July 25, 2025 Your Source for Brentwood News

Column: The Fantasy World of California Housing Policy

By Tom Elias

If you’re looking for sure things among bills under consideration in the state Legislature, think of one word: housing.

It’s not yet certain just which new housing measures will be proposed this year, but if the recent past is prologue, almost anything that includes new housing – permanent homes, tiny homes or temporary hotel and motel rooms for the homeless and new construction for other folks – will pass easily.

Some of that housing is needed, but there’s no hard evidence backing the state’s claims that 1.8 million new units must be built by the end of 2030 both to avert a disastrous rise in homelessness and fill the needs of first-time home buyers looking for something they can afford.

In fact, the state auditor last April reported that estimates of need from the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) are unreliable because they’re based on information inputted to state computers by workers who never vetted it at all. Devastating as this report should have been, it was completely ignored by both lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom; no one in any office that deals with housing said a single public word about it.

Instead, they keep leaning on the unproven assumption that HCD estimates are correct. Never mind that HCD’s current estimate of housing need is about 1.2 million units lower than five years ago, but only a fraction that many units have actually been built or converted from commercial space emptied by the COVID-19 pandemic.

So the same legislators who in 2021 passed bills known as SB 9 and SB10, which essentially ended single family zoning statewide and allow apartment building in many currently spacious neighborhoods, in 2022 passed a couple more densifying laws.

Newsom signed all these measure into law with no hesitance. He shares all the assumptions pushed by HCD’s so-called experts, despite their being found derelict by the auditor.

One of last year’s new bills is already useful. That’s a measure allowing conversion of empty office or big box space and some parking lots into housing without local approvals. It was high time folks in high places recognized the reality that many white collar workers sent home to work at the pandemic’s outset will only be back in their old offices once in awhile, if that often.

That’s why companies that still believe workers accomplish more when they’re crowded together are setting up gyms and private eateries to entice staffers to return.

Okay, one of four major new housing laws makes sense.

But last year’s other new law, allowing dense new housing to be built without parking spaces so long as it’s near mass transit, does not.

This one is based on the assumption that all residents of such new buildings will use the available mass transit and not keep or use their own cars and pickups.

Said Newsom while signing the measure, “Reducing housing costs (by omitting parking spaces) for everyday Californians and eliminating emissions from cars: That’s what we call a win-win.”

But this assumption has never panned out. Because light rail and express buses don’t reach every corner of California’s cities, folks without cars often are left to hoof it for miles when they get as close to their destinations as mass transit can take them.

Knowing this, most still drive. That’s borne out by the reality that transit use has not risen significantly even as thousands of new apartments and condominiums went up in cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento and Fresno.

Eliminating parking spaces in new buildings has already led to bidding wars for off-street parking in some areas around new buildings. There will be more of this, in addition to the ongoing frequent competition for on-street parking in and near those places.

That’s because everyone wants mobility. Newsom has not given up his, often riding in chauffeured vehicles escorted by local police and highway patrol motorcycles.

In short, this state’s housing policy operates in a kind of fantasy world first pushed by Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, whose plans to densify the state languished for years in legislative committees before Newsom began supporting and signing them.

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, “The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It” is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net

Related Posts

Jim Carrey’s Brentwood Mansion Finds Buyer After Price Cuts: REPORT

July 21, 2025

July 21, 2025

The 11,000-square-foot property, originally listed for $28.9 million in February 2023, went into contract last week Jim Carrey’s sprawling Brentwood...

County Offers $58M in Parks Grants, Hosts Info Session Wednesday

July 20, 2025

July 20, 2025

The grants aim to enhance park equity, access, and environmental benefits, with awards ranging from $100,000 to $4 million The...

(Photos) See Inside This $60M Holmby Hills Mansion Inspired by a Madrid Museum

July 20, 2025

July 20, 2025

Soaring 30-foot ceilings, adorned with 400-year-old Moorish columns and 16th-17th century Florentine carvings, greet visitors Nestled on the prestigious 133...

Historic Robert Taylor Ranch Goes on Market for $70M

July 20, 2025

July 20, 2025

The property, which constitutes more than 1% of Brentwood’s 15-square-mile area, is a rare gem in L.A.’s competitive real estate...

Nearly $1B Secured for Refinancing of Westfield Century City Mall

July 18, 2025

July 18, 2025

The proceeds will replace a $925 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan, originally issued by Morgan Stanley in 2023 and due...

Beverly Hills Plans Major Apartment Development Near Civic Center

July 14, 2025

July 14, 2025

The site, currently holding 13 residential units, is slated for demolition to make way for the new development A proposal...

Home of Douglas Emmett Realty Co-Founder Becomes Brentwood’s Priciest on Market: REPORT

July 13, 2025

July 13, 2025

The new listing surpasses Brentwood’s previous top-priced property at 11740 Crescenda Street, which is listed at $54.9 million A Brentwood...

LA Medical Center Seeks Help Identifying Unconscious Patient

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

He has been unconscious since admission, and staff have been unable to determine his identity Los Angeles General Medical Center,...

One Last Bite: La Novia Bids Farewell with Final Pop-Up at Cardinale du Vin

July 8, 2025

July 8, 2025

Inventive Latin-Asian Pop-up Serves Seasonal Small Plates for One-Night-Only La Novia, the pop-up kitchen known for its inventive Latin-Asian flavors,...

Governor Newsom Unveils Fast-Track Rebuilding Plan on Six-Month Anniversary of Palisades Fire

July 7, 2025

July 7, 2025

State Clears Over 5.5 Billion Pounds of Debris From Fires Ahead of Schedule Marking six months since the devastating Eaton...

Ben Affleck Allegedly Spotted House-Hunting in Brentwood Actor Tours Homes Near Ex-Wife

July 7, 2025

July 7, 2025

The Oscar Winner Was Seen Leaving His Office and Then Checking Out Luxury Listings Ben Affleck was seen appearing tense...

Bel Air and Holmby Hills Estates Lead May’s List of America’s Top 10 Home Sales

July 7, 2025

July 7, 2025

LA Claims Two of the Top Three Luxury Home Sales Last Month Breaking into the nine-figure range, a recently sold...

Michael Madsen, Star of Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, Dies at 67 in Malibu

July 4, 2025

July 4, 2025

Actor Remembered for His Intense Performances and as a Poet  Actor Michael Madsen, known for his distinctive gravelly voice and...

Pentagon Orders Troop Drawdown in LA: 150 National Guard Members Reassigned to Wildfire Duty

July 1, 2025

July 1, 2025

Federal Forces Begin Partial Withdrawal From Protest Response as California Leaders Push Back U.S. Northern Command announced Tuesday that 150...

The Westside Lights Up for July 4: Fireworks, Drone Shows, and Parades Return Across West Los Angeles

June 30, 2025

June 30, 2025

From Marina Del Rey’s Fireworks to Culver City’s 1980s-Themed Drone Show, Get Ready to Celebrate From fireworks over Marina del...