SJ Neighborhoods for All

07/14/2022

😮💵💵💵 Sunnyvale parent-to-be Christian Yang said their plans to build a 1,500-square foot second home for his parents] in the backyard was scrapped after a Sunnyvale city planner told Yang they would have to first pay a $95,832 fee. 💵💵💵

More than six months after SB9 took effect, relatively few homeowners have applied for...

07/02/2022

What happened when Portland enacted a law similar to SB 9? "At Oregon Homeworks, permit applications are flying out the door. His team has 70 homes around the city in its pipeline, enough to keep themselves busy for the next year. They’re all in the same leafy, close-in neighborhoods Thompson has long built in—except his sale prices have fallen sharply, to $425,000 to $550,000. They’ll be the least expensive newly built homes on the block by far."

The city’s low-density zoning reform in August of last year opened the door to lot splits and smallplexes—and developers, homeowners, and lenders have gotten busy building.

06/09/2022

How are cities around the state implementing SB 9? This Terner Center analysis shows that- even before staff explores the programs and policies directed by council in December 2021- San Jose's SB 9 ordinance is free of the barriers many cities have created. Our work isn't done yet, but we're off to a good start! https://bit.ly/39kpJB0

05/09/2022

🧐 If you zoom up next to the door on this "single family home," you'll see two mailboxes and two doorbells- another duplex that's been a part of one of San Jose's neighborhoods for decades. Why does one of our mayoral candidates want to keep duplexes- and the folks who would live in them- out of our communities?

One San Jose official hoped to join Southern California cities in suing the state over recent state housing legislation, but her efforts didn't go far.

04/26/2022

💪 Advocates like you are critical for making sure California's new SB 9 duplex and lot-split law works as it's meant to! “The bulk of how we’re going to learn about these cases is through complaints that we receive from ordinary citizens.” - David Zisser, California Department of Housing & Community Development

A handful of activists have done most of the work tracking cities’ efforts to get around SB 9, the new duplex law in California.

04/04/2022

Just like it did with ADUs, it will take time for folks to figure out how to make the financing and logistics of this new option work. No one expected SB 9 by itself to be the panacea that ends a housing crisis- but it's an important tool in the toolbox, and cities need to work to enable its success.

No major Bay Area city has had a single application for splitting or subdividing their lots three months after Senate Bill 9 came into effect.

03/11/2022

“A lot of people assume or believe that segregation is something that happens by accident, that it is just a pattern that occurs because people have differences in wealth, or because people prefer to live in certain neighborhoods versus others,” Trounstine said. “And what I discovered in doing this research is that to the contrary, segregation was and is by design.”

Listen to the latest episode of the California housing crisis podcast, spotlighting local resistance to a new law on single-family zoning.

03/09/2022

🌳🌳🌳 Did you know plex homes like those allowed under SB 9 can reduce the city's carbon impact? Check it out!

The carbon savings from 'middle housing' like duplexes are voluntary, self-financing and immense. So why are they illegal?

03/08/2022

Which would you rather have next door- this adorable home for two families, or a giant single family home? Both of these were built in the last few years in the South Bay, and before SB 9 was passed, only the giant was legal on 94% of San Jose's residential land.

03/07/2022

California’s Senate Bill 9, which took effect in January, brings new hope to California’s housing crisis. The law circumvents local zoning rules by allowing owners of single-family homes to split their properties into two lots and build two units on each. But let’s not pretend that the change lets local policymakers off the hook- as San Jose has recognized, more steps are needed to realize the full promise of SB 9!

State officials should look to New Jersey to see how zoning roles that allow “light touch density” can bring down housing costs — if local leaders allow it.

03/02/2022

SB 9 became law at the beginning of this year. It is a product of a multi-year effort to develop solutions to address our state’s housing crisis. This mini thread from SJ Neighborhoods for All member United Way Bay Area will help you understand the facts and debunk the myths!

“ MYTHS VS FACTS! State Bill 9 was placed into law at the beginning of this year. It is a product of a multi-year effort to develop solutions to address our state’s housing crisis. This mini thread will help you understand the facts and debunk the myths! ⬇️🧵⬇️ ”

03/02/2022

How can bills like SB 9, which loosens restrictive, exclusionary zoning, lower the cost of homes? Check out this short, fun video from Sightline Institute!

A 90-second explainer video from Sightline Institute on the problem of exclusionary zoning and the upzoning affordability solution. Want to learn more about ...