Considering CA's housing supply and affordability problems, CalMatters' Dan Walters suggests that proposed constitutional amendment ACA 10's grand promise—closing housing affordability gaps via guaranteeing residents the “right to housing”—would fall short of actual reform. He goes on to argue that the true architects of change are private investors, who must be persuaded via developer-friendly regulations to conduct business in the State. So, another vaguely worded new CA'n right may do no more than “virtue signal” or encourage frisky court battles (we're hearing echoes of Prop 1).

AB 2011, going into effect on July 1st, is expected to boost affordable housing commerical-to-residential conversions by fast-tracking approval and eliminating the potential for CEQA lawsuits. The LA Times' editorial board dissects AB 2011 and two other CA'n bills designed to make repurposing office space a more feasible project.

Techies aren't totally abandoning the Bay Area anytime soon, though mass layoffs continue wreaking havoc on residents at an avg of 3,000/month (as compared to 2022's 871/month). While the Silicon Valley still takes the top spot nationwide in venture-capital investments, other cities like Miami, New York, and Austin are starting to catch up, as the SV relinquishes more market share (and residents). The Washington Post breaks it down here.

In a 6.23 e-mailer, Reform California, summarizes why SJ's Housing First methodology is plain illogical: It's costly but doesn't actually combat homelessness, which is 50% more often associated with mental health/substance abuse issues than with economic displacement. The Bay Area needs other, creative, more holistic solutions to our homeless epidemic—not another tax hike to build more PSH.

Bay Area real estate broker Tony Xu is a board member at CA'ns for Equal Rights (CFER), the nonprofit that spearheaded the campaign against Prop 16 (which would have legalized race-based school admissions). In an Opp Now exclusive, Xu expresses that despite the Supreme Court's recent ruling against affirmative action, he expects CA universities to use workarounds to maintain discriminatory enrollment—until they're legally challenged.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gives colleges' speech codes one of three ratings: green (no suppression of free speech), yellow (ambiguous wording that could be used to suppress free speech), or red (clear structural suppression). Along with myriad public CA'n universities, San Jose State gets a dismal yellow for prohibiting “[bias]ed” conduct. But who exactly gets to define what a bias-related incident is (and could that in itself be one sided)?

San Jose's rent growth, at 1.7%/yr, has slowed down significantly since Covid. And it's not the only city seeing a downward trend in median apartment rent due to increased housing supply and weakened tenant demand, concocting an unusually competitive landscape for landlords. The WSJ's Will Parker breaks down how 2023's turn in the market is forcing property managers to more affordably list apartments.

Educational expert Larry Sand writes in Front Page Magazine that myriad organizations on the Left remain worried about public school libraries “banning” (read: not offering to students) books deemed as developmentally inappropriate. Sand suggests a creative solution to preserve parents' right to raise their kids, while averting censorship dilemmas entirely: an organization-run book rating system, à la the Motion Picture Association's film classifications.