The fact that small scale real estate investors who flip $500k starter homes into $2 million McMansions are NOT required to provide subsidized housing for poor people but the investors who flip the same homes into ten $650,000 townhomes ARE is such an indictment of California housing policy.

This explains why it’s advantageous to tear down a home instead of building on vacant land. The system rewards demolishing 1 home to build 1 much nicer home. But we do not allow developers to use these SAME advantages to build 4-6 homes on the same lot. Demolition restrictions kill dreams.

Read this thread, then spread the word. We must act to stop this ugly initiative.

Important thread about a big California housing issue that few people are talking about:

If you are a Californian, you'll want to read this thread. @muhammadspeaks.bsky.social is right--legislative inaction is exactly how we got Prop 13.

N.B. the fate of the Largest Subnational Economy in the world

An important and very insightful thread:

Every Californian who cares even a little bit about their city’s financial health should read this thread. Take two minutes to thoroughly read it and then share it. If this measure goes to the ballot and passes it would destroy El Cerrito’s budget and those so many other California cities.

Thank you for writing this! Best explainer I’ve read so far. I spent probably 10 minutes trying to explain this issue to a group of El Cerrito advocates yesterday. It’s so convoluted and challenging for folks not deep in the weeds to understand.

you dont hate howard jarvis enough think you do? no, its never enough we must destroy his legacy and bring about an actual california that is funded progressive that supports the working people of the state

🧵 Thread: California is about to have a massive fight over taxes, housing, and democracy itself. Here's what's at stake and why the legislature needs to cut a deal by mid-June.

I'm glad to see local elected officials getting serious about the housing crisis. Both Riverside and Long Beach are great candidates for multifamily homes that are built to own.

This is becoming a fever dream -- the Mayors of Riverside and Long Beach have written an Op Ed in support of Construction Defect Reform (AB 1903). www.presstelegram.com/2026/05/13/n...

I'm happy Becerra got a good housing plan out there: www.xavierbecerra2026.com/priorities/h... Now every major candidate has a solid housing platform. This was published late but it's nice to know whomever the Democratic nominee for Governor is, they are pro-housing. (Not an endorsement)

The added complexity also leads to more construction defects. Ask me how I know.

In 2023, Berkeley passed HARD HATS, a local law that raised labor standards for large construction projects. As part of that, acknowledging the impact it would have on construction costs, HARD HATS also called for reducing the city's development fees. However, that part hasn't happened. 2/

And we're done for the week! All of California YIMBY's new bills are through first house policy committees with minimal amendments: AB 2074, AB 1903, SB 1014, SB 1116, and SB 1117! @cayimby.bsky.social is a machine for passing pro-housing legislation. Let's revive the California Dream! 🏘️💪

Huge shout-out to Nolan and to my other colleagues featured here: Jordan Panana Carbajal, @muhammadspeaks.bsky.social, @maxdubler.com, and Brooke Pritchard!

It's appalling how many bad housing bills get proposed each year.

CONSTRUCTION DEFECT REFORM MOVES FORWARD TO APPROPRIATIONS!!

The great @muhammadspeaks.bsky.social testifying on behalf of AB 2074, which @cayimby.bsky.social is proud to co-sponsor! It's time to build housing and revive California's downtowns!

Scale of rentals you can build in NYC vs. scale of condos you can build. Mandatory Inclusionary Housing is leading to a city of tiny little shoebox rentals with 10-ft.-wide living rooms that you’ll have no chance of affording with kids or, god forbid, in retirement.

It is mindboggling that, in the face of climate change, increasing traffic, gas prices, and *everything else*, the California legislature's highest transpo priority this session is limiting the use of e-bikes. Genuinely a real possibility of the CA e-bike industry being regulated out of existence.

Indeed. While I’m very glad more death was avoided tonight…Trump is going to think it worked, and we are likely to see him try this again. Each time he tries, he gets closer to actually doing it. He has to be removed from power by Congress.

I think a lot about Lincoln's "House Divided" speech in the run-up to the Civil War. Though the context has changed, the underlying point remains: this nation cannot endure half democracy and half autocracy. If it doesn't become all of the former, it will become all of the latter.

“Canada’s experience suggests that America’s condo crisis is a policy choice, not an inevitability.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0... By @mnolangray.bsky.social and @muhammadspeaks.bsky.social

They're launching a Streetsblog SD !

Habitat for Humanity, California Building Industry Association, Housing Action Coalition, SPUR, and California YIMBY are all official co-sponsors for Construction Defect Reform. :-)

REVOLVING LOAN FUND!!!!!

Another awesome bill (AB 2074, Haney) -- high rises, union labor, and a state revolving loan fund. More to come: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTe...

yeah, in our case, I definitely get the vibe that the law firm our HOA hired was looking for things to litigate because 1) that's how they make money, and 2) that's how they can make their clients feel like it was all worth it.

This is a INCREDIBLY pro-housing bill. Passing this would completely unlock the condo market, making homeownership affordable for hundreds of thousands - maybe millions - of California families who can’t afford to buy today. Best bill of the year by a mile.

California’s Construction defect reform bill (AB 1903, Wicks) is live. It’s been a journey but we’re finally here. Please let me know if you have any questions: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTe...

A rare affordable beachfront mobile home park burned in the Palisades fires. Now it's being marketed to investors—and current zoning would replace hundreds of displaced residents with fewer than two dozen homes, per @muhammadspeaks.bsky.social laist.com/news/housing...

Plug in solar: yes on my balcony (or just as likely, in my back yard!) 🌞

Condo construction collapsed after 2008 and never recovered. Defect lawsuit exposure, stricter mortgage rules, and tax penalties on condo sales all contributed. Canada avoided the trap through presale financing and balanced defect laws. California is now attempting both.

If San Diego had safer bike lanes and better bike route mapping, I wouldn’t care about the price of gas at all.

Over the past 20 years, America has stopped building condos. Owing to a mix of restrictive financing and endless litigation, the path to urban homeownership has largely disapprared. In my latest for @theatlantic.com, @muhammadspeaks.bsky.social and I explain why. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Operation Breakthrough finally gets some limelight: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

The condo was America's last affordable path to homeownership. We've spent 15 years systematically destroying it at the state and federal levels. @mnolangray.bsky.social and I's new piece in @theatlantic.com on why — and how to fix it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

I wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post with Allie Cannington – at The Kelsey, a disability-forward affordable housing developer – about how America's elevator accessibility rules backfire for small buildings, and about how a clarification from HUD could fix it www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

revising my earlier imperative: give @muhammadspeaks.bsky.social a few million bucks for him to give to me bsky.app/profile/estu...

We need to figure out why underground power costs in the US are so high. Lower-income countries in Europe do it, why can’t we? First place I’d look is what our standards are for it and whether they require more overdimensioning than in Europe www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

I was too scared to do it. I’ll scope the area when I come back to get the best route down. Wish I didn’t have to do this!

If you leave it to local governments or the coastal commission, mobile home residents that lost their homes to the Palisades fire do not have a right to rebuild. Actually, over 200 people will be displaced to build about 20 brand new mansions. laist.com/news/housing...

Going to bike to San Diego airport tomorrow, will report back my experience.

It's condo time.

You'd better get your representatives' numbers on speed dial this session.

Construction defect reform, coming soon to California. :-)

OUT: evidence-based reforms IN: vibes-based reforms