Last year, I covered a legal dispute between a Carlsbad condo owner and his homeowners association over his right to turn his garage into an ADU. On Friday, a San Diego County judge ruled for HOA. (reposting with the right link this time!) calmatters.org/housing/2026...

Last year, I covered a legal dispute between a Carlsbad condo owner and his homeowners association over his right to turn his garage into an ADU. On Friday, a San Diego County judge ruled for HOA. lnkd.in/gsdf7qnz

The Takes giveth and the Takes taketh away.

AB 2166, part of a new package of bills aimed at boosting factory-built housing, represents (as far as I can tell) a first-of-its-kind policy idea for this state — and maybe any state. It would have taxpayers backstop construction insurance contracts. calmatters.org/housing/2026...

If you squint at this chart you can just make out the modest uptick in Meta's California lobbying spend in 2025 calmatters.org/politics/202...

Confirming my scoop from last week, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced this deal with TotalEnergies today. Story w/ @bradplumer.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/c...

Scott Wiener is known for being unusually good at passing bills and for his focus on housing policy, especially land use and permitting issues. Congress isn't known for either. My story on why California’s most prolific YIMBY lawmaker still wants to run for Congress calmatters.org/housing/2026...

really just overwhelmingly shaken by the bravery of these women to tell their stories, despite it all. plus the careful & brave investigation by these reporters www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/u...

oh. calmatters.org/housing/home...

Get thee behind me, Satan

There are nearly 40k “near construction” affordable units stuck in financial purgatory, according to a new report. California has seen gridlock in affordable housing production before, but the precise location of the traffic jam has changed over time. calmatters.org/housing/2026...

An especially happy first night of Daylight Savings Time to the manufacturers of child-grade melatonin gummies.

"Put succinctly: The sale of an apartment costing more than half a million dollars seems to have created a vacancy at a homeless shelter." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

The report from the State Fire Marshal stresses that IF state legislators want to raise the single stair maximum, they should go no higher than four stories. Meanwhile, @votealexlee.bsky.social has a spot bill to allow single-stair apts "with 4 or more stories." calmatters.org/housing/2026...

Two months past its statutory deadline, the state fire marshal's assessment of single-stair regulations, is now live! (Reposting with a url that hopefully actually works this time; thanks @annepaulson.bsky.social) 34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calf...

A federal program providing housing assistance to more than 900 San Francisco households will expire sooner than expected. While the city has proposed a transition plan, families say they have little clarity, or control, over what comes next. www.sfpublicpress.org/im-going-to-...

Asm. Alex Lee, who passed California's single-stair study bill in 2024, has a spot (placeholder) bill, AB 2252, to enact the reform. The state fire marshal was supposed to release their single-stair report almost two months ago, but has not. leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNa...

Took a little detour from my typical housing policy coverage to work on this story with @gauchoesque.bsky.social about the tension between California's ambitious climate/decarbonization goals and our punishingly high electricity prices. calmatters.org/environment/...

Congrats to BART rider and Oakland legend Alysa Liu on winning a gold medal at the Olympics and making the Bay Area proud!

Redlining across Los Angeles predicts bird segregation half a century later! Racial segregation is for the birds.

For a possible story...Do I have any homeowners following me who have recently installed a heat pump (or seriously looked into doing so and then opted not to)?

Is this going to be the Year of the Housing Factory in California? calmatters.org/housing/2026...

"I am very tired, very stomachy & hate nearly the whole world" is almost, verbatim, something my four-year-old says on a regular basis.

"By withdrawing its own so-called 'endangerment finding,' the EPA is abandoning its justification for federal tailpipe standards, power plant rules and fuel economy regulations. California...is expected to sue over the decision." calmatters.org/environment/...

In 2023, the state's fire marshal was tasked with putting together a report with recommendations on if/how the state should change its building code to allow for taller single stair apartments. The deadline was Jan. 1. Still waiting... calmatters.org/housing/2026...

I appreciate the journalistic effort here, but don't let Newsom off easy here. We need PRAs. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

ah yes, this old chestnut: "The latest push to become a charter city was started by a coalition of Atherton residents working on the town’s housing element, hoping to avoid some housing requirements imposed by the state." www.almanacnews.com/atherton/202...

Measure ULA* is here to stay for now. And so our state once again turns its eyes to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association... calmatters.org/housing/2026...

Sometimes it takes a bit for national (or really, any) media to catch up with a story but now the New York Times is noting the video did not show Alex Pretti brandishing a gun as ICE has claimed. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...

L.A. politicians tried to stop SB 79, a state law allowing more apartments near transit stops. It passed anyway. But L.A. leaders aren't done fighting. Today the L.A. Metro Board of Directors voted to oppose local implementation. More details in my @laist.com story:

This morning Gov. Newsom is announcing the release of $419 million for local homelessness programming, funded back in 2024. But in the coming months, the Legislature will be fighting over the NEXT round of HHAP funding — and on the conditions that will come with it. calmatters.org/housing/home...

Gov. Gavin Newsom has threatened many times to withhold state homelessness funds from cities and counties that aren’t doing enough to get people off the streets. This year, those threats seem more real than ever. bit.ly/3Ljqu0l 📸 Jungho Kim

Holy hell, what an obituary

In a virtual press conference with affordable housing groups, @buffywicks.bsky.social: "I have been, since I got into the Legislature in 2018, almost a crazy woman when it comes to housing."

"Among the state’s 10 largest cities, only Los Angeles and San Francisco have wholly separate building and planning departments." Didn't know that! missionlocal.org/2026/01/s-f-...

An unlikely meeting of the minds of two political foes who, in a race to head off the electorate’s concerns about affordability, have landed upon the same populist message.

Gavin Newsom will go after Big Landlord in Thursday's State of the State address, report @frombenc.bsky.social and @jeannereporter.bsky.social:

Former reality television personality Spencer Pratt announced from the stage of a protest on the one-year anniversary of the LA wildfires that he’s running for mayor of Los Angeles. He didn’t take questions but I asked him if he actually submitted paperwork and he showed me

Horseshoe theory something something

“It turns out that mostly when people say ‘New York is noisy’ they really mean ‘cars are noisy.’” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I wonder if this is a phenomenon outside oil and gas where you find politicians taking, say, an anti-regulatory posture that may not be embraced by all, even most, members of the regulated industry. Literally not pro-business, but a pro-businessism aesthetic with a political signaling function.

Yes, as a nation we are bad at bringing up our children and the childless amongst us treat their dogs like the children they would bring up badly if they had them.

🧵 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...

Sold razor blades to John Cleese while working as a drug store cashier in high school.

You are not going to believe how much I had to go out-of-pocket for targeted crab massage to treat my acute tummy ache (the doctor didn’t even wash her hands before administering!) But that’s American healthcare for you smh

Horrific www.nytimes.com/interactive/...