Land Use
Climate Issues in the 2026 Governor’s Race: Housing and Climate
Fifth in a series of posts outlining key challenges and opportunities facing California’s next governor.
(This climate issue brief is authored by CLEE’s partners at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation.) California faces complex and integrated challenges of unaffordable housing and climate change. Failure to build adequate housing supply has resulted in high prices that have pushed home buyers and renters to locations that are further from jobs, schools, and …
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CONTINUE READINGA State Density Bonus Loophole?
State density bonus law may allow a large mismatch between affordable housing provided and the additional density a proponent gets.
This is the second in two blog posts about state density bonus law and its potentially unintended consequences. The first post is here. As I noted in my prior post, the basic concept of state density bonus law is that if a project proponent includes a certain amount of affordable housing in their project, they …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Complexity of California Housing Law
Byzantine statutory provisions in state housing law may produce unintended consequences
One of the most important state laws to advance housing production in California is the state density bonus law. At heart, that law extends an offer to developers seeking to build a housing project. If you add some affordable housing to your project, the state will let you build higher than local zoning might otherwise …
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CONTINUE READINGAffordability Is Everywhere
How affordability concerns are informing recent developments in electricity, clean energy, and housing policy.
Affordability concerns are increasingly top-of-mind for advocates, academics, and public officials with regard to electricity generation and pricing, the transition away from fossil fuel extraction, and affordable housing. Public support for improving the grid, transitioning to a clean energy economy, and expanding the supply of housing depends on whether policymakers can ensure that the costs …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Most NIMBY Man In The World
As ICE moves to warehouse tens of thousands of immigrants, can locals fight back?
Good piece in the Grey Lady on Wednesday about Trump voters suddenly deciding that some of his policies aren’t so great after all. ICE is trying to build huge detention facilities in order to drag legal immigrants off the streets — specifically, those who are waiting for asylum decisions and those waiting to receive their …
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CONTINUE READINGThe details of SEQRA reform
Looking at the specifics of how New York’s SEQRA reform efforts would work
I recently posted about proposed legislation in New York, advanced by the governor, to reform the state’s environmental review law (the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA)) to facilitate infill housing – an approach similar to what California did last year. There’s now legislative text (available here) available to allow a close review of what …
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CONTINUE READINGWhere and What Are the Most Affordable New California Homes?
New CLEE Policy Brief Finds Major Cost Savings With Infill Homes
No issue defines both the affordability and climate challenge in California more than housing. High housing prices have pushed many prospective homebuyers to what some consider to be “affordable” outlying locations far from jobs and services, necessitating expensive commutes, and often in areas of heightened climate risk. As policy makers seek to stabilize housing prices …
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CONTINUE READINGUCLA Report Offers Framework for Resolving Coastal Conflicts
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Guest contributors Maeve Anderson and Mackay Peltzer write that regulatory updates are needed to ensure California’s coastal planning remains consistent with the intent of the Coastal Act.
California’s iconic coastline is simultaneously a source of pride and tension for the state. As increasingly severe storms, intensified by climate change, accelerate the erosion of beaches and bluffs, the conflict around land use at the coast has also intensified. Nowhere exemplifies this reality better than the City of Pacifica, a popular surfing destination located …
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CONTINUE READINGTakings Between the Sheetz
…in which I actually praise Brett Kavanaugh
It seems absurd to blog about legal doctrine nowadays, but I, like many, am preparing for Spring term classes, and Takings represents one way that the Supremes might try to destroy American government. So it is always good to keep it in mind. Most of us know the issues concerning exactions – when a government …
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CONTINUE READINGUsing Maps to Make Housing Politics Easier
Setting clear borders as to where upzoning to advance housing would apply may help ease the politics of housing policy
A recent article in the SF Chronicle highlighted how it has been easier for housing advocates to get upzoning reforms that facilitate housing production in Oregon – with the upzoning provisions in Oregon having significantly fewer exceptions and carveouts than comparable provisions in California. The result is that Portland has seen more movement in housing …
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