Latest Update: October 1, 2022 This is the summary for 2022. For past years: 2021, 2020, 2019

Since tall buildings have been around, there have been many ways they’ve fit into cities: towers in downtown, towers in the park, and most recently, towers on a whole-block development. Let’s look at a 4th way, the Tower in the Village. Unlike the others, the Tower in the Village does…

The debate over who pays for the cost of running the electric grid in a world of more rooftop solar (Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez’s #AB1139) reminds me of the history of how privately run mass transit dealt with the rise of cars. It points to a future of public ownership. Most…

As of October 11, 2021, End of Bill Signing/Vetoing. Bills that are grayed out failed to make it out of the legislature. This is the summary for 2021. For past years: 2020, 2019 11x17 PDFs April 6, 2021: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ujuv7716vafwwlm/CA-housing-bills-20210406.pdf?dl=0 June 8, 2021: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zdhhg3qf495cpkr/CA-housing-bills-20210606.pdf?dl=0 September 11, 2021 (End of Legislative Session)…

It’s time to go all in on growth. We got to build lots of wind & solar, etc. When we get to 100% clean energy, will we shut down what will then be the country’s largest industry, or will we keep building and grow incomes & the economy 7.5% …

The housing crisis isn’t just a big city problem. Rural areas also don’t have enough homes — for example, California’s Imperial County has one of the highest rates of overcrowded homes. The causes of the rural housing crisis are similar to the cities: restrictive zoning, low wages, and homebuilding not…

Missing middle housing — fourplexes, townhouses, etc — is great for most places. However, in places like Palo Alto, where land is north of $20 million an acre, it’s time to look at Missing Large Housing, specifically, ways to build, plan, & finance big buildings cheaper. Background: Main Street Needs More People For all the stereotypes…

In 2004, California voters passed Prop 71, creating the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), a state agency that funds stem cell research. …

California started the year with over 100 housing bills. In the end, just 13 bills were signed into law. Some of the others were reintroduced in 2021. COVID Emergency Relief AB1436 —Payment Extension for Rent & Mortgages: Makes it so that tenants cannot be evicted for unpaid rent from during COVID state of…