[alexasmyths]

There can nary be such a thing as a 'housing crises'.

California does not have one, in general.

If California municipalities 'don't want to enable building' because their residents don't want it ... well ... then they will have fewer people, probably higher housing costs and that's their choice.

If the 'average bay policeman' or whatever can't afford to buy a home for 100 miles - then the citizens of Cali are going to have to pay their cops more, or, those cops will go elsewhere.

It's a fairly fluid and competitive landscape - more so than most places on earth.

There's a high demand for living in some parts of Cali and it's going to be like that for a long time, even with some building it won't change.

It's a choice Californians seem to be making, it's their choice.

If town councils are arbitrarily messing things up against the will of the people - who want to see high rises everywhere ... well that's another story.

[Johnny555]

well ... then they will have fewer people

I don't think that part is true -- they'll still have more people, but those people will be doubling (or tripling) up in single family homes or (often illegal) in-law units, causing parking, traffic, infrastructure and other problems of increasing density in neighborhoods that were not designed for it.

I see that in a neighborhood I pass through on my way to work -- cars parked on sidewalks and front yards, and long lines of traffic at the only traffic light that leads out of the neighborhood.

[Decade]

In this era of ridiculously low voter participation, I don’t see the elections as being a great source of legitimacy.

Housing is even worse. Many of the people I interact with are immigrants, so they are blamed for the high prices, but they are unable to vote to fix it.

It’s the old homeowners who organize and produce fractionally higher voter turnouts, that turn elections their way. Especially local elections, that have the most impact on land use policy. A minority harm the majority because they vote more.

The good news is that YIMBYs are now organizing, too.[0] You can even make tax-deductible donations to bring lawsuits against local governments that violate state law by refusing to allow housing.[1]

[0] https://yimbyaction.org

[1] http://www.carlaef.org

[abhinavkulkarni]

Not a problem, sure California residents have this right of self determination. But then stop using my tax dollar to enable your rent seeking behavior (prop 13) and paying next to nothing towards local development (again, prop 13) while shifting that burden to the renter (higher rents being partly used to fund libraries, fire stations, etc. when really, your local taxes should have been paying for those, not my continually rising rent).

[emerged]

Is it too much to ask to have an ideal place to live at a price strictly enforced to be well below its market value but only if you happen to live there already?

[Qwertious]

/s?

[emerged]

Yes :)