Governor Jerry Brown and California’s legislative leadership are expected to unveil a package of housing bills this week in response to widespread recognition that the state faces a significant housing shortage and a resulting affordability crisis. The announcement explicitly specified a general obligation bond, a permanent funding source for affordable housing and regulatory reforms, but more proposals are supposedly under discussion.

This summer, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to adopt legislation that makes big changes to the city’s affordable housing requirements for residential development. SPUR is happy to see the supervisors coming together on a contentious issue, but we remain concerned that the new requirements are not financially feasible and will result in less affordable housing actually getting built.

Both San Diego and San Jose are growing rapidly. Both cities have adopted general plans that direct new growth into “urban villages.” At a recent SPUR forum, two urban planners from San Diego discussed key challenges and lessons learned with San Jose’s planning staff and the community.