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PLANNING WATCH - I only have one quarrel with the critiques of Trump II. They gloss over the two major sins of Democratic officials. In particular Democratic Party officials, like former President Biden, are not only complicit in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, but also the housing crisis, especially homelessness and overcrowding across the entire country, especially in California.
There is nothing new about this, and former UC Santa Barbara sociologist Harvey Molotch described failing housing markets like this:
“A frequently proffered remedy (to homelessness) is to exploit the so-called “law” of supply and demand. Put more units on the market to push prices down. Would that work? The case of Vancouver, Canada is instructive. To deal with its rapid housing price inflation, starting about 30 years ago, Vancouver okayed massive downtown high-rise and upped densities in residential areas. Akin to our ADU (accessory dwelling unit) program for second houses on the same lot, Vancouver encouraged so-called “alley houses” — and more. The result? Vancouver became second only to San Francisco as the continent’s least affordable city.”
If we add that most local officials are Democrats, the picture is complete. Having abandoned non-market public housing during the Nixon and Clinton administrations, the homeless policies of local Democratic officials then relied on two market solutions: upzoning and deregulation. Big surprise that this approach has been a colossal failure.
The commitment of Democratic officials to market solutions to homelessness – as opposed to public housing which the party supported from the 1930s through the early 1970s -- has increased homelessness. It also pleased their campaign supporters from the real estate sector because market solutions encouraged them to build luxury apartments, often next to homeless encampments. Since the rents in these buildings are expensive, vacancy rates are high. Pini Herman has written for CityWatchLA, explaining how developers of expensive apartments use shady companies to rent these vacant units, subdivide their bedrooms, and then illegally rent these mini-rooms to desperate tenants.
Homeless tents adjacent to new high-rent buildings in downtown Los Angeles.
This close connection between Democratic Party officials and real estate lobbyists is now in full display in Sacramento. Buffy Wicks, head of the Democratic majority in the California State Assembly, has released a list of 20 bills to fast track housing production in California. This legislation is divided into five categories:
- Application Process
- California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
- Entitlement process
- Post-entitlement process
- Legal Rights and Enforcement
These categories have the following in common:
- Many bills originated with California YIMBY, its affiliates like Abundant Housing LA, and its allied organizations, like the Housing Action Coalition. They are funded by realtors and Silicon Valley.
- The legislation aims to make housing more affordable by removing uncertainty and drastically diminishing the time it takes new housing to be approved and built. (In other words, gut local zoning and building codes.)
- California has a shortfall of 2.5 million homes and nearly 200,000 individuals experiencing homelessness. (in other words, ignore the debunking of the 2.5 million figure, the large number of people who work but who still cannot afford a place to live, and how overpriced housing causes Californians to exit the state.)
- Lawmakers are zeroing in on the systematic delays that stall progress on housing development. (In other words, ignore how deregulation raises the market value of land and therefore prices more people out of housing,)
- The Wicks press release argues that California’s housing crisis results from restrictive zoning laws and building codes. This spurious claim ignores studies that document many vacant houses and lots throughout California, especially in Los Angeles.
How do we explain this paradox of new apartments and growing numbers of homeless people? Adopted and proposed housing bills are a gift to builders of market housing. Their projects increase housing supply at the upper end, and therefore do not help the homeless. Even though many homeless people work, their incomes are not high enough to rent or buy the expensive luxury units flooding local housing markets, like LA’s. Furthermore, housing programs that incentivize contractors to build expensive housing do not lower the cost of existing housing. As a result, increasing numbers of homeless people cannot afford a place to live.
Recent and proposed housing legislation ensures that homeless and overcrowded people in California are priced out of existing and new housing because of its high prices. Even though some of these new housing units are supposed to be low-priced, according to Herman these units remain hidden, of if discovered, are still too expensive.
Voila. Homelessness increases because local Democratic Party officials offer homeless “solutions” that, in practice, raise the price of housing.
(Dick Platkin ([email protected]) is a retired LA city planner, who reports on local planning issues. He is a board member of United Neighborhoods for Los Angeles (UN4LA). Previous columns are available at the CityWatchLA archives.)
