Despite the resistance to new housing construction from anti-development NIMBYs, most in the bay area (and other high-rent cities across the country) realize the rent is too damn high in the Golden State, slowing economic growth in these areas and across the country.
But progress is being made, albeit at a (very) slow pace. Data released by the San Francisco Area Metropolitan Transport Commission shows that cities in the Bay Area are on track to achieve their housing supply goals, but don’t make any plans to move yet. San Francisco won’t reach its goals until 2063, and Concord won’t until 2984.
But Bay Area Residents may not need to wait for decades to reach these goals. The newly elected mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, is a committed zoning reform advocate who recognizes the need for new development to bring in more affordable housing. And as the pro-development “yes in my backyard-ers” (YIMBYs) continue to mobilize to push for legislation like Scott Wiener’s failed SB 827, greater supply of affordable housing may come even sooner.
New housing won’t be built overnight. But that makes it all the more important to begin the process now instead of hoping our great-great-great-great grandchildren will be able to afford to live in the bay area.
Loading...