Bay Area Council Supports SB 50 to Address California’s Housing Crisis

The Bay Area Council issued the following statement in support of legislation (SB 50) announced today (Jan. 7) by state Sen. Scott Wiener and other housing leaders.

“The time for hand wringing about this housing crisis has long since passed,” said Matt Regan, Senior Vice President of the Bay Area Council. “The California legislature has passed a great many laws in recent years to protect tenants and preserve affordable housing, but unless we grasp the zoning nettle this problem is only going to get worse not better. California simply does not have enough land, zoned at the needed densities in the right places to meet the needs of our growing population. SB 50 is our chance to change that and will allow us to build more homes next to transit hubs and jobs centers. If we fail to act in 2020 we will continue to witness higher and higher housing prices and longer and longer commutes. We applaud Sen. Wiener for his great and determined leadership in working with many stakeholders to come up with a solution that can help California finally uncork the housing genie and help ease the housing affordability crisis for millions of residents.”