Voters and elected officials adopt policies on assurances of beneficial impacts, but they often interact with other decrees to produce what are called “unintended consequences.” Redevelopment has been a classic example for nearly seven decades, and it may be on the verge of another twist. Redevelopment, authorized in the early...
What's Holding Up Start of $38M Affordable Housing Project?
The funding is in place. The permits are being lined up. Soon, Jake Lingo hopes to demolish a group of industrial buildings in central Fresno and start building a $38 million mixed-use project. A health clinic will be on the first floor. The remaining three stories will house 88 apartments,...
Walters: Newsom's Housing Deal Just a Baby Step
Every Californian should be aware by now that the state’s housing shortage not only causes personal angst for millions of the state’s residents, but is a key factor in its economic future. The latter was underscored last month in an analysis of the state’s employment picture by Christopher Thornberg, founder...
Single Family Zoning Could Disappear Under State Housing Bill
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers advanced a proposal Wednesday to spur more housing near transportation and jobs and make it easier to turn single-family homes into fourplexes as the state grapples with a lack of affordable housing. The measure, a compromise between two Democratic senators, sets different requirements for small and...
Newsom Teams With Fresno on New Affordable Housing Idea
Affordable housing developed in partnership with the state will be put on the fast track in Fresno and other cities under a plan unveiled Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The housing will be built on vacant state-owned properties, many of them belonging to Caltrans. “Housing is a basic human right,...
Newsom Hits Trump's White House Hard in Inaugural Speech
SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom was sworn in Monday and immediately drew sharp battle lines with President Donald Trump, pledging to enact "progressive, principled" policies as the antidote to the White House's "corruption and incompetence." "People's lives, freedom, security, the water we drink, the air we breathe — they...
Lt. Gov. Candidate Hernandez Talks ICE, Gas Tax & Affordable Housing
Ed Hernandez sees his 12 years in Sacramento as solid preparation for his run to be California's next lieutenant governor. The Democrat has spent the last decade in the state capital representing West Covina as both an assemblyman and state senator. Now, he is running for the state's No. 2 spot....
Housing Project Honors Sal Gonzales Sr.'s Inspiring Legacy
One hundred and thirty-five units of affordable housing are coming to southeast Fresno. Eighty-nine of the units will be for low-income families. Forty-six will be reserved for low-income seniors. There will be a computer lab, a recreation room, a community kitchen, a courtyard, a garden, a library, afterschool programs and...
Why Are So Many Homeless People on West Coast Streets?
One-quarter of homeless people in the U.S. live in California, despite Californians making up only 12 percent of the population. Not only is homelessness more common on the West Coast but it is also more visible, because a higher proportion of homeless people are unsheltered. In the U.S., 24 percent...
Nowhere to Go: Eviction Deadline for RV Park Residents is Here
The deadline for residents of Jack’s Resort RV Resort to vacate the place they call home has now arrived. But the tenants of the ramshackle RV park near Mendota don't know when or if they'll be thrown off the property, where they might go or whether any help is on the...