Some California housing advocates are hoping that a new affordable housing law under consideration in the Legislature will help with the state’s housing shortage. Meanwhile, some local governments and other groups have rejected it as a solution.
San Francisco Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 79, called the “Abundant & Affordable Homes Near Transit Act,” would allow dense, low-income apartments and housing development next to single-family homes, as long as it is within one-half mile of a bus stop, or a proposed transit stop.
“California urgently needs to build more homes to bring down costs, and building them near transit provides our public transportation systems with an urgently needed infusion of new riders,” Wiener said in a statement on June 3. “This is an idea whose time has come.”…