CEQA
Blog
CalChamber “Job Killer” List Is One of the Few Watchdogs for Small Business
Most of the California business community is at the mercy of California’s progressive state legislature. It is easy to forget, especially with Silicon Valley pumping out inflated IPOs, that small businesses are the backbone of the economy. The U.S. Small Business Administration counts four million small business that call California ...
Evan Harris
September 23, 2020
Blog
SB 1410 Would Give Renters a Decade to Pay Rent
When Tim Anaya first told me about a California senate bill that would give renters who lost their jobs during the coronavirus shutdown until 2034 to pay back their rent, I thought I didn’t hear him right: “Did you say 2024?” (I thought four years was plenty.) But yes, dear readers, he said 2034. It’s no typo either. SB 1410 would force landlords to enter into a “rent stabilization agreement” with the tenant, and prohibits the landlord ...
Rowena Itchon
July 1, 2020
Blog
Coronavirus Chronicles: A Small Business Recession Could Turn into a Depression
Year to date, the Dow Index of the U.S.’s 30 largest companies is down 14 percent; the S&P 500, which tracks 500 large-cap companies, is down 8 percent; and the NASDAQ, an electronic system that trades many of the world’s fastest growing companies, is up more than 4 percent. Clearly, ...
Rowena Itchon
May 21, 2020
Blog
Instead of Spending Billions on Housing Affordability, Silicon Valley Should Demand CEQA Reform
Amid much fanfare, several Silicon Valley firms have announced plans to collectively contribute billions to “affordable housing” programs. Last month, Apple announced “a comprehensive $2.5 billion plan to help address the housing availability and affordability crisis in California.” Their plan includes “a $1 billion commitment to the state of California ...
Tim Anaya
December 4, 2019
California
Welcome to California
Building homes in California requires a significant investment of time, money, and other resources, leading many developers to avoid construction projects. But in northwest Los Angeles County, one builder has stayed the course since 1994. On completion in 2021, the 15,000-acre Newhall Ranch—billed as one of the world’s first large-scale ...
Kerry Jackson
July 8, 2019
Blog
Patricia is Short Because State Government Has Made California Unaffordable
At a recent congressional hearing, freshman Democrat Katie Porter from Orange County took to her soapbox to grill JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon about income inequality at the company. Using the example of Patricia, who is employed as a full-time, entry-level bank teller at JP Morgan Chase – admittedly ...
Tim Anaya
April 22, 2019
Blog
Rentonomics in California: It’s Worse than We Think
Right by the Bay has sounded the alarm on the affordable housing crisis, especially our colleague Kerry Jackson, who has written about it here, here, and here. But until we get real reform, like Sam in Casablanca, we plan to play it again and again. A new study by Apartment ...
Rowena Itchon
April 15, 2019
Blog
CEQA Show Hearing Gets California Nowhere
The state Senate held a joint informational hearing last month that, on the surface, looked to be a step forward for those who believe the California Environmental Quality Act needs reform, if not a top-to-bottom overhaul. But apparently the hearing was anything but an effort to fix the law that ...
Kerry Jackson
April 10, 2019
Blog
Why Buy A Modest Home in California for The Price of a Texas Mansion?
It can cost a half-million dollars more to build the same-size house in California as it does in Texas. The number of adults surprised by this is roughly zero. While California ranked no. 3 in new home construction in 2017, housing supply still lags far behind demand in the most ...
Kerry Jackson
March 27, 2019
Blog
Water, Water In The Desert, But Still None To Drink
A proposal to draw water from the desert to slake perpetually dry Southern California seems no closer to reality now than it did when the idea emerged well more than a decade ago. The project has, according to California Water News Daily, “received numerous validations of its plans, including its ...
Kerry Jackson
March 11, 2019
CalChamber “Job Killer” List Is One of the Few Watchdogs for Small Business
Most of the California business community is at the mercy of California’s progressive state legislature. It is easy to forget, especially with Silicon Valley pumping out inflated IPOs, that small businesses are the backbone of the economy. The U.S. Small Business Administration counts four million small business that call California ...
SB 1410 Would Give Renters a Decade to Pay Rent
When Tim Anaya first told me about a California senate bill that would give renters who lost their jobs during the coronavirus shutdown until 2034 to pay back their rent, I thought I didn’t hear him right: “Did you say 2024?” (I thought four years was plenty.) But yes, dear readers, he said 2034. It’s no typo either. SB 1410 would force landlords to enter into a “rent stabilization agreement” with the tenant, and prohibits the landlord ...
Coronavirus Chronicles: A Small Business Recession Could Turn into a Depression
Year to date, the Dow Index of the U.S.’s 30 largest companies is down 14 percent; the S&P 500, which tracks 500 large-cap companies, is down 8 percent; and the NASDAQ, an electronic system that trades many of the world’s fastest growing companies, is up more than 4 percent. Clearly, ...
Instead of Spending Billions on Housing Affordability, Silicon Valley Should Demand CEQA Reform
Amid much fanfare, several Silicon Valley firms have announced plans to collectively contribute billions to “affordable housing” programs. Last month, Apple announced “a comprehensive $2.5 billion plan to help address the housing availability and affordability crisis in California.” Their plan includes “a $1 billion commitment to the state of California ...
Welcome to California
Building homes in California requires a significant investment of time, money, and other resources, leading many developers to avoid construction projects. But in northwest Los Angeles County, one builder has stayed the course since 1994. On completion in 2021, the 15,000-acre Newhall Ranch—billed as one of the world’s first large-scale ...
Patricia is Short Because State Government Has Made California Unaffordable
At a recent congressional hearing, freshman Democrat Katie Porter from Orange County took to her soapbox to grill JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon about income inequality at the company. Using the example of Patricia, who is employed as a full-time, entry-level bank teller at JP Morgan Chase – admittedly ...
Rentonomics in California: It’s Worse than We Think
Right by the Bay has sounded the alarm on the affordable housing crisis, especially our colleague Kerry Jackson, who has written about it here, here, and here. But until we get real reform, like Sam in Casablanca, we plan to play it again and again. A new study by Apartment ...
CEQA Show Hearing Gets California Nowhere
The state Senate held a joint informational hearing last month that, on the surface, looked to be a step forward for those who believe the California Environmental Quality Act needs reform, if not a top-to-bottom overhaul. But apparently the hearing was anything but an effort to fix the law that ...
Why Buy A Modest Home in California for The Price of a Texas Mansion?
It can cost a half-million dollars more to build the same-size house in California as it does in Texas. The number of adults surprised by this is roughly zero. While California ranked no. 3 in new home construction in 2017, housing supply still lags far behind demand in the most ...
Water, Water In The Desert, But Still None To Drink
A proposal to draw water from the desert to slake perpetually dry Southern California seems no closer to reality now than it did when the idea emerged well more than a decade ago. The project has, according to California Water News Daily, “received numerous validations of its plans, including its ...