San Benito County Housing Digest

The Sacramento Bee takes a look at the Proposition 33 rent-control measure on the November ballot.

California’s inland regions are experiencing dangerous heat waves, exacerbated by rapid population growth. As more people move away from the expensive coastal areas to more affordable inland communities, these regions are seeing significant demographic changes and spiking electricity bills.

An exclusive CalMatters analysis of the latest California homeless count reveals some good news and bad news: Though the growth rate of homelessness appears to be slowing, the overall number of unhoused Californians increased from two years ago.

Amid a Southern California heat wave, about 300 advocates for rent control — with two 10-foot “greedy landlord” puppets — rallied Thursday in downtown Los Angeles, chanting: “The rent is too damn high!”

A large apartment complex in San Rafael’s majority-Latino Canal neighborhood. Latino families in Marin County are far more likely than white families to have trouble making ends meet, a new report finds.

The Legislature is willing to guarantee $500 million annually to affordable housing developers, but with a caveat.

Backers pulled a $20 billion affordable housing bond off Bay Area ballots today, amid fears that it wouldn’t pass.

Some California agencies are offering incentives and hosting workshops for school districts that want to build affordable housing for teachers.

The state’s landlords see rising insurance costs, so they say they’re going to have to raise rents. But they complain about laws that limit how much they can do so.

Sky-high rent is among Californians’ biggest concerns. Nearly 30% of tenants spend more than half their income on rent; and the median rent is $2,850 a month, 33% higher than the national average.

Two propositions on the Nov. 5 ballot address this issue — though one does so in a rather roundabout way.

Many landlords in California can only raise the rent a certain amount. On August 1, they — and their tenants — found out how high.

When California emerged from its colonial beginnings nearly two centuries ago and began coalescing into a distinct society, its towns and villages tended to be located either on navigable rivers, such as Sacramento, or around the 21 missions that Spanish explorer priests had established, such as San Diego.

What happens when voters take to the ballot to thumb their nose at state housing law? Courts haven’t offered a clear answer.

California Forever’s announcement July 22 that it has decided to pull a ballot measure that would have let voters decide on a controversial planned city in rural Solano County drew swift reaction from political leaders and opponents.

On July 22, California Forever announced it was withdrawing its initiative to amend the Solano County General Plan off the November ballot and would instead begin working with the county through the normal, though less expeditious, process.

Taking advantage of new state funds, some California healthcare providers are starting to offer what their homeless patients really need: housing.

A push to bolster housing production in California's coastal communities in recent years has led to heated battles over potential state reforms. Below, a veteran elected official believes the debate has created a false choice between housing and protections. The opposing view: A former attorney for the Coastal Commission says the state Coastal Act has failed to deliver on what it envisioned.

On June 19, California YIMBY announced support for the California Forever project going to the Solano County ballot in November.

A recent court ruling exempted five charter cities from a controversial housing law. That’s given anti-density advocates across California an idea.

Tens of thousands of California homeowners, especially those who live in areas at risk of wildfires, have lost their insurance or have to pay more to keep coverage. One after another, major companies have pulled out of the state, many citing the cost of claims.

On June 11, Solano County elections officials announced the verification of necessary signatures for the California Forever sponsored initiative to amend the county General Plan to be on the November ballot.

A panel at the CalMatters Ideas Festival debates how to reduce homelessness without punishing poverty. There’s worry about a potential $1 billion cut in state funding.

On June 6, the Solano Land Trust announced its opposition to the California Forever project to build a new community housing up to 400,000 people in the county.

These community projects can give renters and low-income homeowners a chance to go solar, but the PUC’s action is unlikely to give them the option.

In response to new housing developments, the Hollister School District is reconfiguring area schools to serve a shifting population.

An apartment complex of several buildings with a total 132 units is being proposed for a 3.8-acre site at Fourth Street and Graf Road in Hollister.

Tenants in many new privately owned, low-income units will be protected from double-digit increases. So will some in existing units, after a state committee on affordable housing imposed a rent cap.

The Hollister Planning Commission approved a one year permit extension for a 100-unit residential project on Buena Vista Road during its March 28 meeting.

The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources advisors has published a new website with information resources for small acreage landowners raising livestock.

3 residents attended in person, and several more online, as Kimley-Horn, an engineering firm contracted by the city, led the workshop gathering local input on state-mandated housing goals to add over 4,000 units of new housing over the next 8 years.

The Hollister Planning Commission issued an extension to a 28-unit project and approved a new multi-family project at 221 Hawkins Street, known as the Brookshire Apartments.

No issue matters more to Californians than housing and homelessness. Catch up on where the major Senate candidates stand on the subject.