laws. 🧵
What matters most seems to be the statistical likelihood of redevelopment multiplied by the relevant number of parcels. While I applaud SF for a broad upzoning applying to many areas, I'm deeply skeptical it was enough reform to get sufficient statistical likelihood of redevelopment.
California YIMBY@cayimby.bsky.social · last wk.SF just upzoned huge areas for new housing ...then landmarked 75 sites within them, blocking redevelopment on each one, since state law lets historic status do what CEQA reviews used to do to slow projects. thefrisc.com/whats-drivin...
FAIR should not be available for second homes and the $3M liability limit is just too high.
Maaronweber@maaronweber.bsky.social · 2w agoOk I feel this about mansions & all but…what do we do about the foothills? Lots of those folks aren’t rich (ElDo, Placer I know I know but you know what I mean) and ofc yes they’re all trumpers who voted for more climate change 😅🤷 They still gotta go somewhere though?
The state legislature can pass a law tomorrow that says the purported city of Half Moon Bay lacks land use authority.
Jordan Grimes@cafedujord.bsky.social · 2w agoFor the last 4 (!) years, I've been chronicling the journey of a 40 unit 100% affordable housing project for senior farmworkers in Half Moon Bay, California. Despite being approved in May, the journey sadly isn't over: a measure has qualified for the ballot this November to stop the project. 🧵
The above does not vary by residential zone within an urban growth area. Aside from the minimum density if applicable, there'd be no upper or lower limits on height, unit count, home size, building size, lot size, roof pitch, lot coverage, or impervious area. Trying to figure out what to think.
ED1 and AHIP prove beyond doubt that discretionary approvals are one of the biggest impediments to solving the housing crisis in California. No debate No contest
Joe Cohen@cohenhouse.bsky.social · 3w agoLA's AHIP program is allowing affordable housing projects to break ground in record time… 1035 Crenshaw Blvd submitted their application on 8/22/2025 It required no Planning Department review, so zoning and building code compliance were reviewed concurrently by LADBS. (1/2)
Whenever some NIMBY writes an op-ed, you should look up that person's address and figure out 1. how much they paid for their home, 2. what it's worth today and 3. how much they pay in property taxes. In this case: 1. $79,000 in 1983. 2. $1,000,000. 3. $4,800/year (0.5% of assessed value.)
Ned Resnikoff@resnikoff.bsky.social · 3w agoThis is a funny and very typical op-ed in that the author repeatedly emphasizes he is NOT a NIMBY while checking off the full gamut of standard NIMBY talking points one by one. www.aol.com/news/not-nim...
Berkeley's biggest developer seems set on (a very small) pushback against Berkeley's unfunded IZ. They're providing 15% very-low income housing, but Berkeley is obstinate. www.dailycal.org/news/city/ho...
Berkeley zoning board approves Shattuck mixed-use development, debates waiving affordable housing requirement
Berkeley’s zoning commission approved a mixed-use residential development on Shattuck Avenue in an apprehensive vote last Thursday, rejecting the developer’s request to waive Berkeley’s affordable hou...
dailycal.org
In addition to the fact that solar panels aren't a replacement for oil -- 99% of cars in the U.S. run on oil, not electricity -- it is far more effective, both in terms of energy and climate change, to replace parking lots with housing. I did the math. 🧵
Mark Tolman (he/him) 🏳️🌈 🖖@mtolman.bsky.social · 4w agoHere's a thought: Putting solar panels over asphalt parking lots will generate a shit ton of clean, domestic energy that doesn't have to go through the strait.
It's all for cars apparently. Absolutely absurd.
California YIMBY@cayimby.bsky.social · 4w agoEncinitas just raised development impact fees 200-500% — an average home now triggers $47,827 in fees, up from $15,843. The result: higher costs passed to new residents. CA averages $29K/unit in impact fees vs. under $1K in Texas. voiceofsandiego.org/2026/05/28/m...
This is an area of US law we need to change. A cyclists can present law enforcement with the most incontrovertible evidence imaginable of illegal and dangerous driver behavior, and they will absolutely dgaf. Contrast this with the UK where cyclists are basically deputized to write citations.
"Zoning is not a barrier to new housing" is soon gonna be a great punchline, especially since Bay Area NIMBYs will keep using it well beyond its expiration date
Aaron 🏗️🚲🌲🏀@aceckhouse.bsky.social · 4w agoOne week into SB 79 taking effect, and there are already over 200 new homes proposed in Palo Alto across 5 buildings. The last year in which Palo Alto permitted more than 200 new apartments was 2007. www.paloaltoonline.com/palo-alto/20...
One week into SB 79 taking effect, and there are already over 200 new homes proposed in Palo Alto across 5 buildings. The last year in which Palo Alto permitted more than 200 new apartments was 2007. www.paloaltoonline.com/palo-alto/20...
Palo Alto sees wave of housing projects as state law kicks in
In just the first week of a new state law that allows denser housing developments near public transit, Palo Alto has seen a flurry of applications — and the three latest ones propose new apartments do...
paloaltoonline.com
that project is great because it's both a repudiation of: 1. suburban NIMBYs who think apartment bans means nobody wants to live in apartments 2. critical geographers who think upzoning would cause building booms in poor neighborhoods (and not the palo altos)