California lawmakers pass SB 79, housing bill that brings dense housing • Hacker News Board

Re: California lawmakers pass SB 79, housing bill that brings dense housing

#131

Post by dlite90 » Mon, Sep 15, 2025, 3:49 PM UTC

flomo wrote: post #58

nilsbunger wrote: post #12

A Redditor created a great interactive map showing where SB 79 applies in California here: https://www.reddit.com/r/yimby/comments/1ne2q87/sb_79_intera...

Ug. I'm a 'yimby' and a Weiner voter. But his take on San Francisco transit is just like really bad. Pokey streetcars and buses, doomed to fail. You build out there in those blue areas, and they are mostly all driving. My take is you build it, and THEN they come. Put in some GOOD transit. Make sure the utilities are in place. Developers will then flock to the place. This whole thing is using inside-out logic. Have a…

Nah, if you build high-density housing near transit stops the transit will definitely get more ridership (and ergo more funding). You're painting with broad strokes saying "they'll drive anyway!" but really a lot of car trips will get replaced with transit or walking, and that trend will only increase as more dense housing gets built.

Re: California lawmakers pass SB 79, housing bill that brings dense housing

#132

Post by nephanth » Mon, Sep 15, 2025, 6:45 PM UTC

jjav wrote: post #49

AlotOfReading wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people who want small, mid-sized towns are free to live literally anywhere they want outside major metro areas. There's 90+% of the state by land area left to them. This discussion is and has always been centered around the housing crisis in urban centers, where it's been illegal to build density for decades. This has caused issues where those urban centers can't afford for people to provide critical services ( l…

> The people who want small, mid-sized towns are free to live literally anywhere they want outside major metro areas. There's 90+% of the state by land area left to them. Whether good or bad, it's important to realize this is not true in California, with regard to these laws. They apply everywhere, not only in urban centers. So if there are people who want small towns without dense development, that option has been t…

> Whether good or bad, it's important to realize this is not true in California, with regard to these laws. They apply everywhere, not only in urban centers.

According to the linked article, the only areas affected by this bills are major transit centers and high throughput public transit stops, which tends to exclude small towns far from cities. If you look at the linked map, affected areas are all concentrated in big cities

Are you commenting on the bill being discussed here or on something else entirely?

Re: California lawmakers pass SB 79, housing bill that brings dense housing

#133

Post by nephanth » Mon, Sep 15, 2025, 7:02 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #81

lalaland1125 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are incorrectly missing that many larger units (both 3+ bedroom apartments and houses) are currently filled with singles or couples with roommates who would rather live alone in 1 or 2 bedrooms, but can't due to inadequate supply. Building 1/2 bedrooms would help those people move out, freeing up larger units for families. > I fear it's just going to enrich the property management class The property manag…

I wonder if this is true. There is significant risk in price changes for renting (or even HOA fees for condominiums), such that many middle class people might feel more secure living in their home with a near zero interest rate mortgage, if not a paid off mortgage. On top of that, most jurisdictions (in the US) subsidize property tax rates for senior citizens, so there is a lot less price volatility for simply remain…

As little as one experience is worth,

When I lived in socal, almost every person under 35 i knew there was living in a 2-4bd with roommates.

1bd and studios were very scace, and almost often prohibitively expensive.

So I second that creating a real offer for 1bd and studios would definitely free up family housing.

On top of that 1 and 2-person households still need housing. Building some for them is a good thing in my book