Zócalo's Connecting California
Sacramento turns its attention to California housing crunch
California lawmakers are devising carrots and sticks to spur cities and counties to build more housing. Zócalo columnist Joe Mathews says a state takeover of the development process may be just what California needs.
Have you tried to buy a home in California recently? If so, you know it's hard, and getting harder all the time. It's not complicated: there just isn't enough supply to meet the demand of the country's most populous state, and that means sky-high prices. Communities up and down California have made the problem worse by creating obstacles to new development. But those anti-growth policies could backfire. State lawmakers have introduced more than 100 bills this year to address the housing shortage. They won't all pass, and some that do won't accomplish much, but Zócalo columnist Joe Mathews says a state takeover of local housing policy is underway in Sacramento.