Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

latimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 133 posts

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

#71

Post by inferiorhuman »

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…

  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.
One of the best parts about where I lived in San Francisco was that I was around the corner from a streetcar stop. Pre-pandemic the streetcar was absolutely packed during commute hours because people absolutely do take advantage of "pokey streetcars and buses".

  My take is you build it, and THEN they come. Put in some GOOD transit.
What is GOOD transit? The Bay Area's spent a fortune building out BART (yuck) and every extension has only succeeded in siphoning money away from other transit.

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

#72

Post by kstrauser »

FilosofumRex wrote: post #67

It's joke... MA has had an affordable housing law (chapter 40B)for over 50 years. when it was passed housing affordability was a rising problem, today it's a crisis! Politicians are bound to the interests of property owners not those who can't afford it. Besides high density bring high crimes, and high concentrated poverty

When I think concentrated poverty and crime, I definitely picture Manhattan and Tokyo.

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

#73

Post by kstrauser »

SilverElfin wrote: post #34
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. This is what I was referring to, in terms of HN’s attitudes on this topic. Why should a “major metro area” change to accommodate newcomers? It should just stay serving its current residents, who may want it to stay the size it is. The ones desiring to live there at a price they can afford are the enti…

I confess that this attitude infuriates me. How did these become major metro areas in the first place? You changed the quality of life in your neighborhood when you moved there. You don’t get to say “that’s it, stop here, it’s on its final, perfect form” any more than the previous residents were before you arrived.

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

#74

Post by flomo »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #71
flomo wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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. One of the best parts about where I lived in San Francisco was that I was around the corner from a streetcar stop. Pre-pandemic the streetcar was absolutely packed during commute hours because people absolutely do take advantage of "pokey…

Yep, me (and my politician Weiner) have some great public transit, so that's certainly true of some places.

Those folks that he is up-zoning out in the avenues, they are driving. Different culture out there. Downvote reality to the left.

GOOD transit it obvious, and it certainly is not a gigantic tunnel deep under downtown San Jose which is 400% over budget. Do not claim there is a lack of money for any of this. The political machine is just totally malfunctional.

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

#75

Post by Hilift »

"Bring dense housing" misses the plot. It prevents 50% of all development projects (in recent years) from being thwarted for no reason under the veil of environment laws. Some municipalities also had requirements to "get your neighbors approval", which resulted in bizarre interactions where residents would actually ask developers for things that cost millions of dollars. "Can you build a ground floor office for my dentist husband"? (Actual question).

For those wondering, 80% of Palisades/Eaton fire residents will not rebuild and will sell. The process will take over three years and is frustrating even with the new legislation. This could result in some interesting multi-tenant developments in those areas.

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

#76

Post by flomo »

wongarsu wrote: post #69
flomo wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because developers are going to include the parking so everyone out there can drive where they are going. Which is my point. The "transit" aspect of this bill is total bullshit. If you like cars, and want more traffic, this is for you.

Those areas are fairly small, and their number is limited. That might drive more space efficient solutions like underground parking or selling spots in a parking garage that serves multiple buildings

[flagged]

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

#77

Post by inferiorhuman »

flomo wrote: post #74
inferiorhuman wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. One of the best parts about where I lived in San Francisco was that I was around the corner from a streetcar stop. Pre-pandemic the streetcar was absolutely packed during commute hours because people absolutely do take advantage of "pokey…

Yep, me (and my politician Weiner) have some great public transit, so that's certainly true of some places. Those folks that he is up-zoning out in the avenues, they are driving. Different culture out there. Downvote reality to the left. GOOD transit it obvious, and it certainly is not a gigantic tunnel deep under downtown San Jose which is 400% over budget. Do not claim there is a lack of money for any of this. The…

  Those folks that he is up-zoning out in the avenues, they are
  driving. Different culture out there. Downvote reality to the left.
To be clear I was out in the avenues.

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

#78

Post by flomo »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #77
flomo wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, me (and my politician Weiner) have some great public transit, so that's certainly true of some places. Those folks that he is up-zoning out in the avenues, they are driving. Different culture out there. Downvote reality to the left. GOOD transit it obvious, and it certainly is not a gigantic tunnel deep under downtown San Jose which is 400% over budget. Do not claim there is a lack of money for any of this. The…

Those folks that he is up-zoning out in the avenues, they are driving. Different culture out there. Downvote reality to the left. To be clear I was out in the avenues.

Just curious exactly what neighborhood and how long did you live there? (duboce triangle, a long time)

I know a bunch of people who live/d out there, they take muni downtown but mostly have a car. Perhaps you could regal in tales of your car-free lifestyle in the Sunset, but i'm not seeing it. Weiner wants condos out there and he does not give a shit about your bus ride.

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

#79

Post by xrd »

davidw wrote: post #44
xrd wrote: post #35

This happened in Oregon a few years ago: any cities with 25k or more people had to permit greater density. I'm optimistic about housing on the West Coast for the first time in a long, long time. This will transform things in a big way.

Oregon - thanks to governor Tina Kotek - pushed those reforms further this year: https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/07/29/gov-kotek-sign... I got to play a small part in that, going to Salem to say my piece in favor: https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/03/04/oregon-gov-kot... She liked my hoodie! https://bsky.app/profile/tinakotek.bsky.social/post/3lkea36k... That said, what her bills have accomplished is a…

That article you posted is terrific. I love the story of the "grandmother" in Cully Grove.

Thank you for your work on this. You'll leave a great legacy in Oregon!

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

#80

Post by lotsofpulp »

floxy wrote: post #46
chabska wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because "current residents" also include the children and teenagers currently living there? You act like young adults are 100% flown in by storks, as if the city doesn't itself procreate, as if school children doesn't grow up into young adults.

Any good sources showing how much various cities' fertility rate contributes to their population growth?

They don’t contribute, as they are all below replacement rate.

https://www.newgeography.com/content/007550-total-fertility-...

Probably true worldwide except maybe Africa and Middle East.

Post reply on HN