Post

Stephen Jacob Smith
@stephenjacobsmith.com

YIMBYism is working, it’s just obscured in the topline numbers by the single-family collapse. The California Building Industry Association went all-in on sprawl and insurers had to step in as the adults in the room and say no more wildfire risk, leaving YIMBYs to fix things with no help from CBIA.

Buffy Wicks@buffywicks.bsky.social

Well, look at that. California is seeing a big increase in multifamily housing permits. We passed historic CEQA reforms w/AB 130 to make it easier to build housing & now we’re seeing momentum. There’s still lots of work to do, but this is an encouraging sign. www.ocregister.com/2026/10/08/c...

ocregister.comCalifornia multifamily permits jump 33% this yearPermits for 36,600 multifamily housing units statewide equals the third-best start to a year since 1990.

40 reposts270 likes

Oren Hadar
@futureis.la

I think this is mostly a mirage. The statewide YoY increase is about 9k. LA is about 6k of that. Much of LA's increase is due to a pandemic-era policy that allowed devs to delay pulling permits on buildings that had finished plan check. That policy ended in March, and tons of permits got pulled.

punt
@punt1.bsky.social

it seems like a huge question for CA real estate is who can pivot towards denser development. i.e toll brothers seems to be capable of both. many trades, plumbers, electricians, hvac contractors etc could pivot to some degree.. but i wonder if there are stranded assets and if so, where/whose.

Micheal
@thebestgamer.bsky.social

You know one thing I’ve been hearing recently? It’s “why aren’t we building more homes with these policy changes?” At the same time I’m hearing “we’re in the midst of everything being so expensive with tariffs and cheap immigrant labor is gone.”

Micheal
@thebestgamer.bsky.social

Which means that YIMBY policies are working because we’re in unfavorable conditions to build, yet we’re building the same amount. Once the conditions get better, we will be in an apartment boom. (My own personal theory)

Aden Y
@adenyacobi.bsky.social

Is prevailing wage at 85 ft an issue? Basically, will that dissuade developers from even trying to go around CEQA or make them build shorter projects? Also am worried this is a poison pill. Don’t developments get a lot more costly around 60-80 ft? You may need the extra floors to counteract that.

Stephen Jacob Smith
@stephenjacobsmith.com

Now CBIA is trying to copy the YIMBY playbook with Prop 45. I’m in support of it, but (/because) it’s not going to bring back sprawl in California like they want it to. Nothing will given the distance of flat, vacant land to job centers and accelerating wildfire risk. They should get new…

Patrick Siegman – California issues
@patricksiegmanca.bsky.social

They get a return to the days when it was easy to ram elevated highways through low-income neighborhoods.

Patrick Siegman – California issues@patricksiegmanca.bsky.social

“CEQA was enacted at a time when new highways and highway expansion was destroying communities, and a big part of the reason to create CEQA in the first place. Prop 45 would roll out the red carpet for just the type of projects that we created CEQA to prevent and mitigate in the first place.”

cal.streetsblog.orgStreetsblog Endorsement: No on Prop. 45 - Streetsblog CaliforniaCEQA was enacted at a time when new highways and highway expansion was destroying communities, and a big part of the reason to create CEQA in the first place. Prop 45 would roll out the red carpet for...
tschuy 🏳️‍🌈
@tsch.uy

Mountain House, River Islands, White Rock, Lincoln are all in places that can readily be further sprawled. There's hills nearby some of them, but plenty of flat as well.