CA Supreme Court has denied review / depublication of Save Our Access v. City of San Diego. This means that worst CEQA opinion of the last two decades is binding law on superior court judges statewide. Leg attention needed!

This is a great question ⤵️. The CA Leg has made existing old, small, and often-unsafe apartment buildings almost impossible to redevelop. A big mistake. There's a real need to reconsider & standardize tenant protections, while giving tenants collective agency to authorize redevelopment.

A thread for those interested in housing construction economics & regulation/codes.

Bingo. Davis Bacon wage rates are determined via surveys sent by DOL to construction projects. Most contractors don't bother to report payroll data unless harassed by local unions.The job sites the unions harass are typically those with subs using union labor or public works projects paying PW.

I mean PW came about during New Deal over concerns that as Fed govt was essentially a monopsonistic buyer of cxn labor during Great Depression, Feds would use buying power to lower wages further. The policy argument for having PW is frankly well long since dead.

Prof. Elmendorf's thread reminds me of the time when a Palo Alto homeowner wanted to hire me to find fault with the environmental assessment for this affordable housing project. He and his attorney were perfectly ready to pay me $300/hour for this work. 🧵 site.robquigley.com/project/alma/

I was very proud to lobby this bill on behalf of the Bay Area Council! This is the huge win we hoped it would be

“The Leg should revisit how state code requirements (and local code amendments) are made, requiring cost-benefit analysis. Then audit the existing code and strip away rules that don't pass the test.“ My thoughts exactly.

🧵 on a big new CA Court of Appeal decision that's going to make CEQA attorneys think twice when they're next asked to challenge a housing approval on contingency. threadreaderapp.com/thread/20065...

Reducing the cost of construction is a job for state legislatures. A 🧵 w/ ideas for California's 2026 legislative session. threadreaderapp.com/thread/20060...

Recent manuscript by @cselmendorf.bsky.social, @dbroockman.bsky.social and Joshua Kalla suggests this *is* important. osf.io/preprints/so...

Big test of the Permit Streamlining Act is underway in San Diego. Keep an eye on this one, especially if you're a legislator. threadreaderapp.com/thread/20024...

Incredible

Watch four-story zoning deliver a 25-story project, courtesy of California's Density Bonus Law. threadreaderapp.com/thread/19969...

I asked a national expert on laws like this, @cselmendorf.bsky.social, what parts of Oregon's proposed rules are most nationally important. He called their use of "good enough" + clear consequences for real-life outcomes "conceptually a big step forward."

Looking forward to joining @alecstapp.bsky.social and Steve Teles at @ucriverside.bsky.social for this Abundance event on Friday. myadv.ucr.edu/forms/spp-10...

Three cheers to Flagstaff for––as of a few minutes ago––becoming the first city in Arizona (and maybe the entire southwest?) to legalize fourplexes on every residential lot citywide. And congrats to Flagstaff for Affordable Housing & @azneighborhood.bsky.social for leading the charge!

Scale -> incentive for transportation innovation + internalization of agglomeration externalities. Which gives @caforever.bsky.social an incentive build densely, which normal greenfield developers lack.

Incredible op-ed from 2 absolute legends. Localities should not have veto power over projects of state or regional concern. That's a classic collective action problem And it's especially harmful when it prevents great and ambitious projects like California Forever from being built

My op-ed w/ Ed Glaeser in today's @latimes.com argues that CA needs a state-level permitting framework for housing projects of statewide significance, like @caforever.bsky.social. 1/2 www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

NEW PAPER w/ @cselmendorf.bsky.social & @jkalla.bsky.social: An under-appreciated reason why voters oppose dense new housing, especially in less-dense neighborhoods: they think it looks ugly and want to prevent that, even in other neighborhoods. Some of what we think is NIMBYism might not be!

@cselmendorf.bsky.social told me about this paper last week and I think it's a paper that every developer should force their architects to read.

👀 Since 2018, 15 major foundations have donated "$260 million ... to nonprofits across California that have actively opposed pro-housing legislation"

Professor Chris taught me that the Bay Area Council was in the 90’s the sponsor of what is now known as the Builders’ Remedy!

This is a great article from @conordougherty.bsky.social on the Builder's Remedy. The only detail I would've added is that @cselmendorf.bsky.social told the world about the Builder's Remedy in a tweet thread on **New Year's Day** because that's how hard that man is working to get homes built.

More thoughts here on possible solutions to rent control advocates' credible commitment problem. I appreciate the thoughtful engagement from @bharathhariharan.bsky.social & @nealemahoney.bsky.social. threadreaderapp.com/thread/19912...

"One way or the other, the answer was going to be yes." Great reporting by @conordougherty.bsky.social on the resuscitation of California's builder's remedy. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/b...

"One way or the other, the answer was going to be yes." Great reporting by @conordougherty.bsky.social on the resuscitation of California's builder's remedy.

This great story is a testament to the invaluable work of @cselmendorf.bsky.social on California's builders remedy: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/b...

The posting-to-policy pipeline is real, at least when @cselmendorf.bsky.social wields his pen. We love to see it! Deepest sympathies to the oppressed homeowners in Beverly Hills... www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/b...

New results on how feelings toward developers shape housing policy preferences, and what can change those feelings (w/ downstream effects on policy preferences). threadreaderapp.com/thread/19900...

On rent @nealemahoney.bsky.social & @bharatramamurti.bsky.social's case for "temporary" price controls, threadreaderapp.com/thread/19901...

The thing about state and local government pension reform (boring, unpopular) is that it can enable lots of stuff that’s interesting and popular.

Fantastic profile of @scottwiener.bsky.social in @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/author/adam-...

it's nuts that most cities don't have an office of economic analysis and that the state housing agency doesn't do economic analysis

I’ve found the impulse to “break up the massing” to be a received wisdom of planners regardless of the frontage width or any other considerations such as construction quality and maintainability. The fact that it was identified as basically unsupported by public so early is even worse somehow.

Cross-posting my discovery of the day. This guy could have been the Shoup of design review. He's was a random architect working from home in Bernal Heights. Never had a faculty position. He churned out scores of academic papers and one great book. threadreaderapp.com/thread/19873...

One way to reduce condo defect liability: stop forcing architects to design buildings that leak. HCD’s “objective design standards” guide *encourages* making building envelopes more complex, heightening leak and therefore defect lawsuit risk cao-94612.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/documents/Ap...

If you want a zoning code that delivers abundant and affordable housing, pass a ballot initiative that requires your city to hire a city economist, and directs them to study the economic impacts of all proposed ordinances and publicly disclose the results. #SanFrancisco voters did. It’s paying off!😀

@ucdavis.bsky.social Law Professor @cselmendorf.bsky.social via @sfchronicle.com 🔗: www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open... #UCDavisLaw #UCDavis #LawSchool #Faculty #Law

Driving to Davis to teach a Saturday morning class is not my idea of a good time, but it was so fun welcoming prospective @ucdavislaw.bsky.social students today w/ the story of California's builder's remedy. Especially b/c I got to feature my former students Jordan Wright & Marissa Fuentes!

On paths forward for the Housing Element Law. (Leg attention needed!) threadreaderapp.com/thread/19839...

My op-ed in today's @sfchronicle.com www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open... 1/2

Or just authorize @california-hcd.bsky.social to issue interpretations that are binding until a court disagrees. (Similar to status of a disapproved housing element.)

Relaying a message from the mayor.

Fantastic analysis.

🧵 on new stinker of a CEQA opinion. Here's hoping @gavinnewsom.bsky.social, @agrobbonta.oag.ca.gov, @buffywicks.bsky.social, @scottwiener.bsky.social, & leaders of Assembly & Senate housing & nat'l res. committees will join Mayor Gloria's petition for review. threadreaderapp.com/thread/19807...

Cross-posting my 🧵 on latest version of the @caforever.bsky.social plan. threadreaderapp.com/thread/19786...

Now that SB 79 is the law, I've completed my initial series of threads on the bill. Here they are: #4 (for local electeds): threadreaderapp.com/thread/19777... #5.1 (for the Leg, near term): threadreaderapp.com/thread/19777... #5.2 (for the Leg, longer term): threadreaderapp.com/thread/19778...

I am a little more skeptical than @lorettodave.bsky.social, however, about BR projects filed prior to HCD revoking its finding of compliance or a court finding the city in question out of compliance. t.co/NFBJvpGptg