News

Local companies are feeling the pinch of the Bay Area’s unprecedented housing situation and even paying to move talent and expertise away from our cities.

The Guardian reported that

“Zapier, an automation company founded in 2011, has announced that it is offering new recruits a hefty “de-location package” if they’re willing to move away from the Bay Area, an unusual perk that offers yet another sign of the worsening housing crisis in northern California.

Zapier, where all employees work remotely, recently announced that if current Bay Area residents were interested in improving their “family’s standard of living” by relocating, the firm would provide $10,000 in moving reimbursements. Since CEO Wade Foster posted about the package last week, the uptick in applicants has been dramatic, he said in an interview.”

Read the full story from The Guardian

On Wednesday, February 15th, approximately 40 residents of the Villages at Ironwood attended a presentation and Q&A by Steve Dunn of Steelwave. Steelwave answered a number of questions from the Ironwood residents. Those questions and responses are provided here.

While the city has not been actively proceeding, a plan based on the last proposal generated by the city has been created. It includes a layout for the entire property, along with a phased development plan. The group will be taking its plan to the city council to ask it to place the East Pleasanton Specific Plan on its priority action list for the coming year.

This article is another reminder that we have to be proactive if we don’t want careless developers dumping poorly planned projects in our community. Let’s prioritize planning together. We have to take control before we lose local control.

“California cities that are falling behind on housing production goals set by the state would be forced to remove some of their development restrictions under legislation from a Bay Area state senator.

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released new details in his bill, SB 35, Monday morning that would require cities to approve new housing in areas already zoned for high-density development provided developers set aside some units for low-income residents. The bill’s provisions would only apply in cities where growth isn’t keeping pace with housing production targets developed by the state every eight years that are designed to ensure California has enough homes for its growing population to live affordably.

Wiener, a former San Francisco supervisor, said California’s affordability crisis requires the state to involve itself more in housing development, which is primarily controlled by local governments.

‘Local control is about how a community achieves its housing goals, not whether it achieves those goals,” Wiener said in a statement. “SB 35 sets clear and reasonable standards to ensure that all communities are part of the solution by creating housing for our growing population.'”

CLICK HERE to learn more and let City Council know that you believe in the importance of carefully planned, amenity-rich communities!

Read the full story in the LA Times

On Thursday, November 18th, approximately 20 Pleasanton bicycle advocates attended a workshop to review and provide feedback on the East Pleasanton plan and proposed bike infrastructure.

Along with the slew of propositions on this week’s California ballot to legalize pot, do away with the death penalty and ban plastic bags, there were also measures of desperation: Bay Area voters were asked to perform a sort of electoral CPR on their gridlocked, high-priced and increasingly frenetic metropolis.

If there is anything that just about every Californian agrees with, it is that it costs too much to live in the state. Over the last few years, the price of buying a home or renting an apartment has become so burdensome that it pervades almost every issue, from the state’s elevated poverty rate to the debate about multimillion-dollar tear-downs to the lines of recreational vehicles parked on Silicon Valley side streets.

It’s an issue that divides Berkeley’s political landscape: How to solve the city’s housing crisis. And this year’s top mayoral candidates are as split as anyone on the subject. Should the city build, build, build — and hope rents drop as the supply of market-rate units increases? Or does Berkeley first need to help those at the bottom by investing in more affordable housing?

How can California increase the number of homes that people can afford? By giving more money to cities that build sufficient affordable housing, some said at a housing summit last week in Los Angeles. Or cutting off funding to those that don’t. Or by allowing developers to bypass the local process in cities and counties with insufficient affordable housing. Allowing single-family homeowners to build and rent out granny flats. And by streamlining the approval process for affordable housing projects.