SACRAMENTO — California state lawmakers are grappling with a particularly 21st-century problem: What to do with the growing number of shopping malls and big box retail stores left empty by consumers shifting their purchases to the web. A possible answer in crowded California cities is to build housing on these...
Fresno Hits Top 20 for ‘Boomerang’ Kids Living With Parents in New Study
The Fresno metro area has the 19th highest share of young adults living with their parents, according to a new study by nationwide storage space search website STORAGECafé. In addition to Fresno, three other Central Valley metro areas appear on the study's Top 20 list, where the incidence of 18- to 34-year-olds...
Fresno Homeless Housing Conversion a Model for the State, Mayor Says
With new amenities that include a community green space, pool, BBQs, laundry facilities, a business center, a gated entry, and 24-hour security, the site of the old 'Smuggler's Inn' is unrecognizable — in a good way. 'The remodel of these units, turning them into a place where a family, an individual...
Developer Seeks to Alleviate Concerns Over Shaw/Blackstone Housing Complex
Does a five-story affordable housing unit proposed in central Fresno reach too high? Residential neighbors in the area near Shaw and Blackstone avenues say they don't have a problem with affordable housing itself. But they are worried that the design of the building and the number of proposed units is...
City Unveils Newly Renovated Motel to House the Homeless
More residents will start moving into the renovated Welcome Inn — once part of Fresno's notorious "Motel Drive"— starting today. "We are here because we took advantage of the pandemic crisis that brought some resources to tackle this equally tragic crisis, the crisis that our most poor and our homeless have...
At $480,000 Per Unit, Affordable Housing Coming to Madera
Even with a $25 million price tag, a new housing complex that broke ground this week in Madera is considered affordable housing. The project is situated along Highway 99 near South Madera Avenue will offer 52 units. That averages to more than $480,000 a unit. "Unfortunately, whenever you hear low-income...
3 Counties Join Fresno in Backing Delay of Controversial VMT Law
Supervisors in Kings, Tulare, and Merced counties voted to align themselves with Fresno County on Tuesday. The boards in Fresno's neighboring counties agreed to back a two-year delay on implementing a controversial law — SB 743 — scheduled to take effect next month. Fresno County did the same on May...
Work Starts on Controversial $38M Affordable Housing Project. Supporters See It as a Model.
The groundbreaking for a $38 million dollar Fresno mixed-used affordable housing development included the usual elements of a celebratory affair — shovels, speeches, and building demolition. City leaders hope that the Blackstone & McKinley Transit Oriented Development (the builders promise a rebranded name) is the first of many more to...
Newsom Cheers Kaiser $25M Pledge to California Housing Fund
OAKLAND — Calling California's homeless crisis a public health issue, hospital giant Kaiser Permanente on Friday pledged $25 million to a new state fund aimed at getting people off the streets. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order last week creating what he proposes to be a $750 million fund...
Walters: California's Housing Crisis vs. Reality
As he was running for governor, Gavin Newsom repeatedly and emphatically promised to attack California’s housing shortage head-on, pledging in an online article to “lead the effort to develop the 3.5 million new housing units we need by 2025 because our solutions must be as bold as the problem is big.” During his...