
Bleak housing market in Bay Area - edwinksl
https://twitter.com/sallykuchar/status/978332798275616768
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cozzyd
I feel like a unified regional government could help fix some of these
commercial/residential disparities, but too many towns have too much to lose
for that to happen. And I wouldn't want to wish the voters of Dublin or
Livermore onto SF/Berkeley/Oakland residents.

Glad to live in a city (Chicago) with a much saner housing market.

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jphelan
I've started going to city meetings in Cupertino and Sunnyvale, and I agree
the only solution is top down. I want the newly available Cupertion Vallco
site to be full of housing, but I've resigned myself to the fact that
Cupertino just isn't going to do it. The mayor doesn't want it, and the home
owners don't want it. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up with more office
space than housing.

In Cupertino, Palo Alto, etc. housing is currently controlled by local nimby
interests. We do have a state oversite process:
[https://abag.ca.gov/planning/housingneeds/](https://abag.ca.gov/planning/housingneeds/).
CA knows we're not doing the right thing, here and in the rest of the state.
Check out the statewide housing assessment: [http://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-
research/plans-reports/index.sh...](http://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-
research/plans-reports/index.shtml). It shows the picture clearly. We're like
a person driving a car with their feet - we're just doing something dumb. We
need to get around the political inertia to change our current approach.

The state process just doesn't have enough grip to get our hands back on the
wheel. It seems like sb 828 might improve the oversite
[https://artplusmarketing.com/california-needs-a-housing-
firs...](https://artplusmarketing.com/california-needs-a-housing-first-agenda-
my-2018-housing-package-1b6fe95e41da#6ef2).

Looking around for what we can literally do as citizens, I found our state
senator had an open house last week, but I missed it with a cold. So, show up
and ask for more housing and ask him to get sb 827 and 828 passed! If you're
local, follow his schedule at [http://sd13.senate.ca.gov/sign-e-notices-and-
email-updates](http://sd13.senate.ca.gov/sign-e-notices-and-email-updates) and
show up with me!

~~~
jphelan
replying to myself: I just sat in a Sunnyvale El Camino Real planning meeting.
Sunnyvale is adding substantial capacity on El Camino, about 7000 additional
units in a much denser style, like what we need in the rest of the bay. So, We
can do this in the bay! It's not a question when, but of how long. The sooner
you get involved, the sooner more housing projects get started!

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paxys
Only of the (very few) reasons I like the GOP tax bill is that it will likely
lead to California tax overhaul, including reducing income tax and ending
Proposition 13.

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794CD01
This is all about the continued rise of the housing market. It's the opposite
of bleak.

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CydeWeys
Housing markets like this are bad for people and bad for the economy. It is
bleak. There is no actual value being created when home prices skyrocket; it
means that supply is severely restricted, and it prevents efficient location
of people near their jobs.

~~~
slowmovintarget
It also destroys disposable income and savings potential, thus reducing
overall quality-of-life.

