From CalMatters...
California Lawmakers Kill Bid to Force HOAs to Follow Open Meeting Laws
05/01/2025A Republican bill to require more transparency from California’s 50,000 homeowners associations failed to advance out of committee despite bipartisan support.
From CalMatters...
Unprecedented Vote Shows Dems Fractured Over Housing Policy
04/30/2025Two consecutive committee chairs getting overruled by their committee members signifies a growing rift among California Democrats about how to address the housing crisis.
From CalMatters...
Welcome to the First Fire-Resistant Neighborhood. Now What About the Rest of California?
04/29/2025Dixon Trail is the first purpose-built “wildfire resilient neighborhood” in the United States. Making that a reality for the millions of Californians who already live in harm’s way is a daunting and costly challenge that lawmakers are only just beginning to grapple with.
From Monterey Herald...
Ribbon Cutting Celebrates Opening of Seagrove Apartments
04/24/2025A ribbon cutting ceremony on April 24 celebrated the opening of the 106-unit Seagrove apartment complex near downtown Seaside.
From CalMatters...
Biden Let California Get Creative With Medicaid Spending. Trump Is Signaling That May End
04/24/2025California uses Medicaid to pay for a range of nontraditional health care services, including housing. The Trump administration wants to scale back those programs.
From CalMatters...
Abundance Meets Resistance: Are Democrats Finally Ready to Go All in on Building Housing?
04/22/2025California Senate Housing Committee Chair Aisha Wahab is a staunch progressive who is clashing with pro-development activists and other Democrats who want to build more, faster.
From Monterey Herald...
Groundbreaking Held for Seaside Campus Town Project
04/11/2025A groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 11 to celebrate the beginning of the Campus Town development project on 122 acres of land in Seaside.
From CalMatters...
CA Lawmakers Seek to Change CEQA (Again)
03/28/2025A handful of legislators rallied near the state Capitol Thursday to promote what they’re calling an “extremely unsexy,” but important, bipartisan bill package intended to put California’s housing development into overdrive.
From Monterey Herald...
Lightfighter Village in Marina Welcomes First Tenents
03/28/2025The nonprofit Veterans Transition Center's Lightfighter Village in Marina has been completed, and the 71-unit veterans transitional living facility is welcoming its first tenants.
From CalMatters...
Will This Bill Be the End of California’s Housing vs Environment Wars?
03/26/2025In the recurring legislative fight between YIMBY legislators and defenders of California’s signature environmental law, one bill could be a final legislative showdown.
From CalMatters...
‘Quiet Panic’ as National Rental Assistance Program Set to Run Out of Cash
03/17/2025A $5 billion pot of federal money set aside to help people on the verge of homelessness pay the rent is running out of cash — and no one has a plan to keep the roughly 60,000 renters, more than 15,000 of them in California — from losing their housing after the last dollar is spent.
From CalMatters...
California Is Spending Billions on Mental Health Housing. Will It Reach Those Most in Need?
03/05/2025Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to see tangible results from the $6.4 billion mental health bond voters approved last year. Moving fast carries a risk of neglecting under-resourced communities.
From CalMatters...
‘Too Damn Hard to Build’: a Key California Democrat’s Push for Speedier Construction
03/03/2025Oakland Democrat Buffy Wicks said lawmakers will soon see 20 bills to speed up housing construction, along with more on energy, water and transit.
From CalMatters...
California’s Fund to Build Student Housing Runs Dry — Leaving Community Colleges in the Lurch
02/26/2025Feather River College is still reeling from the 2021 Dixie Fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes in the surrounding community and warped the housing market. The college is one of many schools that have tried — and failed — to secure state grants to build more student housing.
From CalMatters...
Why Bills to Help Prevent California Fires Fail
02/26/2025Each year, legislation aimed at better wildfire mitigation fails – often due to cost or conflict with environmental regulations.
From The Sacramento Bee...
Spotlight on 2-Year Yolo County Basic Income Program
02/26/2025Read on for details about a report on the 2-year Yolo County Basic Income Program which ended in April 2024.
From CalMatters...
02/23/2025A passel of recent California laws were supposed to supercharge the construction of desperately needed housing. According to YIMBY Law, they haven’t even come close.
From CalMatters...
Do Homeowners Associations Trump CA’s ADU Laws?
02/20/2025In a dispute over whether he can convert his three-story condominium’s garage into its own ground-floor apartment, one Carlsbad resident is waging a battle against his homeowners association.
From CalMatters...
Los Angeles Wildfires Intensify Political Jousting Over Home Insurance Premiums
02/19/2025The timing could not have been better — or worse.
From CalMatters...
Big CA Insurance Hike Blocked for Now
02/17/2025Against the recommendation of his staff experts, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara denied a request from State Farm to green light “emergency” rate increases for insurance policy holders.
From CalMatters...
Big Homeowner Rate Hike From State Farm Shot Down by California Regulator
02/14/2025In the wake of the Los Angeles fires, State Farm asked for an “emergency” premium increase of 22% on average for California homeowners. Lara today denied the request pending more information.
From CalMatters...
State Farm Asks for More Insurance Rate Increases After LA Fires
02/04/2025State Farm, which already has rate increase requests pending, asked state officials to approve more insurance price increases.
From Monterey Herald...
Campus Town Development Project Advances in Seaside
01/28/2025With the acceptance of sealed bids by the City of Seaside for the demolition and disposal of structures and parking lots remaining from Fort Ord, work on the Campus Town Development is advancing. Read on to learn more.
From Los Angeles Times...
LA Fires Damage Estimated at More Than $250 Billion
01/24/2025Damages in the ongoing Southern California wildfires are topping $250 billion, on track for the costliest disaster in US history. Read on to learn more.
From Monterey Herald...
Seaside Advances Campus Town Project
01/23/2025Read on to learn more about the Campus Town subdivision moving through the City of Seaside planning and development process.
From CapPublicRadio...
Rebuilding in Paradise Offers Insight for Fire Ravaged LA
01/22/2025A look at how the rebuilding effort is going in the California town of Paradise, wiped out in a 2018 fire, and how it offers insights for the tough road ahead for residents in neighborhoods destroyed in the fires of Southern California.
From CalMatters...
As LA Fires Destroy Homes, California’s Housing Crisis Is About to Get Worse
01/16/2025The wildfires sweeping through Los Angeles County communities have destroyed at least 10,000 homes so far and more are in the path of still-uncontrolled flames.
From The Sacramento Bee...
Hardening Your Home Against Wildfires - Wildfire Proven
01/14/2025Read on to learn about the measures taken to harden and protect the lone remaining house of the neighborhoodfrom the Pacific Palisades fire in Southern California.
From Local News Matters...
New Law Doubles Eviction Response Time, Giving California Tenants Leeway to Fight Back
12/26/2024Tenant advocates suffered a big defeat this fall when California voters decided against expanding cities’ ability to limit rent increases. But a state law set to take effect Jan. 1 will give renters facing eviction a little more breathing room.
From CalMatters...
Legal Battles and Funding Woes: California Housing 2024 Year in Review
12/26/2024California officials continued to fight with cities that don’t want to build more housing and everyone struggled to find more money to pay for new housing.
From CalMatters...
Can New State Regulations Resolve California’s Existential Insurance Crisis?
12/16/2024There’s no law requiring California property owners to carry insurance, but the vast majority buy it to protect themselves from fire and other perils, or are required to do so by their mortgage lenders.
From CalMatters...
Federal Health Care Dollars Are Helping to House Homeless Californians. Trump Could Stop That
12/11/2024Gov. Newsom launched an ambitious program that uses Medi-Cal to help Californians access housing, healthy food and more. Now, its fate is in the hands of President-Elect Trump.