☆ Does Mahan's plan address the full sweep of the housing continuum?
Irene Smith of United Housing Alliance and John Fleischman of FlashReport explore if Mahan's housing plan actually considers the broad spectrum of issues that comprise our statewide housing crisis. An Opp Now exclusive.
IRENE SMITH, UNITED HOUSING ALLIANCE:
Housing requires an overarching strategy; it's not a one-size-fits-all. Housing is a continuum; you can think of it like a Ladder. We need an inclusive ladder strategy that addresses both the people on the ladder and the type of housing. From unhoused to seniors and from shelters to new developments. It's a juggling act to keep all the balls in the air without dropping one; that's where a strategy comes in handy.
The Mahan housing points are a good checklist but avoid a strategy. The plan also misdiagnoses the main barrier to new housing: the real choke point is not simply permits and process, a topic that has been hammered for years. Rather, it's the lack of funding for shovel‑ready projects:
Paying for union labor and rapidly escalating construction materials can only be addressed through more capital, more subsidies, and, increasingly, more direct government ownership of housing.
This raises concerns that deserve at least as much hand‑wringing as all the angst over the notorious BlackRock.
Most strikingly, the plan fails to grapple with the crisis in aging housing stock: owners and providers are postponing years of repairs as they are hit by spiraling costs—insurance spikes, steep utility hikes, rising property taxes with added bonds and fees, and now massive electrical conversion mandates. So while building, buying, and renting new homes is expensive, neglecting the “boring” ongoing costs of maintaining existing housing could cause even greater long‑term damage to the housing system. Because all of these costs -- eventually hit the new renter, the new owner, or the new developer.
In the end, the market decides, not permit approvals; a strategy uncovers the path forward. If it's easier and cheaper to build outside of CA, if it's easier to manage housing outside of CA, if it's easier to buy or rent outside of CA, then we will continue to question why we don't have enough housing -- when the answer is right over the state line.--Irene Smith, United Housing Alliance
JOHN FLEISCHMAN, EDITOR, FLASHREPORT:
California needs more housing of every kind — apartments, condominiums, townhomes, and single-family homes — built in cities, suburbs, and growing communities alike. Achieving that goal requires broad deregulation that lowers the cost of building homes across the entire housing market.
Targeted incentives for government-preferred development categories are unlikely to produce that outcome.
Mr. Mahan may present himself as a pragmatic reformer. But his housing proposal ultimately reinforces the same planning philosophy that has dominated California policy for decades.
Read more here.
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