The Upper Westside Specific Plan in Sacramento County is a large-scale housing proposal that has been met with opposition, but is still in the process of being approved and could significantly impact the region’s housing numbers if completed.
The Davis City Council is considering changes to Measure J to address the city’s growing housing needs, but the process is complicated by political and economic factors, and the city is bracing for the possibility of a legal challenge.
Despite the challenges of the statewide housing mandates, California cities are making progress in increasing housing production, as evidenced by the recent approval of the first project under San José’s new streamlined infill policy and the progress of Fresno’s Southeast Development Area plan.
Davis residents are debating whether the city should build housing to support school enrollment, but demographic modeling shows that the level of housing needed to stabilize enrollment is almost exactly the same level the state is already requiring the city to build under its housing obligations.
Despite the passage of dozens of new laws, California’s housing crisis remains far from solved, but the foundation for a new housing era has been laid and progress is being made through small projects and a shift in the political culture to favor building rather than blocking.
Davis voters overwhelmingly renewed Measure J in 2020, but the context of the vote and the worsening housing crisis have led to mounting pressure from the state to demonstrate progress on housing production, and the city is now exploring whether to modify Measure J to meet state mandates while preserving local control.
The housing crisis is not a result of declining birth rates, but rather the unaffordable cost of housing, which is driving people to delay marriage and having children, and forcing workers to live further away from their jobs, leading to longer commutes, higher emissions, and a diminished quality of life.
California’s housing crisis is a long-term and systemic imbalance between supply and demand, rooted in decades of policy failures, exclusionary zoning, and political resistance to growth, and will not be solved by short-term market shifts or a few temporary price drops.
As California continues to grapple with its persistent housing shortage, leading scholars and experts are urging the…
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