Housing Advocates Call This Big Plot of San José Land the Most Important in a Century
Tiny Homes, Big Ambitions: Matt Mahan’s Run for Governor Spotlights His Shelter Strategy
YIMBY Groups Sue San Francisco, Arguing Upzoning Doesn’t Go Far Enough
San José Mayor Matt Mahan Wants to Be Governor. Here’s a Look Into His Signature Homelessness Program
San Francisco Opens Homeless Shelter for People Forced to Move During Super Bowl
These Fees Make Affordable Housing More Expensive. Developers Want to Slash Them
San José’s Batman, Fighting for the Unhoused, Is the Real Life Superhero ‘We Need’
California’s Cost of Living Keeps Climbing — How Are You Coping?
Tenants ‘Crushed’ After California Renter Protections Bill Stalls in the Legislature
Sponsored
Player sponsored by
window.__IS_SSR__=true
window.__INITIAL_STATE__={
"attachmentsReducer": {
"audio_0": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_0",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background0.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_1": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_1",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background1.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_2": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_2",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background2.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_3": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_3",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background3.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_4": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_4",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background4.jpg"
}
}
},
"placeholder": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "placeholder",
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-768x512.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 512,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"small": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 32,
"height": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 50,
"height": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 64,
"height": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 96,
"height": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 128,
"height": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
}
},
"news_12074331": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_12074331",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12074331",
"found": true
},
"title": "260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-12-BL-KQED",
"publishDate": 1771893289,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1771893324,
"caption": "An open grassy area at the former Pleasant Hills Golf Course in San José on Feb. 23, 2026. The golf course closed in 2018, and the site has since been the focus of redevelopment proposals that include housing and open space. Some neighbors are worried that increasing density will cause traffic congestion and destroy the character of the neighborhood.",
"credit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-12-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-12-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-12-BL-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-12-BL-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"npr-cds-wide": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-12-BL-KQED-1200x675.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"height": 675,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-12-BL-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"fetchFailed": false,
"isLoading": false
},
"news_12072538": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_12072538",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12072538",
"found": true
},
"title": "020526SJ TINY HOMES_GH_025-KQED",
"publishDate": 1770338954,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1770772416,
"caption": "Construction workers continue building units at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. The interim housing site is expected to house up to 200 people.",
"credit": "Gustavo Hernandez/KQED",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"npr-cds-wide": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED-1200x675.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"height": 675,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"fetchFailed": false,
"isLoading": false
},
"news_12073370": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_12073370",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12073370",
"found": true
},
"title": "250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed",
"publishDate": 1770935618,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 12073193,
"modified": 1770935643,
"caption": "Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving Street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025.",
"credit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"npr-cds-wide": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1200x675.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"height": 675,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"fetchFailed": false,
"isLoading": false
},
"news_12072669": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_12072669",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12072669",
"found": true
},
"title": "020526SJ Tiny Homes_GH_009_qed",
"publishDate": 1770411705,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 12072666,
"modified": 1770411737,
"caption": "San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan tours a completed unit at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San Jose.",
"credit": "KQED/Gustavo Hernandez",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-Tiny-Homes_GH_009_qed-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-Tiny-Homes_GH_009_qed-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-Tiny-Homes_GH_009_qed-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-Tiny-Homes_GH_009_qed-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"npr-cds-wide": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-Tiny-Homes_GH_009_qed-1200x675.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"height": 675,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-Tiny-Homes_GH_009_qed.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"fetchFailed": false,
"isLoading": false
},
"news_12072184": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_12072184",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12072184",
"found": true
},
"title": "020226SUPER BOWL HOMELESSNESS _GH_007-KQED",
"publishDate": 1770167025,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1770167061,
"caption": "Rows of cots fill the sanctuary at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church as the Gubbio Project temporarily provides overnight shelter on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. The program normally offers daytime rest without barriers to entry.",
"credit": "Gustavo Hernandez/KQED",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_007-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_007-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_007-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_007-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"npr-cds-wide": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_007-KQED-1200x675.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"height": 675,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_007-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"fetchFailed": false,
"isLoading": false
},
"news_12044984": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_12044984",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12044984",
"found": true
},
"title": "250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-19-BL-KQED",
"publishDate": 1750284868,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1769123881,
"caption": "Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Ave. in San Francisco on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments.",
"credit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-19-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-19-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-19-BL-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-19-BL-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-19-BL-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"fetchFailed": false,
"isLoading": false
},
"news_12053071": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_12053071",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12053071",
"found": true
},
"title": "250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-15-KQED",
"publishDate": 1755725352,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1768499602,
"caption": "With bottles of water in hand, the Batman of San José prepares to distribute supplies in San Jose on Aug. 13, 2025.",
"credit": "Gustavo Hernandez/KQED",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-15-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-15-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-15-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-15-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-15-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"fetchFailed": false,
"isLoading": false
},
"news_12069610": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_12069610",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12069610",
"found": true
},
"title": "019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed",
"publishDate": 1768346179,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 12069608,
"modified": 1768346190,
"caption": "Cynthia Osorio-Hernandez walks with her family on the street in front of her home in Richmond on Aug. 16, 2022.",
"credit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"npr-cds-wide": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed-1200x675.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"height": 675,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"fetchFailed": false,
"isLoading": false
},
"news_12069623": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_12069623",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12069623",
"found": true
},
"title": "IMG_9694.JPG_qed",
"publishDate": 1768347546,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 12069513,
"modified": 1768353535,
"caption": "A crowd gathered on El Camino Real to demand that the Redwood City City Council limit evictions and rent hikes on Oct. 1, 2015. The cost of housing is transforming the city, which was once known for its relative affordability compared to neighboring cities in the Peninsula.",
"credit": "Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9694.JPG_qed-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9694.JPG_qed-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9694.JPG_qed-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9694.JPG_qed-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"npr-cds-wide": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9694.JPG_qed-1200x675.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"height": 675,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9694.JPG_qed.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"fetchFailed": false,
"isLoading": false
}
},
"audioPlayerReducer": {
"postId": "stream_live",
"isPaused": true,
"isPlaying": false,
"pfsActive": false,
"pledgeModalIsOpen": true,
"playerDrawerIsOpen": false
},
"authorsReducer": {
"gmarzorati": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "227",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "227",
"found": true
},
"name": "Guy Marzorati",
"firstName": "Guy",
"lastName": "Marzorati",
"slug": "gmarzorati",
"email": "gmarzorati@KQED.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Correspondent",
"bio": "Guy Marzorati is a correspondent on KQED's California Politics and Government Desk, based in San Jose. A graduate of Santa Clara University, Guy joined KQED in 2013. He reports on state and local politics and produces KQED's digital voter guide.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e7038b8dbfd55b104369b76b1cd0b9de?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "guymarzorati",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "elections",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Guy Marzorati | KQED",
"description": "Correspondent",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e7038b8dbfd55b104369b76b1cd0b9de?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e7038b8dbfd55b104369b76b1cd0b9de?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/gmarzorati"
},
"kqed": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "236",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "236",
"found": true
},
"name": "KQED News Staff",
"firstName": "KQED News Staff",
"lastName": null,
"slug": "kqed",
"email": "faq@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": null,
"bio": null,
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ef0e801a68c4c54afa9180db14084167?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "futureofyou",
"roles": [
"author"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "KQED News Staff | KQED",
"description": null,
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ef0e801a68c4c54afa9180db14084167?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ef0e801a68c4c54afa9180db14084167?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/kqed"
},
"ecruzguevarra": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "8654",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "8654",
"found": true
},
"name": "Ericka Cruz Guevarra",
"firstName": "Ericka",
"lastName": "Cruz Guevarra",
"slug": "ecruzguevarra",
"email": "ecruzguevarra@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Producer, The Bay Podcast",
"bio": "Ericka Cruz Guevarra is host of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/thebay\">\u003cem>The Bay\u003c/em>\u003c/a> podcast at KQED. Before host, she was the show’s producer. Her work in that capacity includes a three-part reported series on policing in Vallejo, which won a 2020 excellence in journalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Ericka has worked as a breaking news reporter at Oregon Public Broadcasting, helped produce the Code Switch podcast, and was KQED’s inaugural Raul Ramirez Diversity Fund intern. She’s also an alumna of NPR’s Next Generation Radio program. Send her an email if you have strong feelings about whether Fairfield and Suisun City are the Bay. Ericka is represented by SAG-AFTRA.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/25e5ab8d3d53fad2dcc7bb2b5c506b1a?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "NotoriousECG",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor",
"manage_categories"
]
},
{
"site": "futureofyou",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Ericka Cruz Guevarra | KQED",
"description": "Producer, The Bay Podcast",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/25e5ab8d3d53fad2dcc7bb2b5c506b1a?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/25e5ab8d3d53fad2dcc7bb2b5c506b1a?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/ecruzguevarra"
},
"amontecillo": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11649",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11649",
"found": true
},
"name": "Alan Montecillo",
"firstName": "Alan",
"lastName": "Montecillo",
"slug": "amontecillo",
"email": "amontecillo@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": "Alan Montecillo is the senior editor of \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/thebay\">The Bay\u003c/a>, \u003c/em> KQED's local news podcast. Before moving to the Bay Area, he worked as a senior talk show producer for WILL in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois and at Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland, Oregon. He has won journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California, the Public Media Journalists Association, The Signal Awards, and has also received a regional Edward R. Murrow award. Alan is a Filipino American from Hong Kong and a graduate of Reed College.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d5e4e7a76481969ccba76f4e2b5ccabc?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "alanmontecillo",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor",
"manage_categories"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Alan Montecillo | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d5e4e7a76481969ccba76f4e2b5ccabc?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d5e4e7a76481969ccba76f4e2b5ccabc?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/amontecillo"
},
"abandlamudi": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11672",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11672",
"found": true
},
"name": "Adhiti Bandlamudi",
"firstName": "Adhiti",
"lastName": "Bandlamudi",
"slug": "abandlamudi",
"email": "abandlamudi@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Housing Reporter",
"bio": "Adhiti Bandlamudi reports for KQED's Housing desk. She focuses on how housing gets built across the Bay Area. Before joining KQED in 2020, she reported for WUNC in Durham, North Carolina, WABE in Atlanta, Georgia and Capital Public Radio in Sacramento. In 2017, she was awarded a Kroc Fellowship at NPR where she reported on everything from sprinkles to the Golden State Killer's arrest. When she's not reporting, she's baking new recipes in her kitchen or watching movies with friends and family. She's originally from Georgia and has strong opinions about Great British Bake Off.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/868129c8b257bb99a3500e2c86a65400?s=600&d=mm&r=g",
"twitter": "oddity_adhiti",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"author"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"author"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Adhiti Bandlamudi | KQED",
"description": "KQED Housing Reporter",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/868129c8b257bb99a3500e2c86a65400?s=600&d=mm&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/868129c8b257bb99a3500e2c86a65400?s=600&d=mm&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/abandlamudi"
},
"jessicakariisa": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11831",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11831",
"found": true
},
"name": "Jessica Kariisa",
"firstName": "Jessica",
"lastName": "Kariisa",
"slug": "jessicakariisa",
"email": "jkariisa@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Producer, The Bay",
"bio": "Jessica Kariisa is the producer of The Bay. She first joined KQED as an intern for The California Report Magazine, after which she became an on-call producer. She reported a Bay Curious episode on the use of rap lyrics in criminal trials which won a Society of Professional Journalists award in 2023 for Excellence in Features Journalism and the 2023 Signal Award for Best Conversation Starter. She’s worked on podcasts for Snap Judgment and American Public Media. Before embarking on her audio career, she was a music journalist.\r\n\r\nJessica Kariisa is represented by SAG-AFTRA.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4afd355fd24f5515aeab77fd6c72b671?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"author"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor",
"manage_categories"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Jessica Kariisa | KQED",
"description": "Producer, The Bay",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4afd355fd24f5515aeab77fd6c72b671?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4afd355fd24f5515aeab77fd6c72b671?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/jessicakariisa"
},
"sjohnson": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11840",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11840",
"found": true
},
"name": "Sydney Johnson",
"firstName": "Sydney",
"lastName": "Johnson",
"slug": "sjohnson",
"email": "sjohnson@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Reporter",
"bio": "Sydney Johnson is a general assignment reporter at KQED. She previously reported on public health and city government at the San Francisco Examiner, and before that, she covered statewide education policy for EdSource. Her reporting has won multiple local, state and national awards. Sydney is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and lives in San Francisco.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "sydneyfjohnson",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Sydney Johnson | KQED",
"description": "KQED Reporter",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/sjohnson"
},
"jgeha": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11906",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11906",
"found": true
},
"name": "Joseph Geha",
"firstName": "Joseph",
"lastName": "Geha",
"slug": "jgeha",
"email": "jgeha@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news",
"science"
],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": null,
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/06334764312afacae9c3d6cd48fd9fd7?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"author"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Joseph Geha | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/06334764312afacae9c3d6cd48fd9fd7?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/06334764312afacae9c3d6cd48fd9fd7?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/jgeha"
},
"sprabha": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11976",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11976",
"found": true
},
"name": "Srishti Prabha",
"firstName": "Srishti",
"lastName": "Prabha",
"slug": "sprabha",
"email": "sprabha@KQED.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": null,
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b43fc7b79ceee6fb1a0daf698cc4c915?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Srishti Prabha | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b43fc7b79ceee6fb1a0daf698cc4c915?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b43fc7b79ceee6fb1a0daf698cc4c915?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/sprabha"
}
},
"breakingNewsReducer": {},
"pagesReducer": {},
"postsReducer": {
"stream_live": {
"type": "live",
"id": "stream_live",
"audioUrl": "https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio",
"title": "Live Stream",
"excerpt": "Live Stream information currently unavailable.",
"link": "/radio",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "KQED Live",
"link": "/"
}
},
"stream_kqedNewscast": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "stream_kqedNewscast",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1",
"title": "KQED Newscast",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "88.5 FM",
"link": "/"
}
},
"news_12074738": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_12074738",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12074738",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1772208030000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "housing-advocates-call-this-big-plot-of-san-jose-land-the-most-important-in-a-century",
"title": "Housing Advocates Call This Big Plot of San José Land the Most Important in a Century",
"publishDate": 1772208030,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Housing Advocates Call This Big Plot of San José Land the Most Important in a Century | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Whether the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a>’s biggest city can meet its lofty housing goals to help cool a red-hot affordability crisis in the coming years could hinge on the fate of a former golf course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Housing advocates say the 113-acre former Pleasant Hills Golf Course in East San José, a huge plot of open land that shuttered in 2004, has the potential to become a thriving new neighborhood with several thousand homes or more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But neighbors and some city officials are not as keen to stack the site so densely over concerns about worsening traffic congestion and maintaining the area’s character.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San José is still way behind. It’s way behind on its housing, and it’s way behind on its thinking about what development should look like,” said Alex Shoor, the executive director of Catalyze SV, a pro-housing group in Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We either build a lot of housing on this site, and we’re actually serious about solving the housing crisis, or we have elected officials and civic leaders who continue to pay lip service to housing while doing nowhere near enough to solve the real issues,” Shoor said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José could make a big dent in its state-mandated housing target to create 62,200 homes between 2023 and 2031 — a goal it is presently not on pace to meet — if it takes a full swing on the former course and pushes for roughly 6,000 homes, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pedestrian walks by a sign reading “Notice of Development Proposal” covered in graffiti at the site of the former Pleasant Hills Golf Course in San José on Feb. 23, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Like much of the Bay Area, San José doesn’t have many large tracts of developable land left in its urban areas, making the golf course all the more appealing to housing advocates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This development should be a walkable, dense, vibrant neighborhood where shops, workplaces and housing and recreation space should all be next to each other. That is how centuries of housing and communities have been built. And it is how you create the most safe, sustainable and dynamic neighborhoods,” Shoor said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The course opened in 1960 and closed in 2004, according to the city. The family that owns the land said it shut down due to rising costs and changing interests, \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-officials-want-denser-housing-on-former-golf-course/\">San José Spotlight\u003c/a> reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A proposal from Mark Lazzarini and Tony Arreola, two prominent South Bay real estate investors, initially contemplated about 1,700 homes, largely plotted out as single-family homes or townhomes, but was reworked to propose 2,000 homes in recent months, after city planning staff urged the pair to boost the density as high as 2,850 homes.[aside postID=news_12069836 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-08-KQED.jpg']City planners have also said the project should include a significant number of affordable homes, commercial space and park or open space, and provide easier connections to the nearby Eastridge Transit Center and Lake Cunningham.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some neighbors worry the city is being too prescriptive about what the developer should build.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robert Reese, a leader of the District Eight Community Roundtable, which represents several neighborhood associations in the area, said the project needs to be consistent with the existing single-family home communities in the area. He pointed to city studies that show denser mid-rise projects often don’t pencil out for developers under current market conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reese said Shoor and a group of like-minded community organizations calling for very dense housing on the land are oversimplifying a complex situation. A more realistic project, in his view, should be in the realm of 1,300 or 1,700 homes, on the high end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s one thing to have capacity, but we need to have something actually get built,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the [San José City] Council is going to have to be focused on whether they want a chicken in the pot or turkey in the bush,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The site, while fully bounded by the city of San José, is currently an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County, and the county’s housing goals imagine the potential for up to 2,850 homes on the site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074333\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-18-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-18-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-18-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-18-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An open grassy area at the former Pleasant Hills Golf Course in San José on Feb. 23, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If it were to be developed, City Planning Director Chris Burton said the property would need to be annexed into the city, and it’s not yet clear how the city and the county would divvy up the housing totals toward their respective targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not very often we get 110 acres,” Burton said. “Obviously, the market wants to drive to feasibility, which at this moment in time tends to be at lower densities. Certainly, the neighborhood is concerned about the impacts of more units in the area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he also noted that market conditions that determine financing for housing projects can shift, and any large project on the site would take many years to build, in phases.[aside postID=news_12069608 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed.jpg']“From a city perspective, we really don’t see the future of building out the city around single-family homes and lower densities. We’ve got to continue to maximize opportunity to add,” he said. “But in a process like this, we have to balance all of those interests.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Converting golf courses and sprawling private recreational spaces into havens of housing and retail is not a new idea, particularly in places where development tends to happen as infill in small pockets. But like in San José, some communities oppose the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just over the border from San José in Santa Clara, developers are planning \u003ca href=\"https://www.santaclaraca.gov/Home/Components/BusinessDirectory/BusinessDirectory/531/2495?npage=4\">316 apartments\u003c/a> on a portion of the popular nine-hole Pruneridge Golf Course, which already has older housing stock woven into it. That project doesn’t plan to replace the course, but will require a reconfiguration of three holes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Brentwood in the East Bay, voters overwhelmingly chose in a 2022 ballot measure to restrict potential developments across several golf course properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in San Diego, a developer is working to replace the Riverwalk Golf Club with 4,300 residential units, more than 150,000 square feet of retail space and 1 million square feet of office space, plus nearly 100 acres of green space, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/10/28/riverwalk-developer-secures-380m-resumes-construction-on-mission-valley-project/\">The San Diego Union-Tribune\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San José, the Pleasant Hills Golf Course proposal is still undergoing environmental review. A formal vote to greenlight a final version of the project isn’t likely to happen this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074330\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12074330 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-09-BL-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An open grassy area at the former Pleasant Hills Golf Course in San José on Feb. 23, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>District 8 City Councilmember Domingo Candelas, who represents the area where the land sits, said there are still many questions to be answered, and declined to say how big or dense the project should be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I firmly believe we’re not going to solve our housing crisis with this single project,” Candelas said. “I remain fully committed to finding a thoughtful, responsible solution that addresses this crisis while protecting the quality of life of our neighborhoods and of our neighbors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shoor said the housing crisis in Silicon Valley — with average homes in San José valued at roughly $1.4 million — and the Bay Area needs to be treated with more urgency by officials around the region, and compared the situation to California’s drought cycles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we don’t build enough housing on Pleasant Hills, it’s like we’re in a drought, and we say, ‘One day of rain will be OK. If we just get a day of rainfall, we’ll get back to where we need to go,’” Shoor said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we need is a rainstorm of housing,” he said. “We need a deluge of new housing to provide for the people who are already here, the people growing up here, the people that are trying to move back here, and the new immigrants who deserve to be here, as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Some neighbors are worried that increasing density will cause traffic congestion and destroy the character of the neighborhood.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1772154055,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 31,
"wordCount": 1441
},
"headData": {
"title": "Housing Advocates Call This Big Plot of San José Land the Most Important in a Century | KQED",
"description": "Some neighbors are worried that increasing density will cause traffic congestion and destroy the character of the neighborhood.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Housing Advocates Call This Big Plot of San José Land the Most Important in a Century",
"datePublished": "2026-02-27T08:00:30-08:00",
"dateModified": "2026-02-26T17:00:55-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 6266,
"slug": "housing",
"name": "Housing"
},
"sticky": false,
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/12074738/housing-advocates-call-this-big-plot-of-san-jose-land-the-most-important-in-a-century",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Whether the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a>’s biggest city can meet its lofty housing goals to help cool a red-hot affordability crisis in the coming years could hinge on the fate of a former golf course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Housing advocates say the 113-acre former Pleasant Hills Golf Course in East San José, a huge plot of open land that shuttered in 2004, has the potential to become a thriving new neighborhood with several thousand homes or more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But neighbors and some city officials are not as keen to stack the site so densely over concerns about worsening traffic congestion and maintaining the area’s character.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San José is still way behind. It’s way behind on its housing, and it’s way behind on its thinking about what development should look like,” said Alex Shoor, the executive director of Catalyze SV, a pro-housing group in Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We either build a lot of housing on this site, and we’re actually serious about solving the housing crisis, or we have elected officials and civic leaders who continue to pay lip service to housing while doing nowhere near enough to solve the real issues,” Shoor said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José could make a big dent in its state-mandated housing target to create 62,200 homes between 2023 and 2031 — a goal it is presently not on pace to meet — if it takes a full swing on the former course and pushes for roughly 6,000 homes, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pedestrian walks by a sign reading “Notice of Development Proposal” covered in graffiti at the site of the former Pleasant Hills Golf Course in San José on Feb. 23, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Like much of the Bay Area, San José doesn’t have many large tracts of developable land left in its urban areas, making the golf course all the more appealing to housing advocates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This development should be a walkable, dense, vibrant neighborhood where shops, workplaces and housing and recreation space should all be next to each other. That is how centuries of housing and communities have been built. And it is how you create the most safe, sustainable and dynamic neighborhoods,” Shoor said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The course opened in 1960 and closed in 2004, according to the city. The family that owns the land said it shut down due to rising costs and changing interests, \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-officials-want-denser-housing-on-former-golf-course/\">San José Spotlight\u003c/a> reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A proposal from Mark Lazzarini and Tony Arreola, two prominent South Bay real estate investors, initially contemplated about 1,700 homes, largely plotted out as single-family homes or townhomes, but was reworked to propose 2,000 homes in recent months, after city planning staff urged the pair to boost the density as high as 2,850 homes.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12069836",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/251208-DOWNTOWN-WEST-MD-08-KQED.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>City planners have also said the project should include a significant number of affordable homes, commercial space and park or open space, and provide easier connections to the nearby Eastridge Transit Center and Lake Cunningham.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some neighbors worry the city is being too prescriptive about what the developer should build.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robert Reese, a leader of the District Eight Community Roundtable, which represents several neighborhood associations in the area, said the project needs to be consistent with the existing single-family home communities in the area. He pointed to city studies that show denser mid-rise projects often don’t pencil out for developers under current market conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reese said Shoor and a group of like-minded community organizations calling for very dense housing on the land are oversimplifying a complex situation. A more realistic project, in his view, should be in the realm of 1,300 or 1,700 homes, on the high end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s one thing to have capacity, but we need to have something actually get built,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the [San José City] Council is going to have to be focused on whether they want a chicken in the pot or turkey in the bush,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The site, while fully bounded by the city of San José, is currently an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County, and the county’s housing goals imagine the potential for up to 2,850 homes on the site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074333\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12074333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-18-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-18-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-18-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-18-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An open grassy area at the former Pleasant Hills Golf Course in San José on Feb. 23, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If it were to be developed, City Planning Director Chris Burton said the property would need to be annexed into the city, and it’s not yet clear how the city and the county would divvy up the housing totals toward their respective targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not very often we get 110 acres,” Burton said. “Obviously, the market wants to drive to feasibility, which at this moment in time tends to be at lower densities. Certainly, the neighborhood is concerned about the impacts of more units in the area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he also noted that market conditions that determine financing for housing projects can shift, and any large project on the site would take many years to build, in phases.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12069608",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“From a city perspective, we really don’t see the future of building out the city around single-family homes and lower densities. We’ve got to continue to maximize opportunity to add,” he said. “But in a process like this, we have to balance all of those interests.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Converting golf courses and sprawling private recreational spaces into havens of housing and retail is not a new idea, particularly in places where development tends to happen as infill in small pockets. But like in San José, some communities oppose the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just over the border from San José in Santa Clara, developers are planning \u003ca href=\"https://www.santaclaraca.gov/Home/Components/BusinessDirectory/BusinessDirectory/531/2495?npage=4\">316 apartments\u003c/a> on a portion of the popular nine-hole Pruneridge Golf Course, which already has older housing stock woven into it. That project doesn’t plan to replace the course, but will require a reconfiguration of three holes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Brentwood in the East Bay, voters overwhelmingly chose in a 2022 ballot measure to restrict potential developments across several golf course properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in San Diego, a developer is working to replace the Riverwalk Golf Club with 4,300 residential units, more than 150,000 square feet of retail space and 1 million square feet of office space, plus nearly 100 acres of green space, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/10/28/riverwalk-developer-secures-380m-resumes-construction-on-mission-valley-project/\">The San Diego Union-Tribune\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San José, the Pleasant Hills Golf Course proposal is still undergoing environmental review. A formal vote to greenlight a final version of the project isn’t likely to happen this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074330\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12074330 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260223-PLEASANTHILLSDEV-09-BL-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An open grassy area at the former Pleasant Hills Golf Course in San José on Feb. 23, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>District 8 City Councilmember Domingo Candelas, who represents the area where the land sits, said there are still many questions to be answered, and declined to say how big or dense the project should be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I firmly believe we’re not going to solve our housing crisis with this single project,” Candelas said. “I remain fully committed to finding a thoughtful, responsible solution that addresses this crisis while protecting the quality of life of our neighborhoods and of our neighbors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shoor said the housing crisis in Silicon Valley — with average homes in San José valued at roughly $1.4 million — and the Bay Area needs to be treated with more urgency by officials around the region, and compared the situation to California’s drought cycles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we don’t build enough housing on Pleasant Hills, it’s like we’re in a drought, and we say, ‘One day of rain will be OK. If we just get a day of rainfall, we’ll get back to where we need to go,’” Shoor said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we need is a rainstorm of housing,” he said. “We need a deluge of new housing to provide for the people who are already here, the people growing up here, the people that are trying to move back here, and the new immigrants who deserve to be here, as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/12074738/housing-advocates-call-this-big-plot-of-san-jose-land-the-most-important-in-a-century",
"authors": [
"11906"
],
"categories": [
"news_6266",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_3921",
"news_21863",
"news_1775",
"news_23794",
"news_18541",
"news_21285"
],
"featImg": "news_12074331",
"label": "news"
},
"news_12072999": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_12072999",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12072999",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1771348403000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "tiny-homes-big-ambitions-matt-mahans-run-for-governor-spotlights-his-shelter-strategy",
"title": "Tiny Homes, Big Ambitions: Matt Mahan’s Run for Governor Spotlights His Shelter Strategy",
"publishDate": 1771348403,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Tiny Homes, Big Ambitions: Matt Mahan’s Run for Governor Spotlights His Shelter Strategy | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Some mayors have airports as legacy projects. Others have downtown arenas. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/matt-mahan\">Matt Mahan\u003c/a> has tiny homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, Mahan, the mayor of San José and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071306/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-announces-run-for-california-governor\">Democratic candidate\u003c/a> for California governor, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12072666/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-wants-to-be-governor-heres-a-look-into-his-signature-homelessness-program\">celebrated the opening\u003c/a> of a tiny home project in North San José. A six-acre patch of dirt next to the Valley Transportation Authority’s Cerone Yard was transformed into a hub of 162 private rooms for people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cerone ribbon-cutting marked the end of an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064380/new-san-jose-tiny-homes-for-unhoused-open-next-to-former-encampment\">ambitious expansion\u003c/a> of shelter in the state’s third-largest city — the last project the city had budgeted in a construction sprint. In the last year, 11 temporary housing sites opened their doors and an existing site more than doubled in size, adding a total of 1,319 beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This phase of shelter expansion may be over for now,” Mahan said at the site’s opening. “But our fight to end unsheltered homelessness continues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shelter building boom is sunsetting just as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071841/can-a-centrist-democrat-win-the-governors-race\">new chapter\u003c/a> in Mahan’s political career begins. At the Cerone opening, the mayor’s usual cadre of city staff were joined by new faces: members of a campaign team guiding Mahan’s run for governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that campaign, Mahan will \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12070167/governors-race-takes-shape-as-bonta-opts-out-mahan-weighs-run\">likely tout his ability\u003c/a> to take on the state’s most vexing problems by pointing to his experience as mayor. The tiny homes, converted motels and RV parking lots that together make up San José’s Emergency Interim Housing system stand as the visual embodiment of Mahan’s tenure — the fruit of multiple \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042688/mahan-unveils-final-san-jose-budget-plan\">budget fights\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949797/in-controversial-plan-san-jose-mayor-seeks-to-use-homelessness-dollars-to-build-more-temporary-shelters-instead-of-permanent-housing\">political clashes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Mahan and his supporters, the interim housing network is pragmatism in practice — an example of the type of “bias for action” prized in Silicon Valley that has delivered quick results on voters’ top issue. For critics, the tiny homes are monuments to political expediency, with a growing price tag that could weigh on the city’s books long after Mahan leaves office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan addresses reporters and city leaders at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“San José set a goal to create a lot more shelter units, and they’ve done it,” said Jennifer Loving, CEO of Destination: Home, a housing nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the city’s new shelter focus has only solved “part of the problem,” Loving said. “Because obviously people can’t live in those places forever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The interim housing sites have filled up just as quickly as they have opened, offering residents a more comfortable alternative to traditional congregate shelters. And on Mahan’s most prized metric, reducing unsheltered homelessness, the tiny homes appear to be delivering: last year’s point-in-time count found the number of people sleeping outdoors had \u003ca href=\"https://osh.santaclaracounty.gov/data-and-reports/point-time-count\">dropped by 10%\u003c/a> since January 2023, when Mahan took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as this phase of the tiny home buildout winds down, nearly 4,000 people are still without shelter in San José — and the system’s future is uncertain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072536\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072536\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_022-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_022-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_022-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_022-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">HomeFirst CEO Rene Ramirez speaks during a news conference at the grand opening of the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mahan and the council have committed to operate the shelter system in perpetuity, with no guarantee of ongoing funding help from the county, state or federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interim housing costs are outstripping the city’s dedicated homeless fund, and by 2029, the shelters could require an infusion of nearly $60 million from the city’s general fund, which pays for basic services like police and fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have leaned out in a big way in — some would say — taking a risk on going it alone and building out a system that is very expensive,” Mahan said. “The fact that we did that, though, and have shown that it’s working, I think has shown that we are committed to ending this crisis and has actually built the social and political capital to get others to the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A funding reversal\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2023, the South Bay ranked last among large California Continuums of Care (HUD-designated regional homeless planning bodies) in shelter capacity, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/taking-stock-of-californias-capacity-to-house-its-homeless-population/\">an analysis\u003c/a> by the Public Policy Institute of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San José, Santa Clara City and County Continuum of Care had 29 shelter beds per 100 people experiencing homelessness — well behind San Diego (61.1 beds per 100 homeless individuals), San Francisco (50.9), Riverside (40) and Los Angeles (34.9).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan won \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11932432/cindy-chavez-concedes-race-for-san-jose-mayor-to-matt-mahan\">an upset victory\u003c/a> in the 2022 mayoral election on a vow to reduce unsheltered homelessness. But city funding was largely dedicated to building affordable apartments that offer a permanent path off the streets — though they typically take longer to build.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072533\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072533\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_001-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_001-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_001-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_001-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Outdoor common areas and walkways are shown at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. The site will include shared seating, shaded areas and support facilities for future residents. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To engineer San José’s shift toward a shelter-focused strategy, Mahan eyed a pot of money created by voters in a 2020 ballot initiative, Measure E. The tax on high-value real estate sales raises around $50 million to $60 million a year — roughly 75% of which is dedicated to building permanent affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his first year as mayor, a council majority \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952913/san-jose-council-approves-modest-shift-toward-temporary-homeless-housing\">rejected Mahan’s proposal\u003c/a> to redirect a larger share of the Measure E revenue toward interim housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But over the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\">next two years\u003c/a>, Mahan evinced a political savvy in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026437/san-jose-mayor-proposes-permanent-shift-homeless-funding-from-housing-shelter\">spearheading the reversal\u003c/a> in city homeless funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lacking the executive power of other big-city mayors, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11979482/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-calls-for-urgent-action-on-homelessness-in-city-budget-plan\">trumpeted warnings\u003c/a> that the city could face fines for its lack of shelter; urged his colleagues to continue approving new shelter construction (adding pressure to find revenue to support the costs); and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024327/san-jose-council-taps-engineering-executive-carl-salas-vacant-seat\">built a roster of allies\u003c/a> on the council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the council \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043418/san-jose-council-approves-mahans-shelter-enforcement-plan\">voted to permanently dedicate\u003c/a> 90% of the homeless fund toward shelter, with the remaining 10% earmarked for homeless prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The funding reversal was complete, and construction of tiny home villages continued apace — in Downtown, Berryessa and South San José. Neighborhood opposition, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942734/emergency-calls-complaints-are-down-near-san-joses-temporary-housing-sites-so-why-are-they-still-so-politically-risky\">once threatened to derail\u003c/a> the program, began to soften.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the beginning of Mahan’s tenure, the city was operating seven interim housing facilities. Now there are 23 — a mix of individual room projects such as Cerone, modular studio apartments, converted motel rooms and parking lots for lived-in vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Investments ‘started to bear fruit’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By the beginning of 2025, the South Bay had already caught up to the shelter capacity of other large California jurisdictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HUD has not yet released point-in-time counts of people experiencing homelessness in 2025 or the annual Housing Inventory Count of shelter. But seven of the state’s largest Continuums of Care provided the data they reported to HUD, either publicly or in response to a request from KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In two years, the South Bay’s ratio of beds per 100 people experiencing homelessness had jumped from 29.0 to 40.6.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Local Shelter Capacity in California\" aria-label=\"Dot Plot\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-dmxrZ\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/dmxrZ/3/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"333\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout 2025, San José opened a dozen more interim projects, adding more than 1,000 additional beds that were not reflected in the count, which typically takes place at the beginning of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vacancy rates for the new tiny homes have remained low — in part because San José’s shelter expansion looks very different from the large congregate shelters that offer a cot or bunk-bed in a large room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congregate shelters can leave residents without privacy and dignity — and open to crime and abuse, said Benjamin Henwood, director of the Homelessness Policy Research Institute at USC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People sort of voted with their feet, meaning they opted out of these shelters,” Henwood said. “They preferred living unsheltered without all of those risks that came with a congregate shelter.”[aside postID=news_11988728 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/IMG_7876_qut-1020x765.jpg']While the designs of San José’s tiny home shelters vary from site to site, nearly all offer a private room with a locked door — and access to case managers who can help coordinate medical needs and search for permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tiny homes have consistently been more than 95% full. The utilization rate across 13 locations tracked on an ongoing basis \u003ca href=\"https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiMjUxM2ZiMjAtNmE5Zi00ZTJlLWI4YjQtYTU3NjdiY2Q5OTBkIiwidCI6IjBmZTMzYmUwLTYxNDItNGY5Ni05YjhkLTc4MTdkNWMyNjEzOSJ9&pageName=fc2a0a27f1654d314199%22\">stands at 96%\u003c/a> over the last seven months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miguel Torres moved into the Rue Ferrari interim housing community in South San José last year. He had been living in his car for a year, by a train station on Monterey Road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Work was slow, and it was hard for me to find jobs and all that,” he said. “I didn’t have no resources in the car, and it’s hard to drive here and there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, Torres saw outreach workers knocking on nearby tents. They were offering spots at Rue Ferrari, which expanded this year from 124 to 268 beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He jumped at the opportunity but had concerns about what life would be like in short-term housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I heard a lot of stuff [about] shelters because, you know, you live with a lot of people in bunk beds,” Torres said. “But here it’s peaceful, you get your own room, they kind of show you how to be independent more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And for me, because I get a little anxiety, it’s perfect for me,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four months later, Torres has settled into his one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit. His bed is covered with a San Francisco 49ers blanket, and a TV and speakers sit at the foot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Earlier today I was shaving, cutting my hair, and I had the music bumping — not too loud, respect the neighbors — but, ah man, you can’t complain, dude,” Torres said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A growing price tag\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Thousands of new shelter beds, with high rates of usage, have contributed to a decline in the number of people sleeping outdoors in San José — from 4,411 in January 2023 to 3,959 in January 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A countywide financial assistance program also helped — \u003ca href=\"https://news.nd.edu/news/targeted-prevention-helps-stop-homelessness-before-it-starts/\">Notre Dame researchers\u003c/a> credited it with dramatically reducing the number of people becoming homeless in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The investments that the city has been making have really started to bear fruit,” said Anthony Tordillos, a city council member representing downtown. “By bringing that additional capacity online, the city’s been successful in actually being able to move people from the streets and get them into more secure housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072534\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072534\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_013-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_013-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_013-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_013-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rows of newly installed tiny homes line a pedestrian walkway at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. The city secured $12.7 million in state funding to purchase the homes. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But San José is still thousands of beds short of the 5,477 shelter beds the city estimated last year would be needed to achieve “functional zero” homelessness — meaning anyone who lost their housing would be able to access a bed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barring any influx of state or federal funding, the city’s shelter system won’t be greatly expanding anytime soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And just maintaining a system the size of San José’s could be difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In permanent supportive housing projects, tenants typically pay a small share of rent or are subsidized by a federal housing voucher. In interim housing, there is typically no rent to offset the mounting operating costs, which include staffing and utilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t appear that these are sustainable strategies because…you’re paying the operation cost on an ongoing basis,” said Henwood, the USC professor. “Those are sort of never-ending costs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even the shift of Measure E funds from affordable housing to shelter will not be enough to completely pay for San José’s interim housing system in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A preliminary \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15167200&GUID=86C22EAB-3F43-40BC-8A68-3C74BE78A74D\">budget forecast\u003c/a>, presented to the council last week, found the interim housing system would need an infusion of $17 million in the upcoming fiscal year from the general fund — increasing to $58 million in 2029-30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Required General Fund Contribution to Interim Housing ($ Millions)\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-t1P8M\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/t1P8M/2/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"450\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city is already \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071569/matt-mahan-is-running-for-governor-what-does-that-mean-for-san-jose\">facing a budget shortfall\u003c/a> of roughly $55 million to $65 million in the coming year, so maintaining the interim housing system could force difficult spending trade-offs with other city services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city obviously took kind of a big bet making these investments to so dramatically expand our shelter capacity, and knowing that those do come with longer-term operational costs,” Tordillos said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Tordillos said, the city will need to pivot into “optimization mode,” by finding ways to drive down the costs of on-site services — and finding financial help from other levels of government.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Not respecting the taxpayers’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Federal funding for the interim housing program has dried up, and support from the state (which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975319/newsom-reneges-on-sending-san-jose-tiny-homes-for-the-unhoused\">chipped in millions\u003c/a> for projects including Cerone) has declined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state budget approved last year by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom appropriated no new flexible homeless dollars (known as the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/01/homelessness-funding-2026/\">Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention\u003c/a> — HHAP — program) for cities and counties in 2025-26 — a drop from the $1 billion approved in the previous budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make up those costs, Mahan has turned to Santa Clara County, arguing in part that the city’s reduction in unsheltered homelessness is saving the county money by reducing the number of visits unhoused people make to the emergency room and jail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_014-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_014-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_014-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_014-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The interior of a finished tiny home is seen through an open doorway at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. Each unit includes a bed, storage space and basic furnishings for residents transitioning out of homelessness. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But county leaders have been among the sharpest critics of Mahan’s shelter-focused approach. They already fund more than 2,000 shelter placements of their own and have long prioritized funding permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that as a policymaker, I’ve ever proposed a program, a service, that I expected another entity to support,” Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said. “Collaboration does actually make sense, but that means that you meet…and you talk about what you’re building together and have the same objective.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that we have the same objective,” Arenas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former San José council member, Arenas said she had longstanding concerns about continuing to expand the interim housing system without a stable funding source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think to build tiny homes, and then you forget, oh, we needed to also put in some money to operate all of these tiny homes, is not respecting the taxpayers,” she said. “And also not being true to what you’re actually providing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Accountability without resources\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042370/in-san-jose-a-controversial-choice-for-unhoused-shelter-or-arrest\">harsh rhetoric between\u003c/a> members of the council and board of supervisors last year — which nearly resulted in a rare joint meeting to hash out their differences in public — the city-county relationship over interim housing appears to be thawing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Mahan endorsed a county-led \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058418/santa-clara-county-sales-tax-measure-a-pitched-to-offset-deep-medicaid-cuts-measure-a\">ballot measure\u003c/a> to raise the sales tax, and county leaders committed to sending health workers to bring medical services directly to residents at tiny home sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan insists that city general fund spending on temporary housing should be on the table, given the priority residents have placed on reducing street homelessness.[aside postID=news_12071306 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-02-KQED-1.jpg']“That’s the nightmare scenario, but we have to plan for that,” he said. “So [if] federal, state and county all pull back and choose not to invest in things that are working, we can sustain the system we have, though that is far from ideal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As mayor, Mahan faces the same challenge as many big-city leaders across the state, said Darrell Steinberg, the former mayor of Sacramento and president pro tem of the state Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the number one thing for a big-city mayor in California is that, aside from the HHAP funding, you have all the accountability but not the bulk of the resources,” Steinberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Mahan, the mayor, can’t secure money for the tiny homes now, he may be betting that Mahan, the governor, will be the program’s chief benefactor in the future, able to direct state resources toward the system he helped build in San José.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miguel Torres has dreams of something more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting on a picnic table outside of his unit at Rue Ferrari, Torres said he feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ever since I got a spot, a roof over my head, I ain’t got to worry about being in the street or anything,” he said. “So I’m focusing on a career, on a job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s hoping his tiny home will be a launching pad for the future he is already starting to envision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just a regular little house, you know,” he said. “I got kids, so hopefully I could bring them in with me too — that’s pretty much my goal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The mayor of San José has led a massive expansion of temporary housing. Now, he’s running for governor of California. Is the shelter system built to last? ",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1771352292,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": true,
"iframeSrcs": [
"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/dmxrZ/3/",
"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/t1P8M/2/"
],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 77,
"wordCount": 3004
},
"headData": {
"title": "Tiny Homes, Big Ambitions: Matt Mahan’s Run for Governor Spotlights His Shelter Strategy | KQED",
"description": "The mayor of San José has led a massive expansion of temporary housing. Now, he’s running for governor of California. Is the shelter system built to last? ",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Tiny Homes, Big Ambitions: Matt Mahan’s Run for Governor Spotlights His Shelter Strategy",
"datePublished": "2026-02-17T09:13:23-08:00",
"dateModified": "2026-02-17T10:18:12-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 13,
"slug": "politics",
"name": "Politics"
},
"audioUrl": "https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/5743a036-e1fd-41bb-a92c-b3f4011cf42b/audio.mp3",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-12072999",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/12072999/tiny-homes-big-ambitions-matt-mahans-run-for-governor-spotlights-his-shelter-strategy",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Some mayors have airports as legacy projects. Others have downtown arenas. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/matt-mahan\">Matt Mahan\u003c/a> has tiny homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, Mahan, the mayor of San José and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071306/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-announces-run-for-california-governor\">Democratic candidate\u003c/a> for California governor, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12072666/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-wants-to-be-governor-heres-a-look-into-his-signature-homelessness-program\">celebrated the opening\u003c/a> of a tiny home project in North San José. A six-acre patch of dirt next to the Valley Transportation Authority’s Cerone Yard was transformed into a hub of 162 private rooms for people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cerone ribbon-cutting marked the end of an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064380/new-san-jose-tiny-homes-for-unhoused-open-next-to-former-encampment\">ambitious expansion\u003c/a> of shelter in the state’s third-largest city — the last project the city had budgeted in a construction sprint. In the last year, 11 temporary housing sites opened their doors and an existing site more than doubled in size, adding a total of 1,319 beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This phase of shelter expansion may be over for now,” Mahan said at the site’s opening. “But our fight to end unsheltered homelessness continues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shelter building boom is sunsetting just as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071841/can-a-centrist-democrat-win-the-governors-race\">new chapter\u003c/a> in Mahan’s political career begins. At the Cerone opening, the mayor’s usual cadre of city staff were joined by new faces: members of a campaign team guiding Mahan’s run for governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that campaign, Mahan will \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12070167/governors-race-takes-shape-as-bonta-opts-out-mahan-weighs-run\">likely tout his ability\u003c/a> to take on the state’s most vexing problems by pointing to his experience as mayor. The tiny homes, converted motels and RV parking lots that together make up San José’s Emergency Interim Housing system stand as the visual embodiment of Mahan’s tenure — the fruit of multiple \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042688/mahan-unveils-final-san-jose-budget-plan\">budget fights\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949797/in-controversial-plan-san-jose-mayor-seeks-to-use-homelessness-dollars-to-build-more-temporary-shelters-instead-of-permanent-housing\">political clashes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Mahan and his supporters, the interim housing network is pragmatism in practice — an example of the type of “bias for action” prized in Silicon Valley that has delivered quick results on voters’ top issue. For critics, the tiny homes are monuments to political expediency, with a growing price tag that could weigh on the city’s books long after Mahan leaves office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_024-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan addresses reporters and city leaders at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“San José set a goal to create a lot more shelter units, and they’ve done it,” said Jennifer Loving, CEO of Destination: Home, a housing nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the city’s new shelter focus has only solved “part of the problem,” Loving said. “Because obviously people can’t live in those places forever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The interim housing sites have filled up just as quickly as they have opened, offering residents a more comfortable alternative to traditional congregate shelters. And on Mahan’s most prized metric, reducing unsheltered homelessness, the tiny homes appear to be delivering: last year’s point-in-time count found the number of people sleeping outdoors had \u003ca href=\"https://osh.santaclaracounty.gov/data-and-reports/point-time-count\">dropped by 10%\u003c/a> since January 2023, when Mahan took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as this phase of the tiny home buildout winds down, nearly 4,000 people are still without shelter in San José — and the system’s future is uncertain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072536\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072536\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_022-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_022-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_022-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_022-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">HomeFirst CEO Rene Ramirez speaks during a news conference at the grand opening of the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mahan and the council have committed to operate the shelter system in perpetuity, with no guarantee of ongoing funding help from the county, state or federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interim housing costs are outstripping the city’s dedicated homeless fund, and by 2029, the shelters could require an infusion of nearly $60 million from the city’s general fund, which pays for basic services like police and fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have leaned out in a big way in — some would say — taking a risk on going it alone and building out a system that is very expensive,” Mahan said. “The fact that we did that, though, and have shown that it’s working, I think has shown that we are committed to ending this crisis and has actually built the social and political capital to get others to the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A funding reversal\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2023, the South Bay ranked last among large California Continuums of Care (HUD-designated regional homeless planning bodies) in shelter capacity, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/taking-stock-of-californias-capacity-to-house-its-homeless-population/\">an analysis\u003c/a> by the Public Policy Institute of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San José, Santa Clara City and County Continuum of Care had 29 shelter beds per 100 people experiencing homelessness — well behind San Diego (61.1 beds per 100 homeless individuals), San Francisco (50.9), Riverside (40) and Los Angeles (34.9).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan won \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11932432/cindy-chavez-concedes-race-for-san-jose-mayor-to-matt-mahan\">an upset victory\u003c/a> in the 2022 mayoral election on a vow to reduce unsheltered homelessness. But city funding was largely dedicated to building affordable apartments that offer a permanent path off the streets — though they typically take longer to build.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072533\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072533\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_001-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_001-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_001-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_001-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Outdoor common areas and walkways are shown at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. The site will include shared seating, shaded areas and support facilities for future residents. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To engineer San José’s shift toward a shelter-focused strategy, Mahan eyed a pot of money created by voters in a 2020 ballot initiative, Measure E. The tax on high-value real estate sales raises around $50 million to $60 million a year — roughly 75% of which is dedicated to building permanent affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his first year as mayor, a council majority \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952913/san-jose-council-approves-modest-shift-toward-temporary-homeless-housing\">rejected Mahan’s proposal\u003c/a> to redirect a larger share of the Measure E revenue toward interim housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But over the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\">next two years\u003c/a>, Mahan evinced a political savvy in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026437/san-jose-mayor-proposes-permanent-shift-homeless-funding-from-housing-shelter\">spearheading the reversal\u003c/a> in city homeless funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lacking the executive power of other big-city mayors, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11979482/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-calls-for-urgent-action-on-homelessness-in-city-budget-plan\">trumpeted warnings\u003c/a> that the city could face fines for its lack of shelter; urged his colleagues to continue approving new shelter construction (adding pressure to find revenue to support the costs); and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024327/san-jose-council-taps-engineering-executive-carl-salas-vacant-seat\">built a roster of allies\u003c/a> on the council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the council \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043418/san-jose-council-approves-mahans-shelter-enforcement-plan\">voted to permanently dedicate\u003c/a> 90% of the homeless fund toward shelter, with the remaining 10% earmarked for homeless prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The funding reversal was complete, and construction of tiny home villages continued apace — in Downtown, Berryessa and South San José. Neighborhood opposition, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942734/emergency-calls-complaints-are-down-near-san-joses-temporary-housing-sites-so-why-are-they-still-so-politically-risky\">once threatened to derail\u003c/a> the program, began to soften.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the beginning of Mahan’s tenure, the city was operating seven interim housing facilities. Now there are 23 — a mix of individual room projects such as Cerone, modular studio apartments, converted motel rooms and parking lots for lived-in vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Investments ‘started to bear fruit’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By the beginning of 2025, the South Bay had already caught up to the shelter capacity of other large California jurisdictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HUD has not yet released point-in-time counts of people experiencing homelessness in 2025 or the annual Housing Inventory Count of shelter. But seven of the state’s largest Continuums of Care provided the data they reported to HUD, either publicly or in response to a request from KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In two years, the South Bay’s ratio of beds per 100 people experiencing homelessness had jumped from 29.0 to 40.6.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Local Shelter Capacity in California\" aria-label=\"Dot Plot\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-dmxrZ\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/dmxrZ/3/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"333\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout 2025, San José opened a dozen more interim projects, adding more than 1,000 additional beds that were not reflected in the count, which typically takes place at the beginning of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vacancy rates for the new tiny homes have remained low — in part because San José’s shelter expansion looks very different from the large congregate shelters that offer a cot or bunk-bed in a large room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congregate shelters can leave residents without privacy and dignity — and open to crime and abuse, said Benjamin Henwood, director of the Homelessness Policy Research Institute at USC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People sort of voted with their feet, meaning they opted out of these shelters,” Henwood said. “They preferred living unsheltered without all of those risks that came with a congregate shelter.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_11988728",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/IMG_7876_qut-1020x765.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While the designs of San José’s tiny home shelters vary from site to site, nearly all offer a private room with a locked door — and access to case managers who can help coordinate medical needs and search for permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tiny homes have consistently been more than 95% full. The utilization rate across 13 locations tracked on an ongoing basis \u003ca href=\"https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiMjUxM2ZiMjAtNmE5Zi00ZTJlLWI4YjQtYTU3NjdiY2Q5OTBkIiwidCI6IjBmZTMzYmUwLTYxNDItNGY5Ni05YjhkLTc4MTdkNWMyNjEzOSJ9&pageName=fc2a0a27f1654d314199%22\">stands at 96%\u003c/a> over the last seven months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miguel Torres moved into the Rue Ferrari interim housing community in South San José last year. He had been living in his car for a year, by a train station on Monterey Road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Work was slow, and it was hard for me to find jobs and all that,” he said. “I didn’t have no resources in the car, and it’s hard to drive here and there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, Torres saw outreach workers knocking on nearby tents. They were offering spots at Rue Ferrari, which expanded this year from 124 to 268 beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He jumped at the opportunity but had concerns about what life would be like in short-term housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I heard a lot of stuff [about] shelters because, you know, you live with a lot of people in bunk beds,” Torres said. “But here it’s peaceful, you get your own room, they kind of show you how to be independent more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And for me, because I get a little anxiety, it’s perfect for me,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four months later, Torres has settled into his one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit. His bed is covered with a San Francisco 49ers blanket, and a TV and speakers sit at the foot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Earlier today I was shaving, cutting my hair, and I had the music bumping — not too loud, respect the neighbors — but, ah man, you can’t complain, dude,” Torres said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A growing price tag\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Thousands of new shelter beds, with high rates of usage, have contributed to a decline in the number of people sleeping outdoors in San José — from 4,411 in January 2023 to 3,959 in January 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A countywide financial assistance program also helped — \u003ca href=\"https://news.nd.edu/news/targeted-prevention-helps-stop-homelessness-before-it-starts/\">Notre Dame researchers\u003c/a> credited it with dramatically reducing the number of people becoming homeless in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The investments that the city has been making have really started to bear fruit,” said Anthony Tordillos, a city council member representing downtown. “By bringing that additional capacity online, the city’s been successful in actually being able to move people from the streets and get them into more secure housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072534\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072534\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_013-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_013-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_013-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_013-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rows of newly installed tiny homes line a pedestrian walkway at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. The city secured $12.7 million in state funding to purchase the homes. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But San José is still thousands of beds short of the 5,477 shelter beds the city estimated last year would be needed to achieve “functional zero” homelessness — meaning anyone who lost their housing would be able to access a bed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barring any influx of state or federal funding, the city’s shelter system won’t be greatly expanding anytime soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And just maintaining a system the size of San José’s could be difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In permanent supportive housing projects, tenants typically pay a small share of rent or are subsidized by a federal housing voucher. In interim housing, there is typically no rent to offset the mounting operating costs, which include staffing and utilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t appear that these are sustainable strategies because…you’re paying the operation cost on an ongoing basis,” said Henwood, the USC professor. “Those are sort of never-ending costs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even the shift of Measure E funds from affordable housing to shelter will not be enough to completely pay for San José’s interim housing system in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A preliminary \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15167200&GUID=86C22EAB-3F43-40BC-8A68-3C74BE78A74D\">budget forecast\u003c/a>, presented to the council last week, found the interim housing system would need an infusion of $17 million in the upcoming fiscal year from the general fund — increasing to $58 million in 2029-30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Required General Fund Contribution to Interim Housing ($ Millions)\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-t1P8M\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/t1P8M/2/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"450\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city is already \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071569/matt-mahan-is-running-for-governor-what-does-that-mean-for-san-jose\">facing a budget shortfall\u003c/a> of roughly $55 million to $65 million in the coming year, so maintaining the interim housing system could force difficult spending trade-offs with other city services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city obviously took kind of a big bet making these investments to so dramatically expand our shelter capacity, and knowing that those do come with longer-term operational costs,” Tordillos said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Tordillos said, the city will need to pivot into “optimization mode,” by finding ways to drive down the costs of on-site services — and finding financial help from other levels of government.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Not respecting the taxpayers’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Federal funding for the interim housing program has dried up, and support from the state (which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975319/newsom-reneges-on-sending-san-jose-tiny-homes-for-the-unhoused\">chipped in millions\u003c/a> for projects including Cerone) has declined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state budget approved last year by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom appropriated no new flexible homeless dollars (known as the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/01/homelessness-funding-2026/\">Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention\u003c/a> — HHAP — program) for cities and counties in 2025-26 — a drop from the $1 billion approved in the previous budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make up those costs, Mahan has turned to Santa Clara County, arguing in part that the city’s reduction in unsheltered homelessness is saving the county money by reducing the number of visits unhoused people make to the emergency room and jail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_014-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_014-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_014-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_014-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The interior of a finished tiny home is seen through an open doorway at the Cerone Interim Housing Community on Feb. 5, 2026, in San José. Each unit includes a bed, storage space and basic furnishings for residents transitioning out of homelessness. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But county leaders have been among the sharpest critics of Mahan’s shelter-focused approach. They already fund more than 2,000 shelter placements of their own and have long prioritized funding permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that as a policymaker, I’ve ever proposed a program, a service, that I expected another entity to support,” Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said. “Collaboration does actually make sense, but that means that you meet…and you talk about what you’re building together and have the same objective.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that we have the same objective,” Arenas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former San José council member, Arenas said she had longstanding concerns about continuing to expand the interim housing system without a stable funding source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think to build tiny homes, and then you forget, oh, we needed to also put in some money to operate all of these tiny homes, is not respecting the taxpayers,” she said. “And also not being true to what you’re actually providing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Accountability without resources\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042370/in-san-jose-a-controversial-choice-for-unhoused-shelter-or-arrest\">harsh rhetoric between\u003c/a> members of the council and board of supervisors last year — which nearly resulted in a rare joint meeting to hash out their differences in public — the city-county relationship over interim housing appears to be thawing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Mahan endorsed a county-led \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058418/santa-clara-county-sales-tax-measure-a-pitched-to-offset-deep-medicaid-cuts-measure-a\">ballot measure\u003c/a> to raise the sales tax, and county leaders committed to sending health workers to bring medical services directly to residents at tiny home sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan insists that city general fund spending on temporary housing should be on the table, given the priority residents have placed on reducing street homelessness.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12071306",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-02-KQED-1.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“That’s the nightmare scenario, but we have to plan for that,” he said. “So [if] federal, state and county all pull back and choose not to invest in things that are working, we can sustain the system we have, though that is far from ideal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As mayor, Mahan faces the same challenge as many big-city leaders across the state, said Darrell Steinberg, the former mayor of Sacramento and president pro tem of the state Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the number one thing for a big-city mayor in California is that, aside from the HHAP funding, you have all the accountability but not the bulk of the resources,” Steinberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Mahan, the mayor, can’t secure money for the tiny homes now, he may be betting that Mahan, the governor, will be the program’s chief benefactor in the future, able to direct state resources toward the system he helped build in San José.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miguel Torres has dreams of something more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sitting on a picnic table outside of his unit at Rue Ferrari, Torres said he feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ever since I got a spot, a roof over my head, I ain’t got to worry about being in the street or anything,” he said. “So I’m focusing on a career, on a job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s hoping his tiny home will be a launching pad for the future he is already starting to envision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just a regular little house, you know,” he said. “I got kids, so hopefully I could bring them in with me too — that’s pretty much my goal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/12072999/tiny-homes-big-ambitions-matt-mahans-run-for-governor-spotlights-his-shelter-strategy",
"authors": [
"227"
],
"categories": [
"news_6266",
"news_8",
"news_13"
],
"tags": [
"news_3921",
"news_18538",
"news_29125",
"news_35699",
"news_27626",
"news_34377",
"news_1775",
"news_31197",
"news_17968",
"news_18541",
"news_21285",
"news_22864"
],
"featImg": "news_12072538",
"label": "news"
},
"news_12073193": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_12073193",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12073193",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1770935800000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "yimby-groups-sue-san-francisco-arguing-upzoning-doesnt-go-far-enough",
"title": "YIMBY Groups Sue San Francisco, Arguing Upzoning Doesn’t Go Far Enough",
"publishDate": 1770935800,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "YIMBY Groups Sue San Francisco, Arguing Upzoning Doesn’t Go Far Enough | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Roughly a month after neighborhood and small business groups sued San Francisco over a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065204/everything-you-need-to-know-about-san-franciscos-family-zoning-plan\">housing plan\u003c/a> they said went too far, a coalition of housing activists is filing their own suit, arguing the city’s plan doesn’t go far enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives from YIMBY Law, California Housing Defense Fund and Californians for Homeownership said they filed a lawsuit on Thursday afternoon, alleging that Mayor Daniel Lurie’s recently-approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066478/san-francisco-passed-a-new-zoning-plan-how-will-it-change-the-city\">Family Zoning Plan\u003c/a> doesn’t effectively make way for the 36,000 new homes and apartments required under state housing law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference on Thursday morning, YIMBY Law Executive Director Sonja Trauss said the lawsuit was meant to show the city “tough love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are here today on the precipice of St. Valentine’s Day out of love: love for the San Franciscans who can’t afford where they live, who are forgoing essential items like health care and saving for the future,” she said. “The Family Zoning Plan is inadequate; it’s not a real upzoning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It comes as the city battles a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069226/neighborhood-small-business-groups-file-lawsuit-over-san-francisco-rezoning-plan\">separate lawsuit filed last month\u003c/a> alleging the upzoning goes too far and could displace low-income renters and small businesses. A spokesperson for the City Attorney’s Office confirmed with KQED that the planning department can continue to implement the plan, even as it’s under litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Zisser, assistant deputy director of housing policy with California’s Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) said the fact that the city’s plan, called a housing element under state law, is the subject of multiple lawsuits does not invalidate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073372\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-08-BL_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073372\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-08-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-08-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-08-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-08-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Housing in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In housing element law, two entities are named as having the authority to decertify a housing element: HCD and a court of law,” he wrote in an email to KQED. “HCD had previously found San Francisco’s housing element complaint with state law and has not rescinded that finding, and a court has not issued an order regarding San Francisco’s housing element.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like other cities across the state, San Francisco had to implement new development rules to allow significantly more apartments to be built across the city, particularly in areas that have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065615/san-franciscos-north-and-westside-residents-sound-off-on-housing-plan\">historically protected\u003c/a> from new housing. The city’s plan focused on increasing allowable residential building heights city-wide, particularly in San Francisco’s northern and western neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Board of Supervisors \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065708/san-francisco-supervisors-pass-rezoning-plan-making-way-for-taller-denser-housing\">approved the plan\u003c/a> in early December. Its passage came with controversy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months before the plan made its way to the supervisors, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062042/report-projects-weak-housing-production-under-san-francisco-zoning-plan-over-next-20-years\">city’s chief economist\u003c/a> released a report showing it overestimated the number of homes that could be built and did not account for expensive market conditions that have remained high after the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>California is an expensive place to live. Are you feeling the pinch? \u003ca href=\"#Shareyourstory\">Share your story\u003c/a> with KQED by leaving us a voicemail at \u003ca href=\"tel:4155532115\">415-553-2115\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header\">clicking here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The most recent lawsuit against the rezoning plan makes the same allegations and argues the city added new restrictions, including limits on unit size and parking, that could undermine housing production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the time came to fulfill the promises that San Francisco made in its housing element, the city came up short,” said Nick Eckenwiler, a staff attorney with the California Housing Defense Fund. “And so we’re here to make sure that San Francisco follows through on those and actually gets enough housing built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Charles Lutvak, a spokesperson for Lurie’s office, said the city is going to meet state requirements for its housing element, while protecting “what’s so special about our neighborhoods and our city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As the cost of housing continues to rise, the Family Zoning Plan is going to help ensure that the next generation of San Franciscans can afford to raise their kids here,” he wrote in an email to KQED.[aside postID=news_12066478 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']But on the other side of the debate, organizers with Neighborhoods United SF and Small Business Forward worry the Family Zoning Plan could be too effective. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/neighborhoods-united-sf-lawsuit.pdf\">lawsuit filed in early January\u003c/a> by the two groups, and others, argues that the upzoning could displace people living in rent-controlled buildings and could harm historic buildings. It also accuses the city of not following the state’s landmark environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joseph Smooke, an organizer with the city’s Race and Equity in All Planning Coalition, said not everyone in San Francisco wants to live in a high-rise condo tower. He also argued that if people are displaced because their neighborhoods become too expensive due to new development, it will be hard for them to find a more affordable rental in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That household that’s looking for a new place to live is going to be confronted with whatever the market rents are at that time,” he said. “What you end up with is displacement, not just from communities, but from the city entirely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A settlement hearing in the Neighborhoods United lawsuit is set for Feb. 19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trauss said her lawsuit and the opposing one are manifestations of the local politics surrounding housing affordability, with one side arguing the city isn’t doing enough to make way for more housing, while the other said the city isn’t protecting its existing residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a way, I think it’s good that the government is caught on both sides,” she said. “It demonstrates why state intervention is needed because left just to the local politics, they’re never going to quite get over the hump.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Shareyourstory\">\u003c/a>California is expensive. Share your story of how you get by\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The lawsuit alleges the city’s recently approved Family Zoning Plan does not comply with state housing laws and will fall short of the state’s goals.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1770945332,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": true,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 22,
"wordCount": 1026
},
"headData": {
"title": "YIMBY Groups Sue San Francisco, Arguing Upzoning Doesn’t Go Far Enough | KQED",
"description": "The lawsuit alleges the city’s recently approved Family Zoning Plan does not comply with state housing laws and will fall short of the state’s goals.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "YIMBY Groups Sue San Francisco, Arguing Upzoning Doesn’t Go Far Enough",
"datePublished": "2026-02-12T14:36:40-08:00",
"dateModified": "2026-02-12T17:15:32-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 6266,
"slug": "housing",
"name": "Housing"
},
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-12073193",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/12073193/yimby-groups-sue-san-francisco-arguing-upzoning-doesnt-go-far-enough",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Roughly a month after neighborhood and small business groups sued San Francisco over a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065204/everything-you-need-to-know-about-san-franciscos-family-zoning-plan\">housing plan\u003c/a> they said went too far, a coalition of housing activists is filing their own suit, arguing the city’s plan doesn’t go far enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives from YIMBY Law, California Housing Defense Fund and Californians for Homeownership said they filed a lawsuit on Thursday afternoon, alleging that Mayor Daniel Lurie’s recently-approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066478/san-francisco-passed-a-new-zoning-plan-how-will-it-change-the-city\">Family Zoning Plan\u003c/a> doesn’t effectively make way for the 36,000 new homes and apartments required under state housing law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference on Thursday morning, YIMBY Law Executive Director Sonja Trauss said the lawsuit was meant to show the city “tough love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are here today on the precipice of St. Valentine’s Day out of love: love for the San Franciscans who can’t afford where they live, who are forgoing essential items like health care and saving for the future,” she said. “The Family Zoning Plan is inadequate; it’s not a real upzoning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It comes as the city battles a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069226/neighborhood-small-business-groups-file-lawsuit-over-san-francisco-rezoning-plan\">separate lawsuit filed last month\u003c/a> alleging the upzoning goes too far and could displace low-income renters and small businesses. A spokesperson for the City Attorney’s Office confirmed with KQED that the planning department can continue to implement the plan, even as it’s under litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Zisser, assistant deputy director of housing policy with California’s Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) said the fact that the city’s plan, called a housing element under state law, is the subject of multiple lawsuits does not invalidate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073372\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-08-BL_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073372\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-08-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-08-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-08-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-08-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Housing in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In housing element law, two entities are named as having the authority to decertify a housing element: HCD and a court of law,” he wrote in an email to KQED. “HCD had previously found San Francisco’s housing element complaint with state law and has not rescinded that finding, and a court has not issued an order regarding San Francisco’s housing element.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like other cities across the state, San Francisco had to implement new development rules to allow significantly more apartments to be built across the city, particularly in areas that have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065615/san-franciscos-north-and-westside-residents-sound-off-on-housing-plan\">historically protected\u003c/a> from new housing. The city’s plan focused on increasing allowable residential building heights city-wide, particularly in San Francisco’s northern and western neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Board of Supervisors \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065708/san-francisco-supervisors-pass-rezoning-plan-making-way-for-taller-denser-housing\">approved the plan\u003c/a> in early December. Its passage came with controversy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months before the plan made its way to the supervisors, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062042/report-projects-weak-housing-production-under-san-francisco-zoning-plan-over-next-20-years\">city’s chief economist\u003c/a> released a report showing it overestimated the number of homes that could be built and did not account for expensive market conditions that have remained high after the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>California is an expensive place to live. Are you feeling the pinch? \u003ca href=\"#Shareyourstory\">Share your story\u003c/a> with KQED by leaving us a voicemail at \u003ca href=\"tel:4155532115\">415-553-2115\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header\">clicking here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The most recent lawsuit against the rezoning plan makes the same allegations and argues the city added new restrictions, including limits on unit size and parking, that could undermine housing production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the time came to fulfill the promises that San Francisco made in its housing element, the city came up short,” said Nick Eckenwiler, a staff attorney with the California Housing Defense Fund. “And so we’re here to make sure that San Francisco follows through on those and actually gets enough housing built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Charles Lutvak, a spokesperson for Lurie’s office, said the city is going to meet state requirements for its housing element, while protecting “what’s so special about our neighborhoods and our city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As the cost of housing continues to rise, the Family Zoning Plan is going to help ensure that the next generation of San Franciscans can afford to raise their kids here,” he wrote in an email to KQED.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12066478",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But on the other side of the debate, organizers with Neighborhoods United SF and Small Business Forward worry the Family Zoning Plan could be too effective. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/neighborhoods-united-sf-lawsuit.pdf\">lawsuit filed in early January\u003c/a> by the two groups, and others, argues that the upzoning could displace people living in rent-controlled buildings and could harm historic buildings. It also accuses the city of not following the state’s landmark environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joseph Smooke, an organizer with the city’s Race and Equity in All Planning Coalition, said not everyone in San Francisco wants to live in a high-rise condo tower. He also argued that if people are displaced because their neighborhoods become too expensive due to new development, it will be hard for them to find a more affordable rental in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That household that’s looking for a new place to live is going to be confronted with whatever the market rents are at that time,” he said. “What you end up with is displacement, not just from communities, but from the city entirely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A settlement hearing in the Neighborhoods United lawsuit is set for Feb. 19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trauss said her lawsuit and the opposing one are manifestations of the local politics surrounding housing affordability, with one side arguing the city isn’t doing enough to make way for more housing, while the other said the city isn’t protecting its existing residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a way, I think it’s good that the government is caught on both sides,” she said. “It demonstrates why state intervention is needed because left just to the local politics, they’re never going to quite get over the hump.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Shareyourstory\">\u003c/a>California is expensive. Share your story of how you get by\u003c/h2>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/12073193/yimby-groups-sue-san-francisco-arguing-upzoning-doesnt-go-far-enough",
"authors": [
"11672"
],
"categories": [
"news_6266",
"news_28250",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_3921",
"news_1775",
"news_38",
"news_35898"
],
"featImg": "news_12073370",
"label": "news"
},
"news_12072666": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_12072666",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12072666",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1770634802000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-wants-to-be-governor-heres-a-look-into-his-signature-homelessness-program",
"title": "San José Mayor Matt Mahan Wants to Be Governor. Here’s a Look Into His Signature Homelessness Program",
"publishDate": 1770634802,
"format": "audio",
"headTitle": "San José Mayor Matt Mahan Wants to Be Governor. Here’s a Look Into His Signature Homelessness Program | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>Since San José Mayor Matt Mahan took office in 2023, the city has dramatically shifted the city’s approach to homelessness from building permanent affordable housing to building more temporary shelters, with the goal of getting people off the street faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071306/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-announces-run-for-california-governor\">as he eyes the governor’s office\u003c/a>, we look into how his signature homelessness program is going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC1899974463&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco-Northern California Local.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:00:00] I’m Ericka Cruz Guevara and welcome to The Bay, local news to keep you rooted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:00:05] Thank you all for being here today in North San Jose. San Jose’s District 4…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:00:11] Last week, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan appeared at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a 200-bed, tiny home community for the city’s unhoused residents. It’s going to be the city 23rd temporary housing site, way up from the seven that were there when Mahan first took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:00:33] When I ran, I promised that we would change our approach to homelessness, that we would get more people indoors faster, that we would stop letting the perfect be the enemy of the good because it was costing us lives, threatening the livelihoods of our small business owners, and worsening quality of life for all of us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:00:55] Mahan turned San Jose’s approach to homelessness upside down when he shifted the city’s focus on building permanent affordable housing to quick interim shelter instead. Now, Mahan wants to be California’s governor and he’s pointing to his track record on homelessness as a success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:01:20] I do think if you’re looking at him as a politician based on his time in San Jose, this tiny home program really is a good place to look because this has been really his signature initiative during his time at office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:33] Today, I sit down with KQED politics and government correspondent Guy Marzorati to unpack Mayor Matt Mahan’s signature homelessness program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:50] All right, Guy. So I understand you went to a ribbon cutting ceremony for a tiny home in San Jose yesterday. Can you tell me a little bit about this ceremony you went to?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:02:01] Yeah, so this was the ribbon cutting for a tiny home community that opened in North San Jose at the Cerone VTA Yard. This is a dirt parcel that’s owned by the Valley Transportation Authority that they’re leasing to San Jose to build a 200-bed tiny home community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:02:23] Even though we’ve all been together at grand openings like this many times before, this site is very special. It’s also the first site I fought hard for after becoming mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:02:37] This was a notable ribbon cutting because it marked the last tiny home project in the city’s pipeline. This has been a huge initiative under the current mayor, Matt Mahan and the city council, and the opening of this tiny home community at the Cerone VTA yard was a milestone in that effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:02:59] This phase of shelter expansion may be over for now, but our fight to end unsheltered homelessness continues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:03:09] The city has basically reached the end of the line as far as the new tiny homes and shelters that they can fund. Mahan has said they just don’t have enough money to continue building this system out. And he’s described it now as a time to optimize these beds that they do have in order to meet the need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:03:27] I’m curious what these tiny homes actually looked like. Can you describe them for me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:03:32] Yeah, so in the case of this new facility in North San Jose, they’re basically just single rooms with a door that locks on top of what looked like large metal risers. So you can almost think of like really large shipping containers on top of these metal riser with individual rooms and then on site different facilities for laundry, communal kitchen, places for staff to work for supportive services to either connect them with medical services they might need. To try to find them housing placements in the future. There’s often also county health workers that will come visit on site as well. Sometimes they’ll also have help with any like pet needs because people are allowed to bring their pets as well, it’s a lot of those kind of like supportive services that are available on site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:04:18] What is it actually like for folks living in one of these interim housing sites?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:04:26] You know, I think for the folks that I’ve talked to that are staying in the interim housing communities, I think it’s two things. On one hand, many of the people I talked to and including this man named Miguel Torres who lives at the Rue Ferrari interim housing complex, it’s a lot better than what they had thought of traditionally as shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Miguel Torres \u003c/strong>[00:04:47] Here it’s like peaceful, you get your own room. You know, for me, because I get like a little anxiety, it’s perfect for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:04:54] These you know images of congregate shelter where people in large facilities and bunk beds and there’s no privacy and there are often cases of abuse or crime. This is something very different. This offers a level of privacy and as Miguel described it just like a way to kind of breathe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Miguel Torres \u003c/strong>[00:05:14] I don’t have to worry about being in the street or anything. So I’m focusing on a career, on a job, trying to just move forward, you know, be independent and get my own spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:05:21] He’d only moved in a little while ago, but he already had it decked out with, you know, 49er blankets everywhere and he had his speaker system set up. He was able to make the place his own. At the same time, he said, like, this is not my ultimate dream for myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:05:39] What’s your dream for your own, like, spot?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Miguel Torres \u003c/strong>[00:05:42] Oh man, if I told you…a big house, cars, boat, motorcycle, you don’t know. No – just a regular little house, you know, I got kids so hopefully I can bring them in with me too. That’s pretty much my goal, just to get a stable job, you know, affordable housing and my kids with me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:06:04] What is supposed to happen to folks who stay in these tiny homes? Like how long are they supposed to be living in these?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:06:13] I think initially when this plan was envisioned in San Jose, it would be that maybe a six-month stay or thereabouts before people could move on to permanent housing, whether that’s moving into a supportive housing project, getting a rental voucher, and going and finding their own apartment, whatever the case may be, that in practice has not turned out to be a strict rule, and in many cases people do stay at these interim housing facilities for more than six months. But the goal of the program overall is to get people off of the streets so they’re not sleeping in tents or along river beds and move them towards a more permanent form of housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:06:57] And you mentioned, Guy, that this project was sort of the last phase of this sort of broader effort by Mayor Matt Mahan to address homelessness by really focusing on interim housing. Can you remind us a little bit how different that focus on interim housing is from San approaches to homelessness in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:07:23] Yeah, that’s a great question, because when Mahan took office at the beginning of 2023, San Jose, Santa Clara, the South Bay, writ large, public officials were really focused on ending homelessness largely through spending money to build permanent affordable housing. Every year Mahan has been mayor, he’s put forward these plans where he wants to spend more and more of dedicated city homelessness dollars towards shelter. First time he proposed it was the first year he was mayor, it got rejected. He came back the next year, got more money towards shelter, and then it got to a point where last year, where the city council voted to basically spend all of this dedicated homeless money, 90% of it, towards interim housing and shelter. So. It’s gone from when he took office, 90% of this money was on affordable housing, now 90% on shelter. This is now a really robust system of more than 2,100 beds across the city. It’s been a complete turnaround in the way in which local government, and specifically in San Jose, has tried to reduce homelessness, and it has not been without controversy because we’ve seen, again and again, funding fights over whether to use city dollars towards shelter. Or whether to use it towards more permanent affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:08:41] And obviously, the goal for someone like Mahan is to very quickly get people off of streets to sort of end that visible form of homelessness. So Guy, it’s been three years since Mahan took office. I mean, how’s it going?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:08:59] Yeah, I mean, I think when you look at the tiny home program mayhem would point to unsheltered homelessness being down 10% in San Jose since he took office and that being the North Star of success for why the shelter build out is working. That being said, it is still early and I think there are some open questions about this initiative going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:09:26] While visible forms of homelessness have gone down during Mahan’s time as mayor, experts have argued you can’t solve homelessness for good without permanent, affordable housing. It remains to be seen how many people living in these temporary shelters actually move into something more permanent. And that could all depend on whether the city can even continue paying to keep these tiny homes open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:10:04] This interim housing system is still not completely funded in the years to come, the operating costs. There was a budget report that came out from the city last week that found this system is about $17 million short in the coming budget year. It’s gonna need $30 million. The following year, it’s gonna need $58 million by 2029. Now, Mahan argues the city can get the cost down at these sites, they can optimize services. Or money will come from the state government or from the county government but if it doesn’t that money to keep these tiny homes operating will come from the city general fund and that’s what pays for all the rest of the basic services of the city like police, like fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:10:48] Yeah, that is so interesting. And I wonder what the conversations within local government have been around this. That is such a shift in the region’s approach to homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:11:01] Yeah, it’s certainly not been without controversy. I think at the city level, Mahan and the city council got to a point where they had committed themselves to building out this system. Once that became the case, they were stuck looking for, okay, we need to find a way to pay for it. And this Measure E money, this money that’s raised every year through attacks on real estate transactions, that became pot they were looking for to build out this shelter system. There have been a lot of criticism of that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sylvia Arenas \u003c/strong>[00:11:28] I think to build tiny homes and then you forget, oh, we needed to also put in some money to operate is not respecting the taxpayers and also not being true to what you’re actually providing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:11:42] And I talked to supervisor Sylvia Arenas who said she honestly felt like it was a mistake or perhaps irresponsible to build out a system without a clear way of paying for it in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sylvia Arenas \u003c/strong>[00:11:55] Are operating costs of interim housing, like those costs were going to outrun the revenue that we were receiving. So how on earth were we going to continue to provide the service?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:12:09] What Mahan has said is, well, I need to see other parts of government come in and help support these costs. I need the state to help me. I need a county government to come and help me, and county leaders have said, well wait a second, we never agreed with building out this system in the first place. I will say that there has been more collaboration between Santa Clara County and San Jose in recent months on providing services to people living in temporary housing. But there’s still no guarantee that the county is going to help pick up the tab, pick up the operating costs for these tiny homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sylvia Arenas \u003c/strong>[00:12:42] It is not meant for a permanent place for folks to live. And so unless we are going to feed the pipeline and the pipeline at the end of this is more affordable housing, we’re just creating more places for people to live, not interim, but for a longer period of time. So the question is, is this really interim or is this more permanent housing for folks who are unhoused?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:13:12] Yeah, it sounds like Matt Mahan is sort of celebrating the media and stuff, but it does sound like there might be some sort of long-term impacts that we have yet to see in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:13:27] Yeah, and I think this is, you know, experts that I’ve talked about with this, about building out shelter systems. And I heard this from Benjamin Henwood, who leads the Homelessness Policy Research Institute at USC, is that these shelter systems, once they’re built, can really be costly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Benjamin Henwood \u003c/strong>[00:13:47] I think the question becomes, are we designing a shelter system to sort of permanently manage a homelessness problem?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:13:55] If you think about an affordable housing project, the people who are living there are contributing some portion of the rent, or maybe if they’re unable to, they’re having a federal voucher that’s gonna pay for some portion the rent. So the operators of those apartments are getting some kind of revenue. When you look at a shelter or a tiny home, no one is paying anything who’s staying there. So there’s really no revenue that’s coming in to support this, yet the city has committed itself. To pay these operating costs year after year after year. And so Henwood said, yeah, look, this is one of the risks of building out a shelter system like this is that you end up with these kind of ongoing escalating costs for years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Benjamin Henwood \u003c/strong>[00:14:36] The issue is that we just don’t have enough housing, and so I think people have struggled with how best to address that, because I think that people want something done in the short term, but those short term solutions are not going to lead to kind of a long-term resolution of the problem. So it’s an important dilemma when you have limited resources on how you’re going use them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:14:58] Well, that’s really interesting, Guy, because now you have Matt Mahan running for governor of the state of California. I mean, how does that change the way that you are looking at this program, really his signature program on homelessness in San Jose?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:15:18] Yeah, no, that’s exactly it. Like this is his signature program as mayor. Some mayors have bridges, tunnels, others have downtown arenas. Matt Mahan has tiny homes. This is going to be fascinating to watch in the context of the governor’s race, because I do think Mahan will frame much of his campaign as a story of San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:15:36] I want to lead the state in a way that is less focused on partisanship and more focused on results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:15:44] Look to San Jose for a place that actually has achieved results on something that we set out to achieve. Voters, elected mayhem, unsheltered homelessness was probably the biggest issue in the campaign. He vowed to reduce it. It’s coming down. But I do think if you’re looking at him as a politician based on his time in San Jose, this tiny home program really is a good place to look because this has been really his signature initiative during his time office. The question now is, how much more progress can be made? Because as I said, this was kind of the end of the line for building out the shelter system, yet roughly 4,000 people are still sleeping on the streets in San Jose every night. So if this is the finish line, what other steps are gonna be taken to reach that goal of actually ending unsheltered homelessness?\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Since taking office in 2023, Mahan has dramatically shifted the city’s approach to homelessness from building permanent affordable housing to building temporary shelters.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1770671436,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": true,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 53,
"wordCount": 3135
},
"headData": {
"title": "San José Mayor Matt Mahan Wants to Be Governor. Here’s a Look Into His Signature Homelessness Program | KQED",
"description": "Since taking office in 2023, Mahan has dramatically shifted the city’s approach to homelessness from building permanent affordable housing to building temporary shelters.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "San José Mayor Matt Mahan Wants to Be Governor. Here’s a Look Into His Signature Homelessness Program",
"datePublished": "2026-02-09T03:00:02-08:00",
"dateModified": "2026-02-09T13:10:36-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 13,
"slug": "politics",
"name": "Politics"
},
"source": "The Bay",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/thebay",
"audioUrl": "https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC1899974463.mp3",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-12072666",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/12072666/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-wants-to-be-governor-heres-a-look-into-his-signature-homelessness-program",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Since San José Mayor Matt Mahan took office in 2023, the city has dramatically shifted the city’s approach to homelessness from building permanent affordable housing to building more temporary shelters, with the goal of getting people off the street faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071306/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-announces-run-for-california-governor\">as he eyes the governor’s office\u003c/a>, we look into how his signature homelessness program is going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC1899974463&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco-Northern California Local.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:00:00] I’m Ericka Cruz Guevara and welcome to The Bay, local news to keep you rooted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:00:05] Thank you all for being here today in North San Jose. San Jose’s District 4…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:00:11] Last week, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan appeared at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a 200-bed, tiny home community for the city’s unhoused residents. It’s going to be the city 23rd temporary housing site, way up from the seven that were there when Mahan first took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:00:33] When I ran, I promised that we would change our approach to homelessness, that we would get more people indoors faster, that we would stop letting the perfect be the enemy of the good because it was costing us lives, threatening the livelihoods of our small business owners, and worsening quality of life for all of us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:00:55] Mahan turned San Jose’s approach to homelessness upside down when he shifted the city’s focus on building permanent affordable housing to quick interim shelter instead. Now, Mahan wants to be California’s governor and he’s pointing to his track record on homelessness as a success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:01:20] I do think if you’re looking at him as a politician based on his time in San Jose, this tiny home program really is a good place to look because this has been really his signature initiative during his time at office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:33] Today, I sit down with KQED politics and government correspondent Guy Marzorati to unpack Mayor Matt Mahan’s signature homelessness program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:50] All right, Guy. So I understand you went to a ribbon cutting ceremony for a tiny home in San Jose yesterday. Can you tell me a little bit about this ceremony you went to?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:02:01] Yeah, so this was the ribbon cutting for a tiny home community that opened in North San Jose at the Cerone VTA Yard. This is a dirt parcel that’s owned by the Valley Transportation Authority that they’re leasing to San Jose to build a 200-bed tiny home community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:02:23] Even though we’ve all been together at grand openings like this many times before, this site is very special. It’s also the first site I fought hard for after becoming mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:02:37] This was a notable ribbon cutting because it marked the last tiny home project in the city’s pipeline. This has been a huge initiative under the current mayor, Matt Mahan and the city council, and the opening of this tiny home community at the Cerone VTA yard was a milestone in that effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:02:59] This phase of shelter expansion may be over for now, but our fight to end unsheltered homelessness continues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:03:09] The city has basically reached the end of the line as far as the new tiny homes and shelters that they can fund. Mahan has said they just don’t have enough money to continue building this system out. And he’s described it now as a time to optimize these beds that they do have in order to meet the need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:03:27] I’m curious what these tiny homes actually looked like. Can you describe them for me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:03:32] Yeah, so in the case of this new facility in North San Jose, they’re basically just single rooms with a door that locks on top of what looked like large metal risers. So you can almost think of like really large shipping containers on top of these metal riser with individual rooms and then on site different facilities for laundry, communal kitchen, places for staff to work for supportive services to either connect them with medical services they might need. To try to find them housing placements in the future. There’s often also county health workers that will come visit on site as well. Sometimes they’ll also have help with any like pet needs because people are allowed to bring their pets as well, it’s a lot of those kind of like supportive services that are available on site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:04:18] What is it actually like for folks living in one of these interim housing sites?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:04:26] You know, I think for the folks that I’ve talked to that are staying in the interim housing communities, I think it’s two things. On one hand, many of the people I talked to and including this man named Miguel Torres who lives at the Rue Ferrari interim housing complex, it’s a lot better than what they had thought of traditionally as shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Miguel Torres \u003c/strong>[00:04:47] Here it’s like peaceful, you get your own room. You know, for me, because I get like a little anxiety, it’s perfect for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:04:54] These you know images of congregate shelter where people in large facilities and bunk beds and there’s no privacy and there are often cases of abuse or crime. This is something very different. This offers a level of privacy and as Miguel described it just like a way to kind of breathe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Miguel Torres \u003c/strong>[00:05:14] I don’t have to worry about being in the street or anything. So I’m focusing on a career, on a job, trying to just move forward, you know, be independent and get my own spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:05:21] He’d only moved in a little while ago, but he already had it decked out with, you know, 49er blankets everywhere and he had his speaker system set up. He was able to make the place his own. At the same time, he said, like, this is not my ultimate dream for myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:05:39] What’s your dream for your own, like, spot?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Miguel Torres \u003c/strong>[00:05:42] Oh man, if I told you…a big house, cars, boat, motorcycle, you don’t know. No – just a regular little house, you know, I got kids so hopefully I can bring them in with me too. That’s pretty much my goal, just to get a stable job, you know, affordable housing and my kids with me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:06:04] What is supposed to happen to folks who stay in these tiny homes? Like how long are they supposed to be living in these?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:06:13] I think initially when this plan was envisioned in San Jose, it would be that maybe a six-month stay or thereabouts before people could move on to permanent housing, whether that’s moving into a supportive housing project, getting a rental voucher, and going and finding their own apartment, whatever the case may be, that in practice has not turned out to be a strict rule, and in many cases people do stay at these interim housing facilities for more than six months. But the goal of the program overall is to get people off of the streets so they’re not sleeping in tents or along river beds and move them towards a more permanent form of housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:06:57] And you mentioned, Guy, that this project was sort of the last phase of this sort of broader effort by Mayor Matt Mahan to address homelessness by really focusing on interim housing. Can you remind us a little bit how different that focus on interim housing is from San approaches to homelessness in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:07:23] Yeah, that’s a great question, because when Mahan took office at the beginning of 2023, San Jose, Santa Clara, the South Bay, writ large, public officials were really focused on ending homelessness largely through spending money to build permanent affordable housing. Every year Mahan has been mayor, he’s put forward these plans where he wants to spend more and more of dedicated city homelessness dollars towards shelter. First time he proposed it was the first year he was mayor, it got rejected. He came back the next year, got more money towards shelter, and then it got to a point where last year, where the city council voted to basically spend all of this dedicated homeless money, 90% of it, towards interim housing and shelter. So. It’s gone from when he took office, 90% of this money was on affordable housing, now 90% on shelter. This is now a really robust system of more than 2,100 beds across the city. It’s been a complete turnaround in the way in which local government, and specifically in San Jose, has tried to reduce homelessness, and it has not been without controversy because we’ve seen, again and again, funding fights over whether to use city dollars towards shelter. Or whether to use it towards more permanent affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:08:41] And obviously, the goal for someone like Mahan is to very quickly get people off of streets to sort of end that visible form of homelessness. So Guy, it’s been three years since Mahan took office. I mean, how’s it going?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:08:59] Yeah, I mean, I think when you look at the tiny home program mayhem would point to unsheltered homelessness being down 10% in San Jose since he took office and that being the North Star of success for why the shelter build out is working. That being said, it is still early and I think there are some open questions about this initiative going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:09:26] While visible forms of homelessness have gone down during Mahan’s time as mayor, experts have argued you can’t solve homelessness for good without permanent, affordable housing. It remains to be seen how many people living in these temporary shelters actually move into something more permanent. And that could all depend on whether the city can even continue paying to keep these tiny homes open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:10:04] This interim housing system is still not completely funded in the years to come, the operating costs. There was a budget report that came out from the city last week that found this system is about $17 million short in the coming budget year. It’s gonna need $30 million. The following year, it’s gonna need $58 million by 2029. Now, Mahan argues the city can get the cost down at these sites, they can optimize services. Or money will come from the state government or from the county government but if it doesn’t that money to keep these tiny homes operating will come from the city general fund and that’s what pays for all the rest of the basic services of the city like police, like fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:10:48] Yeah, that is so interesting. And I wonder what the conversations within local government have been around this. That is such a shift in the region’s approach to homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:11:01] Yeah, it’s certainly not been without controversy. I think at the city level, Mahan and the city council got to a point where they had committed themselves to building out this system. Once that became the case, they were stuck looking for, okay, we need to find a way to pay for it. And this Measure E money, this money that’s raised every year through attacks on real estate transactions, that became pot they were looking for to build out this shelter system. There have been a lot of criticism of that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sylvia Arenas \u003c/strong>[00:11:28] I think to build tiny homes and then you forget, oh, we needed to also put in some money to operate is not respecting the taxpayers and also not being true to what you’re actually providing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:11:42] And I talked to supervisor Sylvia Arenas who said she honestly felt like it was a mistake or perhaps irresponsible to build out a system without a clear way of paying for it in the years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sylvia Arenas \u003c/strong>[00:11:55] Are operating costs of interim housing, like those costs were going to outrun the revenue that we were receiving. So how on earth were we going to continue to provide the service?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:12:09] What Mahan has said is, well, I need to see other parts of government come in and help support these costs. I need the state to help me. I need a county government to come and help me, and county leaders have said, well wait a second, we never agreed with building out this system in the first place. I will say that there has been more collaboration between Santa Clara County and San Jose in recent months on providing services to people living in temporary housing. But there’s still no guarantee that the county is going to help pick up the tab, pick up the operating costs for these tiny homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sylvia Arenas \u003c/strong>[00:12:42] It is not meant for a permanent place for folks to live. And so unless we are going to feed the pipeline and the pipeline at the end of this is more affordable housing, we’re just creating more places for people to live, not interim, but for a longer period of time. So the question is, is this really interim or is this more permanent housing for folks who are unhoused?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:13:12] Yeah, it sounds like Matt Mahan is sort of celebrating the media and stuff, but it does sound like there might be some sort of long-term impacts that we have yet to see in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:13:27] Yeah, and I think this is, you know, experts that I’ve talked about with this, about building out shelter systems. And I heard this from Benjamin Henwood, who leads the Homelessness Policy Research Institute at USC, is that these shelter systems, once they’re built, can really be costly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Benjamin Henwood \u003c/strong>[00:13:47] I think the question becomes, are we designing a shelter system to sort of permanently manage a homelessness problem?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:13:55] If you think about an affordable housing project, the people who are living there are contributing some portion of the rent, or maybe if they’re unable to, they’re having a federal voucher that’s gonna pay for some portion the rent. So the operators of those apartments are getting some kind of revenue. When you look at a shelter or a tiny home, no one is paying anything who’s staying there. So there’s really no revenue that’s coming in to support this, yet the city has committed itself. To pay these operating costs year after year after year. And so Henwood said, yeah, look, this is one of the risks of building out a shelter system like this is that you end up with these kind of ongoing escalating costs for years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Benjamin Henwood \u003c/strong>[00:14:36] The issue is that we just don’t have enough housing, and so I think people have struggled with how best to address that, because I think that people want something done in the short term, but those short term solutions are not going to lead to kind of a long-term resolution of the problem. So it’s an important dilemma when you have limited resources on how you’re going use them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:14:58] Well, that’s really interesting, Guy, because now you have Matt Mahan running for governor of the state of California. I mean, how does that change the way that you are looking at this program, really his signature program on homelessness in San Jose?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:15:18] Yeah, no, that’s exactly it. Like this is his signature program as mayor. Some mayors have bridges, tunnels, others have downtown arenas. Matt Mahan has tiny homes. This is going to be fascinating to watch in the context of the governor’s race, because I do think Mahan will frame much of his campaign as a story of San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matt Mahan \u003c/strong>[00:15:36] I want to lead the state in a way that is less focused on partisanship and more focused on results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Guy Marzorati \u003c/strong>[00:15:44] Look to San Jose for a place that actually has achieved results on something that we set out to achieve. Voters, elected mayhem, unsheltered homelessness was probably the biggest issue in the campaign. He vowed to reduce it. It’s coming down. But I do think if you’re looking at him as a politician based on his time in San Jose, this tiny home program really is a good place to look because this has been really his signature initiative during his time office. The question now is, how much more progress can be made? Because as I said, this was kind of the end of the line for building out the shelter system, yet roughly 4,000 people are still sleeping on the streets in San Jose every night. So if this is the finish line, what other steps are gonna be taken to reach that goal of actually ending unsheltered homelessness?\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/12072666/san-jose-mayor-matt-mahan-wants-to-be-governor-heres-a-look-into-his-signature-homelessness-program",
"authors": [
"8654",
"227",
"11831",
"11649"
],
"categories": [
"news_8",
"news_13"
],
"tags": [
"news_4020",
"news_1775",
"news_33812",
"news_31197",
"news_17968",
"news_18541",
"news_22598"
],
"featImg": "news_12072669",
"label": "source_news_12072666"
},
"news_12072054": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_12072054",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12072054",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1770206407000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "san-francisco-opens-shelter-beds-for-unhoused-people-forced-to-move-during-super-bowl-week",
"title": "San Francisco Opens Homeless Shelter for People Forced to Move During Super Bowl",
"publishDate": 1770206407,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "San Francisco Opens Homeless Shelter for People Forced to Move During Super Bowl | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>As thousands of people descend upon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> this week for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/super-bowl\">Super Bowl\u003c/a> LX, the city is looking to put on a sparkly show for tourists and locals alike — and telling unhoused individuals to move along to make way for activities downtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to running existing interfaith winter shelters, the city is funding additional shelter beds specifically during the week of the Super Bowl, KQED has confirmed. Many homeless advocates and unhoused people say the efforts are merely pushing the issue out of view of Super Bowl fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re trying to cover up a problem that, you know, exists. It’s dehumanizing. If you don’t have anywhere else to go, they’ll still tell you, ‘We don’t want you here,’ because it makes the city look bad,” said Jered Thomas, a 33-year-old who is homeless and recently was sleeping near the South of Market and Mission neighborhoods. “But I don’t really feel like they’re solving the problem by moving us around or policing us, making it illegal to be homeless. It just makes the problem even worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 8,300 people are homeless in San Francisco, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/data--point-time-count-dashboard\">2024 Point-in-Time count\u003c/a>, a biennial snapshot of the city’s unhoused population. Just over half of the people included in the count were unsheltered. While the city has made a number of changes to its policies for addressing homelessness, affordable housing and access to subsidies remain out of reach for many.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday night, Thomas slept at the Gubbio Project. The nonprofit typically only offers respite and services for people who are unhoused during the day. But the week of the Super Bowl, the city is helping the program operate 24 hours a day to prepare meals for guests and oversee 80 beds (60 beds for people who drop in themselves, and 20 reserved for people dropped off by police or the city’s street response teams).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072187\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072187\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_015-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_015-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_015-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_015-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jered Thomas sits inside the sanctuary at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church, home to the Gubbio Project, on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. The program provides guests a place to rest with no sign-in process and no one turned away. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This year’s Super Bowl will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, but it is expected to draw thousands of tourists from all over the globe to San Francisco, about 45 miles north. City leaders see the event, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071211/super-bowl-lx-promises-big-bucks-for-the-bay-area-cities-are-trying-to-cash-in\">projected to bring more than $600 million\u003c/a> to the region, as a catapult for the city’s post-pandemic economic rebound. Mayor Daniel Lurie has seized the opportunity to charm visitors and TV viewers, and change the negative narrative many conservative media pundits have spun about San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Next month, we will once again welcome people from across the globe for Super Bowl LX,” Lurie said during his State of the City address in January. “And I have no doubt that our city will once again rise to the occasion as the spotlight of the world shines on San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not unexpected that San Francisco will clear sidewalks of encampments ahead of the major event, which also came to the Bay Area in 2016, when major sweeps took place around the Embarcadero and other areas where Super Bowl festivities were happening. The city took a similar approach with other events, like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, when high-security levels prompted the closure of several streets downtown and restricted foot traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, the city is shutting down blocks downtown around the Moscone Center, where the NFL is hosting events for football fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>California is an expensive place to live. Are you feeling the pinch? \u003ca href=\"#Shareyourstory\">Share your story\u003c/a> with KQED by leaving us a voicemail at \u003ca href=\"tel:4155532115\">415-553-2115\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header\">clicking here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Officials at the Department of Emergency Management, which oversees the city’s street crews that respond to homeless encampments, said they are continuing with their regular schedule and are not ramping up enforcement efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco’s work to bring people indoors and improve street conditions is ongoing every day — regardless of whether a major event is happening in the Bay Area,” a spokesperson from DEM said. “Neighborhood Street Teams are extending hours and proactively encouraging people to accept services, as they do every day. The message is simple: help is available, and today is a good day to come inside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other cities in the Bay Area looking to lure tourists are also continuing to clear encampments ahead of the event and maintaining that they are not ramping up enforcement around any particular event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These efforts are part of San José’s ongoing, year-round strategy to reduce homelessness with compassion, dignity and long-term solutions — not a one-time response tied to any single event,” said Sarah Fields, deputy director of public affairs for San José’s Housing Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072189\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Department of Public Works employees clean up debris after a sweep of an encampment on Merlin Street in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood on Jan. 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tent clearings and citations for people sleeping outside have increased across San Francisco in the last year, especially after the 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Grants Pass case that made it easier for cities to force homeless people to move, even if shelter is unavailable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s certainly been an uptick in operations for months now,” said John Do, an ACLU attorney who worked on a lawsuit against San Francisco over how it conducted homeless sweeps. The $2.8 million settlement for the case was officially finalized in September 2025. “The city wants to hide their homelessness crisis by displacing people … But those are temporary measures, which don’t, of course, address the underlying issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year’s Super Bowl also comes as nearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/data--check-your-position-adult-shelter-waitlist\">400 residents remain on San Francisco’s waitlist\u003c/a> for a bed at one of the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/data--shelter-and-crisis-interventions\">53 shelter sites\u003c/a>, while others struggle to obtain permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the city opens up additional beds at Gubbio in the Mission District, it’s also winding down more than 100 beds at the Monarch and Adante hotels downtown. At the same time, dozens of displaced residents of a Tenderloin building that burned in December say they are struggling to find shelter even months after the blaze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072185\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072185\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_008-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_008-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_008-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_008-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guests sleep on cots arranged throughout the sanctuary at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church, where the Gubbio Project is operating an overnight shelter during Super Bowl weekend on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Shelters are full. All of the sudden, the city is providing additional beds when we have been asking for this for months,” said Gardenia Zuniga-Haro, an advocate for the residents who previously lived at the burned building. “It’s convenient for the mayor to make it look like everything is peaches and cream, but that’s not the case. He has done nothing but spend millions on bringing in celebrities and promoting Taco Bell.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lydia Bransten, executive director at the Gubbio Project, said the city’s decision to open additional beds at their site during Super Bowl week was a welcome change from past responses to major events, when the city cleared streets of homeless residents but offered them nowhere to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As much as the city is being really hard on our folks who are experiencing homelessness, this is a good move to say we understand that people are going to be displaced and we’re going to respond to it by giving people an option of someplace to be,” Bransten said. “We can’t serve everybody, but we’ll maybe serve 80 people a night. That’s a lot of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday night, several dozen guests lingered around the quiet courtyard at the Gubbio Project. Gubbio staff, who are working 12-hour shifts this week to take on the new 24-hour model, prepared chicken alfredo pasta with broccoli and buttered biscuits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072186\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072186\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_012-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_012-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_012-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_012-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joshua Wagner sits in the courtyard at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. The program allows unhoused guests to rest inside the church without intake forms or barriers, emphasizing dignity, accessibility and safety. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rows of cot beds lined the inside of the church where the Gubbio Project is based, with soft sounds of snoring from those who had gone to sleep early.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The quiet shelter offered a place to finally relax for Joshua Wagner, who had been asked to move off the sidewalk on 11th Street in the South of Market neighborhood earlier that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Me and several people that I’ve been with were told that we were not allowed to be out when the Super Bowl is happening this week, whatever the hell that means. We’re homeless. How can we not be allowed out?” Wagner said. “I can’t even rest for five minutes without somebody telling me to get up and go. I have health problems causing me great distress every time I have to battle gravity just to move along.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas arrived at the shelter after city outreach workers told him about the beds that would be available that night.[aside postID=news_12068047 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/20251211_YOUTHHOMELESSNESS_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED.jpg']“They said that the church is opening the shelter for the week of the Super Bowl, because the city wants the homeless people off the streets for all the fans coming from the East Coast to see the city and celebrate for the Super Bowl,” Thomas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in San Francisco, Thomas said street crews have asked him to move along before. He’s stayed in shelters, but has experienced harassment and had his items stolen in those spaces before, so he sticks by himself on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lately, however, he said there’s been even more shuffling around. “There’s increased police, and an obvious police presence today to say the least,” he said Monday evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He hopes to one day do outreach himself for people in his situation. He has an idea of what could get him there: “What would be helpful for me is an opportunity for housing without all the hoops you have to go through for federal assistance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though he’s had negative experiences at some shelters, he was feeling good about his stay at Gubbio on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I like it so far. The dinner’s good. The beds are, you know, they’re comfortable. They let you bring in your things. They don’t have so many restrictions. And I feel like the staff is more understanding here than at other shelters,” he said. “It’s like a breath of fresh air.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Shareyourstory\">\u003c/a>California is expensive. Share your story of how you get by\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Bay Area cities are clearing sidewalks to boost their public image during Super Bowl LX, which is expected to draw thousands of tourists to the region and millions of TV viewers.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1770428628,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": true,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 33,
"wordCount": 1925
},
"headData": {
"title": "San Francisco Opens Homeless Shelter for People Forced to Move During Super Bowl | KQED",
"description": "Bay Area cities are clearing sidewalks to boost their public image during Super Bowl LX, which is expected to draw thousands of tourists to the region and millions of TV viewers.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "San Francisco Opens Homeless Shelter for People Forced to Move During Super Bowl",
"datePublished": "2026-02-04T04:00:07-08:00",
"dateModified": "2026-02-06T17:43:48-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 6266,
"slug": "housing",
"name": "Housing"
},
"audioUrl": "https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/1d90e69a-27db-455f-bbe0-b3ea001a5c24/audio.mp3",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-12072054",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/12072054/san-francisco-opens-shelter-beds-for-unhoused-people-forced-to-move-during-super-bowl-week",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As thousands of people descend upon \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> this week for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/super-bowl\">Super Bowl\u003c/a> LX, the city is looking to put on a sparkly show for tourists and locals alike — and telling unhoused individuals to move along to make way for activities downtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to running existing interfaith winter shelters, the city is funding additional shelter beds specifically during the week of the Super Bowl, KQED has confirmed. Many homeless advocates and unhoused people say the efforts are merely pushing the issue out of view of Super Bowl fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re trying to cover up a problem that, you know, exists. It’s dehumanizing. If you don’t have anywhere else to go, they’ll still tell you, ‘We don’t want you here,’ because it makes the city look bad,” said Jered Thomas, a 33-year-old who is homeless and recently was sleeping near the South of Market and Mission neighborhoods. “But I don’t really feel like they’re solving the problem by moving us around or policing us, making it illegal to be homeless. It just makes the problem even worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 8,300 people are homeless in San Francisco, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/data--point-time-count-dashboard\">2024 Point-in-Time count\u003c/a>, a biennial snapshot of the city’s unhoused population. Just over half of the people included in the count were unsheltered. While the city has made a number of changes to its policies for addressing homelessness, affordable housing and access to subsidies remain out of reach for many.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday night, Thomas slept at the Gubbio Project. The nonprofit typically only offers respite and services for people who are unhoused during the day. But the week of the Super Bowl, the city is helping the program operate 24 hours a day to prepare meals for guests and oversee 80 beds (60 beds for people who drop in themselves, and 20 reserved for people dropped off by police or the city’s street response teams).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072187\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072187\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_015-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_015-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_015-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_015-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jered Thomas sits inside the sanctuary at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church, home to the Gubbio Project, on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. The program provides guests a place to rest with no sign-in process and no one turned away. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This year’s Super Bowl will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, but it is expected to draw thousands of tourists from all over the globe to San Francisco, about 45 miles north. City leaders see the event, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071211/super-bowl-lx-promises-big-bucks-for-the-bay-area-cities-are-trying-to-cash-in\">projected to bring more than $600 million\u003c/a> to the region, as a catapult for the city’s post-pandemic economic rebound. Mayor Daniel Lurie has seized the opportunity to charm visitors and TV viewers, and change the negative narrative many conservative media pundits have spun about San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Next month, we will once again welcome people from across the globe for Super Bowl LX,” Lurie said during his State of the City address in January. “And I have no doubt that our city will once again rise to the occasion as the spotlight of the world shines on San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not unexpected that San Francisco will clear sidewalks of encampments ahead of the major event, which also came to the Bay Area in 2016, when major sweeps took place around the Embarcadero and other areas where Super Bowl festivities were happening. The city took a similar approach with other events, like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, when high-security levels prompted the closure of several streets downtown and restricted foot traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, the city is shutting down blocks downtown around the Moscone Center, where the NFL is hosting events for football fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>California is an expensive place to live. Are you feeling the pinch? \u003ca href=\"#Shareyourstory\">Share your story\u003c/a> with KQED by leaving us a voicemail at \u003ca href=\"tel:4155532115\">415-553-2115\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header\">clicking here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Officials at the Department of Emergency Management, which oversees the city’s street crews that respond to homeless encampments, said they are continuing with their regular schedule and are not ramping up enforcement efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco’s work to bring people indoors and improve street conditions is ongoing every day — regardless of whether a major event is happening in the Bay Area,” a spokesperson from DEM said. “Neighborhood Street Teams are extending hours and proactively encouraging people to accept services, as they do every day. The message is simple: help is available, and today is a good day to come inside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other cities in the Bay Area looking to lure tourists are also continuing to clear encampments ahead of the event and maintaining that they are not ramping up enforcement around any particular event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These efforts are part of San José’s ongoing, year-round strategy to reduce homelessness with compassion, dignity and long-term solutions — not a one-time response tied to any single event,” said Sarah Fields, deputy director of public affairs for San José’s Housing Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072189\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-SUPERBOWLHOMELESSNESS-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Department of Public Works employees clean up debris after a sweep of an encampment on Merlin Street in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood on Jan. 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tent clearings and citations for people sleeping outside have increased across San Francisco in the last year, especially after the 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Grants Pass case that made it easier for cities to force homeless people to move, even if shelter is unavailable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s certainly been an uptick in operations for months now,” said John Do, an ACLU attorney who worked on a lawsuit against San Francisco over how it conducted homeless sweeps. The $2.8 million settlement for the case was officially finalized in September 2025. “The city wants to hide their homelessness crisis by displacing people … But those are temporary measures, which don’t, of course, address the underlying issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year’s Super Bowl also comes as nearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/data--check-your-position-adult-shelter-waitlist\">400 residents remain on San Francisco’s waitlist\u003c/a> for a bed at one of the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/data--shelter-and-crisis-interventions\">53 shelter sites\u003c/a>, while others struggle to obtain permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the city opens up additional beds at Gubbio in the Mission District, it’s also winding down more than 100 beds at the Monarch and Adante hotels downtown. At the same time, dozens of displaced residents of a Tenderloin building that burned in December say they are struggling to find shelter even months after the blaze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072185\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072185\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_008-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_008-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_008-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_008-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guests sleep on cots arranged throughout the sanctuary at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church, where the Gubbio Project is operating an overnight shelter during Super Bowl weekend on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Shelters are full. All of the sudden, the city is providing additional beds when we have been asking for this for months,” said Gardenia Zuniga-Haro, an advocate for the residents who previously lived at the burned building. “It’s convenient for the mayor to make it look like everything is peaches and cream, but that’s not the case. He has done nothing but spend millions on bringing in celebrities and promoting Taco Bell.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lydia Bransten, executive director at the Gubbio Project, said the city’s decision to open additional beds at their site during Super Bowl week was a welcome change from past responses to major events, when the city cleared streets of homeless residents but offered them nowhere to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As much as the city is being really hard on our folks who are experiencing homelessness, this is a good move to say we understand that people are going to be displaced and we’re going to respond to it by giving people an option of someplace to be,” Bransten said. “We can’t serve everybody, but we’ll maybe serve 80 people a night. That’s a lot of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday night, several dozen guests lingered around the quiet courtyard at the Gubbio Project. Gubbio staff, who are working 12-hour shifts this week to take on the new 24-hour model, prepared chicken alfredo pasta with broccoli and buttered biscuits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072186\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072186\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_012-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_012-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_012-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020226SUPER-BOWL-HOMELESSNESS-_GH_012-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joshua Wagner sits in the courtyard at St. John’s the Evangelist Episcopal Church on Feb. 2, 2026, in San Francisco. The program allows unhoused guests to rest inside the church without intake forms or barriers, emphasizing dignity, accessibility and safety. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rows of cot beds lined the inside of the church where the Gubbio Project is based, with soft sounds of snoring from those who had gone to sleep early.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The quiet shelter offered a place to finally relax for Joshua Wagner, who had been asked to move off the sidewalk on 11th Street in the South of Market neighborhood earlier that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Me and several people that I’ve been with were told that we were not allowed to be out when the Super Bowl is happening this week, whatever the hell that means. We’re homeless. How can we not be allowed out?” Wagner said. “I can’t even rest for five minutes without somebody telling me to get up and go. I have health problems causing me great distress every time I have to battle gravity just to move along.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas arrived at the shelter after city outreach workers told him about the beds that would be available that night.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12068047",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/20251211_YOUTHHOMELESSNESS_DECEMBER_GH-5-KQED.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“They said that the church is opening the shelter for the week of the Super Bowl, because the city wants the homeless people off the streets for all the fans coming from the East Coast to see the city and celebrate for the Super Bowl,” Thomas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in San Francisco, Thomas said street crews have asked him to move along before. He’s stayed in shelters, but has experienced harassment and had his items stolen in those spaces before, so he sticks by himself on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lately, however, he said there’s been even more shuffling around. “There’s increased police, and an obvious police presence today to say the least,” he said Monday evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He hopes to one day do outreach himself for people in his situation. He has an idea of what could get him there: “What would be helpful for me is an opportunity for housing without all the hoops you have to go through for federal assistance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though he’s had negative experiences at some shelters, he was feeling good about his stay at Gubbio on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I like it so far. The dinner’s good. The beds are, you know, they’re comfortable. They let you bring in your things. They don’t have so many restrictions. And I feel like the staff is more understanding here than at other shelters,” he said. “It’s like a breath of fresh air.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Shareyourstory\">\u003c/a>California is expensive. Share your story of how you get by\u003c/h2>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/12072054/san-francisco-opens-shelter-beds-for-unhoused-people-forced-to-move-during-super-bowl-week",
"authors": [
"11840"
],
"categories": [
"news_6266",
"news_28250",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_3921",
"news_1386",
"news_35213",
"news_4020",
"news_1775",
"news_38",
"news_36245",
"news_783"
],
"featImg": "news_12072184",
"label": "news"
},
"news_12070650": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_12070650",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12070650",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1769180432000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "these-fees-make-affordable-housing-more-expensive-developers-want-to-slash-them",
"title": "These Fees Make Affordable Housing More Expensive. Developers Want to Slash Them",
"publishDate": 1769180432,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "These Fees Make Affordable Housing More Expensive. Developers Want to Slash Them | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">Affordable housing\u003c/a> developers in California are met with a lot of demands: pay for sidewalks and extra sewer lines, make sure there’s money for parks and art projects, don’t forget schools and subways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All those demands add up — contributing to about $20,000 per apartment, on average, or $2 million for a 100-unit building, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/blog/assessing-the-cost-of-impact-fees-on-affordable-housing-an-analysis-of-low-income-housing-tax-credit-projects-in-california/\">new report\u003c/a> from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report, released Thursday, looked at some 700 projects across the state built between 2020 and 2023 and found those fees totaled a whopping $1.2 billion — money the report’s author, Ben Metcalf, said could be better spent building more housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we could have instead reinvested that $1.2 billion into new affordable housing, that could have been 5,000 families that would be off the streets or stably housed or in a much better condition,” said Metcalf, who is also the managing director for the center. “There’s a trade-off that we’re making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings come as the state and federal government look for ways to spur housing construction and make it cheaper to build and buy homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Donald Trump has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/01/13/nx-s1-5674777/trump-federal-reserve-jerome-powell\">aggressively pushed\u003c/a> the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, which he claimed would \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/us/politics/trump-housing-costs.html\">make homeownership more affordable\u003c/a>. And during his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069094/in-final-state-of-state-speech-gov-newsom-says-california-offers-model-for-the-nation\">State of the State\u003c/a> address earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would focus on the cost of construction during his final term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044986\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044986\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Ave. in San Francisco on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But many of the biggest construction costs, including labor, material and — despite the president’s attempts — interest rates are virtually immovable. Experts say the fees local municipalities charge developers are one lever left to pull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pulling that lever, however, may be easier said than done. Known as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017695/san-francisco-wants-to-make-it-cheaper-for-developers-to-build-housing-downtown\">impact fees\u003c/a>” or “developer fees,” the money helps fund infrastructure and municipal services cities argue are needed to support the new residents of the development, including schools, parks, streets, sewage, electricity and public art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apart from local bonds and sales tax measures, impact fees are one of the few ways local governments can generate tax revenue.[aside postID=news_12069513 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9694.JPG_qed.jpg']That’s largely a result of Prop 13, a landmark 1978 ballot measure that capped property taxes and limited how much they can increase each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many cities have become increasingly hamstrung in raising revenues to pay for services, and they’re not eager to forgo the extra fees they say are necessary to maintain basic public facilities and services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t make money on these fees,” said Jason Rhine, senior director of legislative affairs for the League of California Cities. “They literally go directly back to the services and facilities … not to support anything else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, the Terner Center’s report found that impact fees, on average, accounted for around 1% of cities’ total revenue. And many cities aren’t generating fee revenue on affordable housing at all because they’re not building any.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report looked specifically at projects built using the Low Income Housing Tax Program (LIHTC), a federal effort to \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RS22389\">encourage affordable housing construction\u003c/a> by awarding developers tax credits to offset construction costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062182\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062182\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250519-AffordableHousingFile-13-BL_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250519-AffordableHousingFile-13-BL_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250519-AffordableHousingFile-13-BL_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250519-AffordableHousingFile-13-BL_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving St. in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Out of the 482 cities studied, a little more than half didn’t receive a single LIHTC award between 2020 and 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike market-rate housing, affordable housing developments are exempt from some impact fees. Still, the Terner Center’s report argues, a fee is a fee. And with affordable housing, it has to be covered by taxpayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those fees can vary depending on the type of project and where it’s built. On average, family housing projects were charged around $24,000 in impact fees, while senior housing and housing for people with special needs were charged about $19,100 and $13,800, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smaller, more suburban cities, where the project necessitated new infrastructure, such as roads and utility lines, tended to charge higher impact fees, while cities with larger populations usually charged lower fees.[aside postID=news_12068746 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg']“If the infrastructure doesn’t exist, you have to create that infrastructure,” Rhine said. “And since we’re limited in how we can charge or generate revenue to fund that infrastructure, it really falls on the development community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developers said these fees don’t necessarily break a project, but they can shape what it looks like, what amenities are included and how quickly it can be built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nick Friend is the chief lending officer at Housing Trust Silicon Valley, a financial institution that provides loans for affordable housing projects across the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said higher impact fees can affect the number of family-sized apartments versus studios and one-bedrooms in a development. It can also mean using cheaper building materials and reducing the amount of common space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That can result in projects sometimes looking half-built with “spaces for amenities yet to come,” he said. “Spaces might be left empty, when they are imagined [to be], say, a playground or a landscape design feature or something.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059485\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00195_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00195_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00195_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00195_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A site of new middle housing units is under construction at 2824 D St. in Sacramento on October 7, 2025. Developers are reviving “middle housing” such as duplexes and cottage clusters, but say California’s rollout of the new rules has been anything but smooth. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To avoid those compromises, some developers told KQED they try to work with cities to waive the fees or wait to pay them until tenants are ready to move in. The city of Palo Alto waived the impact fees for \u003ca href=\"https://edenhousing.org/properties/mitchell-park-place/\">Mitchell Park Place\u003c/a>, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltoonline.com/housing/2025/12/19/mitchell-park-place-begins-to-welcome-tenants-into-affordable-housing\">recently completed\u003c/a> affordable apartment building with 50 units, including some set aside for people with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The waiver meant more than $3 million in cost savings for Eden Housing, the developer. “Most of the cities would like to build the housing, so they’d like to find a solution, particularly [for] affordable housing,” said Linda Mandolini, president and CEO of the nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some developers and housing activists argue there are other cities that impose hefty impact fees as a way to shut out development entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://mailchi.mp/housingactioncoalition/news-from-hac-xvlkxure9o-13363216\">Housing Action Coalition\u003c/a> recently announced it had sent a letter to the Manhattan Beach City Council and had complained to the state’s housing agency after the city proposed increasing its impact fees for multifamily housing by almost three times more per square foot than for single-family homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066836\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251211-PEOPLES-PARK-RENDERINGS-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1134\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251211-PEOPLES-PARK-RENDERINGS-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251211-PEOPLES-PARK-RENDERINGS-02-KQED-160x91.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251211-PEOPLES-PARK-RENDERINGS-02-KQED-1536x871.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The university will work with Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, a Bay Area nonprofit, to build the permanent supportive housing project on Berkeley’s People’s Park. A rendering of the proposed permanent supportive housing project that will include at least 100 units for people exiting homelessness and for low-income residents. \u003ccite>(LMS Architects/Hood Design Studio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Manhattan Beach can plan for infrastructure needs without adopting policies to deter the multifamily and below-market housing it is required to encourage [under state law],” Jesse Zwick, the coalition’s southern California director, wrote in the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To spur housing construction and make sure cities can reach their state-mandated housing goals, lawmakers have recently passed laws aiming to lessen the burden of impact fees. The new rules require cities to provide an \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1820\">estimate of the fees\u003c/a> early in the development process and allow \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB937\">certain types of projects\u003c/a> to pay them once construction and inspections are complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities are under more scrutiny to approve and build housing as the state’s affordability crisis worsens. Developers argue that if it’s easier for them to build housing, the cities can meet their goals faster. But for many cities with already-tight budgets and few resources on hand, forgoing impact fees is not necessarily a win-win.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ideally, we’d have a state fund that would fund impact fees or development fees on behalf of affordable housing developers,” Rhine said. “Right now, the bit of the trade-off really is if a developer is not going to pay those fees, somebody’s going to go without a park or a library or a service.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "A new report found fees tacked onto affordable housing developments added thousands of dollars to the cost of a single apartment.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1770228938,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 31,
"wordCount": 1505
},
"headData": {
"title": "These Fees Make Affordable Housing More Expensive. Developers Want to Slash Them | KQED",
"description": "A new report found fees tacked onto affordable housing developments added thousands of dollars to the cost of a single apartment.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "These Fees Make Affordable Housing More Expensive. Developers Want to Slash Them",
"datePublished": "2026-01-23T07:00:32-08:00",
"dateModified": "2026-02-04T10:15:38-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 6266,
"slug": "housing",
"name": "Housing"
},
"audioUrl": "https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/24dec222-ad35-46a0-af65-b3e7011f396e/audio.mp3",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-12070650",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/12070650/these-fees-make-affordable-housing-more-expensive-developers-want-to-slash-them",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">Affordable housing\u003c/a> developers in California are met with a lot of demands: pay for sidewalks and extra sewer lines, make sure there’s money for parks and art projects, don’t forget schools and subways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All those demands add up — contributing to about $20,000 per apartment, on average, or $2 million for a 100-unit building, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/blog/assessing-the-cost-of-impact-fees-on-affordable-housing-an-analysis-of-low-income-housing-tax-credit-projects-in-california/\">new report\u003c/a> from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report, released Thursday, looked at some 700 projects across the state built between 2020 and 2023 and found those fees totaled a whopping $1.2 billion — money the report’s author, Ben Metcalf, said could be better spent building more housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we could have instead reinvested that $1.2 billion into new affordable housing, that could have been 5,000 families that would be off the streets or stably housed or in a much better condition,” said Metcalf, who is also the managing director for the center. “There’s a trade-off that we’re making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings come as the state and federal government look for ways to spur housing construction and make it cheaper to build and buy homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Donald Trump has \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/01/13/nx-s1-5674777/trump-federal-reserve-jerome-powell\">aggressively pushed\u003c/a> the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, which he claimed would \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/us/politics/trump-housing-costs.html\">make homeownership more affordable\u003c/a>. And during his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069094/in-final-state-of-state-speech-gov-newsom-says-california-offers-model-for-the-nation\">State of the State\u003c/a> address earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would focus on the cost of construction during his final term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044986\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044986\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NEWTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Ave. in San Francisco on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But many of the biggest construction costs, including labor, material and — despite the president’s attempts — interest rates are virtually immovable. Experts say the fees local municipalities charge developers are one lever left to pull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pulling that lever, however, may be easier said than done. Known as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017695/san-francisco-wants-to-make-it-cheaper-for-developers-to-build-housing-downtown\">impact fees\u003c/a>” or “developer fees,” the money helps fund infrastructure and municipal services cities argue are needed to support the new residents of the development, including schools, parks, streets, sewage, electricity and public art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Apart from local bonds and sales tax measures, impact fees are one of the few ways local governments can generate tax revenue.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12069513",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9694.JPG_qed.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That’s largely a result of Prop 13, a landmark 1978 ballot measure that capped property taxes and limited how much they can increase each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many cities have become increasingly hamstrung in raising revenues to pay for services, and they’re not eager to forgo the extra fees they say are necessary to maintain basic public facilities and services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t make money on these fees,” said Jason Rhine, senior director of legislative affairs for the League of California Cities. “They literally go directly back to the services and facilities … not to support anything else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, the Terner Center’s report found that impact fees, on average, accounted for around 1% of cities’ total revenue. And many cities aren’t generating fee revenue on affordable housing at all because they’re not building any.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report looked specifically at projects built using the Low Income Housing Tax Program (LIHTC), a federal effort to \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RS22389\">encourage affordable housing construction\u003c/a> by awarding developers tax credits to offset construction costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062182\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062182\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250519-AffordableHousingFile-13-BL_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250519-AffordableHousingFile-13-BL_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250519-AffordableHousingFile-13-BL_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250519-AffordableHousingFile-13-BL_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving St. in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Out of the 482 cities studied, a little more than half didn’t receive a single LIHTC award between 2020 and 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike market-rate housing, affordable housing developments are exempt from some impact fees. Still, the Terner Center’s report argues, a fee is a fee. And with affordable housing, it has to be covered by taxpayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those fees can vary depending on the type of project and where it’s built. On average, family housing projects were charged around $24,000 in impact fees, while senior housing and housing for people with special needs were charged about $19,100 and $13,800, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smaller, more suburban cities, where the project necessitated new infrastructure, such as roads and utility lines, tended to charge higher impact fees, while cities with larger populations usually charged lower fees.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12068746",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“If the infrastructure doesn’t exist, you have to create that infrastructure,” Rhine said. “And since we’re limited in how we can charge or generate revenue to fund that infrastructure, it really falls on the development community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developers said these fees don’t necessarily break a project, but they can shape what it looks like, what amenities are included and how quickly it can be built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nick Friend is the chief lending officer at Housing Trust Silicon Valley, a financial institution that provides loans for affordable housing projects across the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said higher impact fees can affect the number of family-sized apartments versus studios and one-bedrooms in a development. It can also mean using cheaper building materials and reducing the amount of common space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That can result in projects sometimes looking half-built with “spaces for amenities yet to come,” he said. “Spaces might be left empty, when they are imagined [to be], say, a playground or a landscape design feature or something.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059485\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00195_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00195_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00195_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00195_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A site of new middle housing units is under construction at 2824 D St. in Sacramento on October 7, 2025. Developers are reviving “middle housing” such as duplexes and cottage clusters, but say California’s rollout of the new rules has been anything but smooth. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To avoid those compromises, some developers told KQED they try to work with cities to waive the fees or wait to pay them until tenants are ready to move in. The city of Palo Alto waived the impact fees for \u003ca href=\"https://edenhousing.org/properties/mitchell-park-place/\">Mitchell Park Place\u003c/a>, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltoonline.com/housing/2025/12/19/mitchell-park-place-begins-to-welcome-tenants-into-affordable-housing\">recently completed\u003c/a> affordable apartment building with 50 units, including some set aside for people with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The waiver meant more than $3 million in cost savings for Eden Housing, the developer. “Most of the cities would like to build the housing, so they’d like to find a solution, particularly [for] affordable housing,” said Linda Mandolini, president and CEO of the nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some developers and housing activists argue there are other cities that impose hefty impact fees as a way to shut out development entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://mailchi.mp/housingactioncoalition/news-from-hac-xvlkxure9o-13363216\">Housing Action Coalition\u003c/a> recently announced it had sent a letter to the Manhattan Beach City Council and had complained to the state’s housing agency after the city proposed increasing its impact fees for multifamily housing by almost three times more per square foot than for single-family homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066836\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251211-PEOPLES-PARK-RENDERINGS-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1134\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251211-PEOPLES-PARK-RENDERINGS-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251211-PEOPLES-PARK-RENDERINGS-02-KQED-160x91.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251211-PEOPLES-PARK-RENDERINGS-02-KQED-1536x871.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The university will work with Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, a Bay Area nonprofit, to build the permanent supportive housing project on Berkeley’s People’s Park. A rendering of the proposed permanent supportive housing project that will include at least 100 units for people exiting homelessness and for low-income residents. \u003ccite>(LMS Architects/Hood Design Studio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Manhattan Beach can plan for infrastructure needs without adopting policies to deter the multifamily and below-market housing it is required to encourage [under state law],” Jesse Zwick, the coalition’s southern California director, wrote in the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To spur housing construction and make sure cities can reach their state-mandated housing goals, lawmakers have recently passed laws aiming to lessen the burden of impact fees. The new rules require cities to provide an \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1820\">estimate of the fees\u003c/a> early in the development process and allow \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB937\">certain types of projects\u003c/a> to pay them once construction and inspections are complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities are under more scrutiny to approve and build housing as the state’s affordability crisis worsens. Developers argue that if it’s easier for them to build housing, the cities can meet their goals faster. But for many cities with already-tight budgets and few resources on hand, forgoing impact fees is not necessarily a win-win.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ideally, we’d have a state fund that would fund impact fees or development fees on behalf of affordable housing developers,” Rhine said. “Right now, the bit of the trade-off really is if a developer is not going to pay those fees, somebody’s going to go without a park or a library or a service.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/12070650/these-fees-make-affordable-housing-more-expensive-developers-want-to-slash-them",
"authors": [
"11672"
],
"categories": [
"news_31795",
"news_1758",
"news_6266",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_3921",
"news_1386",
"news_18538",
"news_18545",
"news_34388",
"news_1775",
"news_21308",
"news_17996"
],
"featImg": "news_12044984",
"label": "news"
},
"news_12069815": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_12069815",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12069815",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1768582833000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "san-joses-batman-fighting-for-the-unhoused-is-the-real-life-superhero-we-need",
"title": "San José’s Batman, Fighting for the Unhoused, Is the Real Life Superhero ‘We Need’",
"publishDate": 1768582833,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "San José’s Batman, Fighting for the Unhoused, Is the Real Life Superhero ‘We Need’ | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 26731,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Downtown \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> residents aren’t startled by the daunting figure in a billowing black-and-purple cape beneath the streetlights. They know what comes next: the gravelly rattle of a rolling cart stocked with water bottles and food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hey, Batman! Do what you do best,” one passerby shouted on a warm August night last year — an enthusiastic acknowledgement of Batman, and the superhero’s mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some nights, Batman meets new people. On others, he reconnects with familiar faces — like Miguel, who walked over when he saw Batman wheeling his cart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a good man,” Miguel said, as Batman kneeled to pour water for Miguel’s dog Lorio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re only using Miguel’s first name to protect his privacy as someone who is unhoused and part of a vulnerable population. Miguel speaks with certainty: “He’s my friend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monica, whom we’re referring to by her first name for the same reason, spotted Batman across St. James Park and ran up to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053072\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-18-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053072\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Miguel reaches out to shake hands with the Batman of San José after receiving water and snacks at St. James Park in San José on Aug. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’ve known him a long time,” she said excitedly, receiving the water Batman was handing out. “That’s my super[hero].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the Batman of San José — a masked volunteer who has spent nearly eight years walking the city at night to help unhoused residents. He’s a far cry from the vigilantes of comic books. He isn’t swooping from rooftops, seeking revenge or delivering justice through fists. His superpower is noticing people who feel ignored and offering them food, first aid supplies, and sometimes, being someone they can confide in.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Disguise as a form of protest\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In recent years, whimsical costumes — inflatable frogs, unicorns, oversized creatures — have become a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/10/24/g-s1-94724/trump-inflatable-animals-frog-no-kings-protest-portland\">national protest language\u003c/a>, mitigating tension between demonstrators and law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the tradition goes deeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1974, California’s own \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-12-17-me-3053-story.html\">Captain Sticky\u003c/a> became the first widely documented \u003ca href=\"https://wiki.rlsh.net/wiki/RLSH_Map\">“real-life superhero,”\u003c/a> testifying before the Federal Trade Commission about health insurance fraud while dressed in a peanut-butter-and-jelly-themed cape. \u003cem>CBS San Diego\u003c/em>’s cameras \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf8Ibh1Y5JE\">captured\u003c/a> the contradiction at the heart of Captain Sticky: a quirky, outsized persona paired with a deadly serious mission — confronting “evil” by leading investigations into convalescent hospitals he said were defrauding consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others followed: \u003ca href=\"https://www.lametrochurches.org/dangerman-warns-la-is-not-safe-be-careful\">Danger Man\u003c/a> in Los Angeles, \u003ca href=\"https://wiki.rlsh.net/wiki/Shadarko\">Shadarko\u003c/a> in San Francisco — every day people donning costumes to protect their neighbors, deter violence, or simply show up when institutions didn’t. Batman of San José joined their ranks in 2018, when he was a high school junior.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An origin story that starts with one act of discrimination\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Batman’s story began on an ordinary drive home from school. He was 17 when he spotted an unhoused single mother stranded on the side of the road with a broken-down car. A nearby mechanic refused to help her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Batman asked the mechanic for the same assistance on her behalf later, the mechanic agreed.[aside postID=news_12051236 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250626-GRANTSPASSDECISIONANNI-03-BL-KQED.jpg']“She tried to do exactly what I did,” he remembered. “But for some reason, I was allowed to do that and not her. That very clear sense of discrimination stuck with me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He went home unsettled — and then decided not to let the moment pass. Within days, he began figuring out how to help people like the single mother he’d seen on the roadside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, the effort was modest. His costume was bare-bones — just a sweatshirt with a Batman logo — and the supplies he handed out came from money saved from summer jobs. He stashed pieces of the outfit in his backpack or under his clothes, slipping into his Batman persona after class to check on people downtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His choice of Batman was deliberate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I appreciate that the character is human,” he said. “[He] wants to do the right thing despite having no superpowers [and] turns personal struggle into something that helps others.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said his own struggles with a learning disability propelled him to become Batman. Now, helping others is a way to heal some of the pain he felt as a kid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then he grinned: “And the character looks cool. I won’t deny it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He embodied the character, not sharing his identity with even his parents. For Batman, anonymity is part of the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It means I can keep myself out of this,” he said. “And it helps people recognize me from a distance.” He added that it also makes him more approachable, using levity to connect with the unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Batman of San José walked beneath the Highway 87 underpass in 2020, the familiarity of the costume drew immediate attention — especially from a 3-year-old child living there with his mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053070\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-13-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053070\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-13-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-13-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-13-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-13-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With bottles of water in hand, the Batman of San José prepares to distribute supplies in San José on Aug. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The kid was absolutely fascinated,” Batman recalled. “He was grabbing at the ears of the mask and the cape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tender moment caught him off guard, and he found he was grateful to be wearing a mask.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lost it almost immediately,” he said, recalling the sadness of seeing a child so young without shelter. “The mask helped hide that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The family was trying to get the child into school, he explained, but life on the street made regular attendance nearly impossible. Over the next several years, Batman worked alongside case managers, providing groceries, financial assistance and a steady presence as the family navigated housing instability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After about two years, when the family received more permanent housing, the child finally started attending school. Batman was there for his kindergarten graduation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t high school or college,” he said. “But to that family, it meant everything, [and] that mom is my personal hero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053074\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Batman of San Jose films the clearing of the homeless encampment at Columbus Park in San Jose on Aug. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The mother told him her child now runs around clutching a piece of black fabric, pretending it’s Batman — something that keeps him safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never thought I’d have that kind of impact,” Batman said. “It taught me I don’t have to do everything — to that kid, that was everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, he has designed the costume with intention: gloves for scrambling up riverbanks, shin guards for kneeling beside tents, a belt filled with first-aid supplies, tools and tape. And the dramatic cape? It doubles as an emergency blanket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can give it to someone if I run out of everything else,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The weight of friendship and loss\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Batman has become a quiet keeper of stories and routes — able to trace who’s still around, who’s disappeared, and how lives on the margins shift over time. He has forged authentic relationships with the people he encounters, and each person leaves a mark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I consider a lot of the people I meet out here to be my friends,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shared the story of Susie, an unhoused woman he checked on often, until police cleared the area where she was living.[aside postID=news_12058091 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250831-CREATIVEMUTUALAID00140_TV-KQED.jpg']“She passed away recently,” he said. “She was swept [by police] and then got hit by a car [in the street] — that should have never happened to her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His grievance is with a system that he feels repeatedly casts unhoused people aside — clearing encampments without permanent housing solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City officials have said that the cost and pace of building permanent housing have led the city to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026437/san-jose-mayor-proposes-permanent-shift-homeless-funding-from-housing-shelter\">prioritize temporary shelter\u003c/a>. In an emailed statement, Mayor Matt Mahan’s office told KQED: “We’ve expanded temporary housing so that we can get people off the streets faster while continuing to invest in permanent supportive housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The office pointed to city data showing that more than 800 affordable housing units were permitted last year and that funding fromMeasure E — a San José tax on property sales of $2 million or more passed by voters in 2020 — helped prevent more than 1,200 families from falling into homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for Batman, those metrics don’t capture what he has watched unfold on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People should be alive that aren’t anymore, “ he said, holding back tears. “My friends are dying, and I’m losing people I care about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, he keeps walking — beneath freeway ramps, through parks and along light rail stations — checking on people he hasn’t seen in days. Sometimes, he runs into someone he feared he’d lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On this night, he spotted KC approaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been a minute,” Batman said. “I’ve been worried about you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been locked up for like 13 months,” KC replied. Their longstanding friendship bridges any discomfort over asking for resources — what Batman can bring next time: underwear, flashlights and a sleeping bag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked how it feels to see Batman, “I feel happy,” KC said, smiling.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Beyond the cape: advocacy, policy and mutual aid\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Batman’s work does not end on the sidewalk. He has spoken at \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGfuMC9Y97E\">City Hall\u003c/a>, intervened during police sweeps and shown up at demonstrations. At a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoE1fkZyIjI&t=58s\">San José protest\u003c/a> last summer over human rights violations under the Trump administration, he addressed the crowd with his own understanding of resistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I look at people across the country standing up to authoritarianism, I see heroes,” he said. “And that’s the scariest thing — to be a hero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053075\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053075\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Batman walks through the former homeless encampment at Columbus Park in San José on Aug. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For him, that fear translated into urgency. He wanted the people he knew on the streets to live longer lives — not just endure them. He pushed back against the assumption that unhoused people were not trying hard enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People think, ‘Why don’t they have to work for it?’” he said. “Quite a few [unhoused] people work — it’s that it can be impossible to fit everything into one day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many, he explained, survival became a full-time job: finding food and water, staying clean, protecting belongings, getting to work — while also trying to secure housing. From what he has seen, the most common paths into being unhoused are job loss and medical debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why ‘Housing First’ is always the best way to go,” he said. “Research shows it’s the quickest way to stabilize someone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/2024-04/housing-healthy-california-program-evaluation-2024.pdf\">evaluation \u003c/a>by UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research echoes that view. Researchers found that California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/funding/archive/hhc\">Housing for a Healthy California\u003c/a> program — which follows a housing-first model that places people into stable housing before requiring medical treatment, employment or other conditions — improved long-term stability and health outcomes when paired with intensive case management and support services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Batman advocates for housing, medical support and is vocal about how San José has carried out encampment abatements like the one in Columbus Park in August of last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why are we not waiting for 1,000 beds to be open before sweeping people?” he asked.[aside postID=news_12058952 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-37-KQED.jpg']Mayor Matt Mahan’s office said that temporary shelter was being rolled out in phases and maintained that there were sufficient beds for people \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052645/san-jose-begins-clearing-columbus-park-the-citys-biggest-homeless-encampment\">displaced from Columbus Park\u003c/a>, one of San José’s largest encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were 370 people living there, and over a 70-day period of outreach before the abatement began, every single person was offered housing,” said Tasha Dean, a spokesperson for the mayor, in an email. “ About two-thirds of encampment residents accepted the city’s offer of housing, and no one who accepted housing was abated until their bed was ready for them to move in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052645/san-jose-begins-clearing-columbus-park-the-citys-biggest-homeless-encampment\">KQED’s reporting back in August\u003c/a> found there were people who were moved without consent — and some advocates felt the outreach period fell short in informing residents of the park about their possible outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Batman adds that clearing encampments before offering housing erodes trust, making people less likely to seek help: “The people who are trying to help them are also the people in their minds who are hurting them — they’re both wearing the city of San José logo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials frame the problem differently. They point to the cost of permanent housing — at about $1 million per unit — and the scale of unsheltered homelessness — around 5000 people — in San José, which they say makes a build-first approach untenable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t build a permanent unit for the lucky few, while leaving the vast majority of people to suffer and far too often, die, on our streets,” Dean said. “We’ve chosen to get people indoors faster with a solution that is cheaper and faster to build, so they don’t have to wait on the streets indefinitely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As that debate continues, Batman’s work has grown beyond a one-person effort. What began as solo nighttime rounds has become a small mutual-aid collective called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bayareasuperheroes/?hl=en\">Bay Area Superheroes\u003c/a>. He has joined forces with the Crimson Fist, Black Phoenix and KaiKai Bee, expanding their reach to San Francisco and Oakland. But, for Batman, San José has remained his anchor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fabric of San José is people who are from all different walks of life and they still come together and form a community, and I think the unhoused community is just that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053069\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-10-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053069\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-10-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-10-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-10-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-10-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aaron Fenton (left), a friend and former high school classmate of the Batman of San José, crosses paths with him during a routine outreach day on Aug. 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He pointed to moments that rarely made headlines: people sharing clothes and stepping in to protect neighbors during raids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If ICE shows up, they hide people,” he said. “They stand up for each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Batman is woven into that fabric. In full costume, he cannot walk more than a few feet without running into someone he knows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s Batman!” one man called out. “Not the hero we deserve, but the hero we need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Batman smiled, waved, and disappeared into the dark with his cart of snacks and supplies, the shimmer of purple and black satin trailing behind him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "With a homemade costume and a cart full of water bottles and supplies, the anonymous Bay Area resident advocates for housing and compassion for his neighbors. ",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1768595490,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 71,
"wordCount": 2621
},
"headData": {
"title": "San José’s Batman, Fighting for the Unhoused, Is the Real Life Superhero ‘We Need’ | KQED",
"description": "With a homemade costume and a cart full of water bottles and supplies, the anonymous Bay Area resident advocates for housing and compassion for his neighbors. ",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "San José’s Batman, Fighting for the Unhoused, Is the Real Life Superhero ‘We Need’",
"datePublished": "2026-01-16T09:00:33-08:00",
"dateModified": "2026-01-16T12:31:30-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 6266,
"slug": "housing",
"name": "Housing"
},
"audioUrl": "https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/29beff9e-29cf-46e0-b313-b3d1016d9ed6/audio.mp3",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-12069815",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "Yes",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/12069815/san-joses-batman-fighting-for-the-unhoused-is-the-real-life-superhero-we-need",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Downtown \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> residents aren’t startled by the daunting figure in a billowing black-and-purple cape beneath the streetlights. They know what comes next: the gravelly rattle of a rolling cart stocked with water bottles and food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hey, Batman! Do what you do best,” one passerby shouted on a warm August night last year — an enthusiastic acknowledgement of Batman, and the superhero’s mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some nights, Batman meets new people. On others, he reconnects with familiar faces — like Miguel, who walked over when he saw Batman wheeling his cart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a good man,” Miguel said, as Batman kneeled to pour water for Miguel’s dog Lorio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re only using Miguel’s first name to protect his privacy as someone who is unhoused and part of a vulnerable population. Miguel speaks with certainty: “He’s my friend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monica, whom we’re referring to by her first name for the same reason, spotted Batman across St. James Park and ran up to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053072\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-18-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053072\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Miguel reaches out to shake hands with the Batman of San José after receiving water and snacks at St. James Park in San José on Aug. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’ve known him a long time,” she said excitedly, receiving the water Batman was handing out. “That’s my super[hero].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the Batman of San José — a masked volunteer who has spent nearly eight years walking the city at night to help unhoused residents. He’s a far cry from the vigilantes of comic books. He isn’t swooping from rooftops, seeking revenge or delivering justice through fists. His superpower is noticing people who feel ignored and offering them food, first aid supplies, and sometimes, being someone they can confide in.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Disguise as a form of protest\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In recent years, whimsical costumes — inflatable frogs, unicorns, oversized creatures — have become a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/10/24/g-s1-94724/trump-inflatable-animals-frog-no-kings-protest-portland\">national protest language\u003c/a>, mitigating tension between demonstrators and law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the tradition goes deeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1974, California’s own \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-12-17-me-3053-story.html\">Captain Sticky\u003c/a> became the first widely documented \u003ca href=\"https://wiki.rlsh.net/wiki/RLSH_Map\">“real-life superhero,”\u003c/a> testifying before the Federal Trade Commission about health insurance fraud while dressed in a peanut-butter-and-jelly-themed cape. \u003cem>CBS San Diego\u003c/em>’s cameras \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf8Ibh1Y5JE\">captured\u003c/a> the contradiction at the heart of Captain Sticky: a quirky, outsized persona paired with a deadly serious mission — confronting “evil” by leading investigations into convalescent hospitals he said were defrauding consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others followed: \u003ca href=\"https://www.lametrochurches.org/dangerman-warns-la-is-not-safe-be-careful\">Danger Man\u003c/a> in Los Angeles, \u003ca href=\"https://wiki.rlsh.net/wiki/Shadarko\">Shadarko\u003c/a> in San Francisco — every day people donning costumes to protect their neighbors, deter violence, or simply show up when institutions didn’t. Batman of San José joined their ranks in 2018, when he was a high school junior.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An origin story that starts with one act of discrimination\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Batman’s story began on an ordinary drive home from school. He was 17 when he spotted an unhoused single mother stranded on the side of the road with a broken-down car. A nearby mechanic refused to help her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Batman asked the mechanic for the same assistance on her behalf later, the mechanic agreed.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12051236",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250626-GRANTSPASSDECISIONANNI-03-BL-KQED.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“She tried to do exactly what I did,” he remembered. “But for some reason, I was allowed to do that and not her. That very clear sense of discrimination stuck with me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He went home unsettled — and then decided not to let the moment pass. Within days, he began figuring out how to help people like the single mother he’d seen on the roadside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, the effort was modest. His costume was bare-bones — just a sweatshirt with a Batman logo — and the supplies he handed out came from money saved from summer jobs. He stashed pieces of the outfit in his backpack or under his clothes, slipping into his Batman persona after class to check on people downtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His choice of Batman was deliberate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I appreciate that the character is human,” he said. “[He] wants to do the right thing despite having no superpowers [and] turns personal struggle into something that helps others.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said his own struggles with a learning disability propelled him to become Batman. Now, helping others is a way to heal some of the pain he felt as a kid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then he grinned: “And the character looks cool. I won’t deny it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He embodied the character, not sharing his identity with even his parents. For Batman, anonymity is part of the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It means I can keep myself out of this,” he said. “And it helps people recognize me from a distance.” He added that it also makes him more approachable, using levity to connect with the unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Batman of San José walked beneath the Highway 87 underpass in 2020, the familiarity of the costume drew immediate attention — especially from a 3-year-old child living there with his mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053070\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-13-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053070\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-13-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-13-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-13-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-13-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With bottles of water in hand, the Batman of San José prepares to distribute supplies in San José on Aug. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The kid was absolutely fascinated,” Batman recalled. “He was grabbing at the ears of the mask and the cape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tender moment caught him off guard, and he found he was grateful to be wearing a mask.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lost it almost immediately,” he said, recalling the sadness of seeing a child so young without shelter. “The mask helped hide that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The family was trying to get the child into school, he explained, but life on the street made regular attendance nearly impossible. Over the next several years, Batman worked alongside case managers, providing groceries, financial assistance and a steady presence as the family navigated housing instability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After about two years, when the family received more permanent housing, the child finally started attending school. Batman was there for his kindergarten graduation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t high school or college,” he said. “But to that family, it meant everything, [and] that mom is my personal hero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053074\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Batman of San Jose films the clearing of the homeless encampment at Columbus Park in San Jose on Aug. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The mother told him her child now runs around clutching a piece of black fabric, pretending it’s Batman — something that keeps him safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never thought I’d have that kind of impact,” Batman said. “It taught me I don’t have to do everything — to that kid, that was everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, he has designed the costume with intention: gloves for scrambling up riverbanks, shin guards for kneeling beside tents, a belt filled with first-aid supplies, tools and tape. And the dramatic cape? It doubles as an emergency blanket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can give it to someone if I run out of everything else,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The weight of friendship and loss\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Batman has become a quiet keeper of stories and routes — able to trace who’s still around, who’s disappeared, and how lives on the margins shift over time. He has forged authentic relationships with the people he encounters, and each person leaves a mark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I consider a lot of the people I meet out here to be my friends,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shared the story of Susie, an unhoused woman he checked on often, until police cleared the area where she was living.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12058091",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250831-CREATIVEMUTUALAID00140_TV-KQED.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“She passed away recently,” he said. “She was swept [by police] and then got hit by a car [in the street] — that should have never happened to her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His grievance is with a system that he feels repeatedly casts unhoused people aside — clearing encampments without permanent housing solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City officials have said that the cost and pace of building permanent housing have led the city to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026437/san-jose-mayor-proposes-permanent-shift-homeless-funding-from-housing-shelter\">prioritize temporary shelter\u003c/a>. In an emailed statement, Mayor Matt Mahan’s office told KQED: “We’ve expanded temporary housing so that we can get people off the streets faster while continuing to invest in permanent supportive housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The office pointed to city data showing that more than 800 affordable housing units were permitted last year and that funding fromMeasure E — a San José tax on property sales of $2 million or more passed by voters in 2020 — helped prevent more than 1,200 families from falling into homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for Batman, those metrics don’t capture what he has watched unfold on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People should be alive that aren’t anymore, “ he said, holding back tears. “My friends are dying, and I’m losing people I care about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, he keeps walking — beneath freeway ramps, through parks and along light rail stations — checking on people he hasn’t seen in days. Sometimes, he runs into someone he feared he’d lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On this night, he spotted KC approaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been a minute,” Batman said. “I’ve been worried about you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been locked up for like 13 months,” KC replied. Their longstanding friendship bridges any discomfort over asking for resources — what Batman can bring next time: underwear, flashlights and a sleeping bag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked how it feels to see Batman, “I feel happy,” KC said, smiling.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Beyond the cape: advocacy, policy and mutual aid\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Batman’s work does not end on the sidewalk. He has spoken at \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGfuMC9Y97E\">City Hall\u003c/a>, intervened during police sweeps and shown up at demonstrations. At a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoE1fkZyIjI&t=58s\">San José protest\u003c/a> last summer over human rights violations under the Trump administration, he addressed the crowd with his own understanding of resistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I look at people across the country standing up to authoritarianism, I see heroes,” he said. “And that’s the scariest thing — to be a hero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053075\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053075\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-BATMAN-OF-SAN-JOSE-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Batman walks through the former homeless encampment at Columbus Park in San José on Aug. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For him, that fear translated into urgency. He wanted the people he knew on the streets to live longer lives — not just endure them. He pushed back against the assumption that unhoused people were not trying hard enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People think, ‘Why don’t they have to work for it?’” he said. “Quite a few [unhoused] people work — it’s that it can be impossible to fit everything into one day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many, he explained, survival became a full-time job: finding food and water, staying clean, protecting belongings, getting to work — while also trying to secure housing. From what he has seen, the most common paths into being unhoused are job loss and medical debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why ‘Housing First’ is always the best way to go,” he said. “Research shows it’s the quickest way to stabilize someone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/2024-04/housing-healthy-california-program-evaluation-2024.pdf\">evaluation \u003c/a>by UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research echoes that view. Researchers found that California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/funding/archive/hhc\">Housing for a Healthy California\u003c/a> program — which follows a housing-first model that places people into stable housing before requiring medical treatment, employment or other conditions — improved long-term stability and health outcomes when paired with intensive case management and support services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Batman advocates for housing, medical support and is vocal about how San José has carried out encampment abatements like the one in Columbus Park in August of last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why are we not waiting for 1,000 beds to be open before sweeping people?” he asked.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12058952",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-37-KQED.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Mayor Matt Mahan’s office said that temporary shelter was being rolled out in phases and maintained that there were sufficient beds for people \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052645/san-jose-begins-clearing-columbus-park-the-citys-biggest-homeless-encampment\">displaced from Columbus Park\u003c/a>, one of San José’s largest encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were 370 people living there, and over a 70-day period of outreach before the abatement began, every single person was offered housing,” said Tasha Dean, a spokesperson for the mayor, in an email. “ About two-thirds of encampment residents accepted the city’s offer of housing, and no one who accepted housing was abated until their bed was ready for them to move in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052645/san-jose-begins-clearing-columbus-park-the-citys-biggest-homeless-encampment\">KQED’s reporting back in August\u003c/a> found there were people who were moved without consent — and some advocates felt the outreach period fell short in informing residents of the park about their possible outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Batman adds that clearing encampments before offering housing erodes trust, making people less likely to seek help: “The people who are trying to help them are also the people in their minds who are hurting them — they’re both wearing the city of San José logo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials frame the problem differently. They point to the cost of permanent housing — at about $1 million per unit — and the scale of unsheltered homelessness — around 5000 people — in San José, which they say makes a build-first approach untenable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t build a permanent unit for the lucky few, while leaving the vast majority of people to suffer and far too often, die, on our streets,” Dean said. “We’ve chosen to get people indoors faster with a solution that is cheaper and faster to build, so they don’t have to wait on the streets indefinitely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As that debate continues, Batman’s work has grown beyond a one-person effort. What began as solo nighttime rounds has become a small mutual-aid collective called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bayareasuperheroes/?hl=en\">Bay Area Superheroes\u003c/a>. He has joined forces with the Crimson Fist, Black Phoenix and KaiKai Bee, expanding their reach to San Francisco and Oakland. But, for Batman, San José has remained his anchor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fabric of San José is people who are from all different walks of life and they still come together and form a community, and I think the unhoused community is just that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053069\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-10-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053069\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-10-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-10-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-10-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250813_THEBATMANOFSANJOSES_GH-10-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aaron Fenton (left), a friend and former high school classmate of the Batman of San José, crosses paths with him during a routine outreach day on Aug. 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He pointed to moments that rarely made headlines: people sharing clothes and stepping in to protect neighbors during raids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If ICE shows up, they hide people,” he said. “They stand up for each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Batman is woven into that fabric. In full costume, he cannot walk more than a few feet without running into someone he knows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s Batman!” one man called out. “Not the hero we deserve, but the hero we need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Batman smiled, waved, and disappeared into the dark with his cart of snacks and supplies, the shimmer of purple and black satin trailing behind him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/12069815/san-joses-batman-fighting-for-the-unhoused-is-the-real-life-superhero-we-need",
"authors": [
"11976"
],
"programs": [
"news_26731"
],
"categories": [
"news_31795",
"news_6266",
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_18538",
"news_1323",
"news_27626",
"news_1775",
"news_21027",
"news_18541",
"news_20242",
"news_20056",
"news_21285"
],
"featImg": "news_12053071",
"label": "news_26731"
},
"news_12069608": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_12069608",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12069608",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1768402831000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "californias-cost-of-living-keeps-climbing-how-are-you-coping",
"title": "California’s Cost of Living Keeps Climbing — How Are You Coping?",
"publishDate": 1768402831,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "California’s Cost of Living Keeps Climbing — How Are You Coping? | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Californians are no strangers to compromise. Living here has long meant paying more for rent, mortgages, utilities, gas, child care — even groceries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In exchange, we’ve been rewarded with breathtaking natural beauty, a robust economy and a vibrant cultural scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as costs continue to rise, the payoff hasn’t proven to be enough for a growing number of people. Since 2016, in every year except one, more people have \u003ca href=\"https://dof.ca.gov/forecasting/demographics/estimates/E-2/#:~:text=Net%20domestic%20migration%20from%20California,loss%20of%20over%2089%2C000%20residents.\">moved out of California\u003c/a> than moved in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Are you feeling the pinch? Share your story with KQED by leaving us a voicemail at 415-553-2115 or \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>clicking here\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those who have stayed in California, many expenses have only gotten worse. Monthly payments for a newly purchased mid-tier home have climbed a whopping 74% from just under $3,200 in Jan. 2020 to more than $5,500 in Sept. 2025, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/793\">state’s Legislative Analysts’ Office\u003c/a>.[aside postID=science_1999400 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251105_HIGH-ELECTRICITY-BILLS_GH-17-KQED.jpg']Meanwhile, rents in California continue to outpace the nation, with real estate listings website Zillow reporting that a median one-bedroom goes for around $2,100 a month, 40% higher than the national average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These high costs are increasingly forcing painful trade-offs. Kenya Brown, who lives in Bay Point, sent her four youngest kids to spend time at her oldest son’s apartment because she was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999400/bay-area-electricity-bills-are-some-of-the-highest-where-does-your-money-go\">unable to pay\u003c/a> her utility bills. Davis resident Carin Lenk Sloane is considering leaving the country due to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999325/we-cant-afford-to-stay-californians-weigh-drastic-moves-as-health-premiums-rise\">rising health insurance\u003c/a> premiums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12061802/how-are-child-care-costs-affecting-the-lives-of-bay-area-families-you-told-us\">KQED reader survey\u003c/a>, one parent said child care costs more than her mortgage, while another said her family was putting off buying a home altogether to afford day care for her infant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, tell us, what trade-offs are you making? Maybe you’ve taken on a side hustle or two. Perhaps you’re leaning on your community more or eating out less. Big or small, we want to know how you’re making your life more affordable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "We want to hear your story: What’s your solution to high rents, home insurance, child care, groceries, gas and utility costs?",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1770316527,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": true,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 10,
"wordCount": 363
},
"headData": {
"title": "California’s Cost of Living Keeps Climbing — How Are You Coping? | KQED",
"description": "We want to hear your story: What’s your solution to high rents, home insurance, child care, groceries, gas and utility costs?",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "California’s Cost of Living Keeps Climbing — How Are You Coping?",
"datePublished": "2026-01-14T07:00:31-08:00",
"dateModified": "2026-02-05T10:35:27-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 6266,
"slug": "housing",
"name": "Housing"
},
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-12069608",
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/12069608/californias-cost-of-living-keeps-climbing-how-are-you-coping",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Californians are no strangers to compromise. Living here has long meant paying more for rent, mortgages, utilities, gas, child care — even groceries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In exchange, we’ve been rewarded with breathtaking natural beauty, a robust economy and a vibrant cultural scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as costs continue to rise, the payoff hasn’t proven to be enough for a growing number of people. Since 2016, in every year except one, more people have \u003ca href=\"https://dof.ca.gov/forecasting/demographics/estimates/E-2/#:~:text=Net%20domestic%20migration%20from%20California,loss%20of%20over%2089%2C000%20residents.\">moved out of California\u003c/a> than moved in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Are you feeling the pinch? Share your story with KQED by leaving us a voicemail at 415-553-2115 or \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>clicking here\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those who have stayed in California, many expenses have only gotten worse. Monthly payments for a newly purchased mid-tier home have climbed a whopping 74% from just under $3,200 in Jan. 2020 to more than $5,500 in Sept. 2025, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/793\">state’s Legislative Analysts’ Office\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "science_1999400",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251105_HIGH-ELECTRICITY-BILLS_GH-17-KQED.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Meanwhile, rents in California continue to outpace the nation, with real estate listings website Zillow reporting that a median one-bedroom goes for around $2,100 a month, 40% higher than the national average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These high costs are increasingly forcing painful trade-offs. Kenya Brown, who lives in Bay Point, sent her four youngest kids to spend time at her oldest son’s apartment because she was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999400/bay-area-electricity-bills-are-some-of-the-highest-where-does-your-money-go\">unable to pay\u003c/a> her utility bills. Davis resident Carin Lenk Sloane is considering leaving the country due to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999325/we-cant-afford-to-stay-californians-weigh-drastic-moves-as-health-premiums-rise\">rising health insurance\u003c/a> premiums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12061802/how-are-child-care-costs-affecting-the-lives-of-bay-area-families-you-told-us\">KQED reader survey\u003c/a>, one parent said child care costs more than her mortgage, while another said her family was putting off buying a home altogether to afford day care for her infant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, tell us, what trade-offs are you making? Maybe you’ve taken on a side hustle or two. Perhaps you’re leaning on your community more or eating out less. Big or small, we want to know how you’re making your life more affordable.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/12069608/californias-cost-of-living-keeps-climbing-how-are-you-coping",
"authors": [
"236"
],
"categories": [
"news_31795",
"news_6266",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_26598",
"news_3921",
"news_18538",
"news_3651",
"news_20754",
"news_36350",
"news_27626",
"news_641",
"news_34418",
"news_1775",
"news_30764",
"news_23900",
"news_33534",
"news_34943"
],
"featImg": "news_12069610",
"label": "news"
},
"news_12069513": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_12069513",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "12069513",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1768395652000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "tenants-crushed-after-california-renter-protections-bill-stalls-in-the-legislature",
"title": "Tenants ‘Crushed’ After California Renter Protections Bill Stalls in the Legislature",
"publishDate": 1768395652,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Tenants ‘Crushed’ After California Renter Protections Bill Stalls in the Legislature | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>After taking \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038224/california-bill-expand-rent-control-pulled-for-year-bay-area-lawmaker\">blows from landlord groups and the building trades\u003c/a>, a statewide bill that aimed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034212/california-lawmakers-push-lower-rent-cap-expand-protections-property-owners-worried\">expand renter protections\u003c/a> and make them permanent is likely dead this legislative season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1157\">AB 1157\u003c/a>, dubbed the “Affordable Rent Act,” would have expanded the 2019 Tenant Protection Act to more renters and lowered the amount rent can increase each year. It would have also made those changes permanent, removing a 2030 sunset date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday marked the bill’s first hearing of the year in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, where tenants and advocates pleaded with committee members to advance the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, it faced stiff opposition from rental property and building trade groups, who said it would make housing construction more expensive and could push smaller landlords out of the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill failed to get enough votes, and without any additional hearings scheduled, AB 1157 will likely die there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m just really, really crushed because they talk about how they don’t want to hurt the property owners, they don’t want to have them take their properties off the market,” said Chula Vista renter Tammy Alvarado, who took a 13-hour bus ride to testify in support of the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069627\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069627\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/024_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/024_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/024_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/024_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A “For Rent” sign hangs in the window of an apartment building in Nob Hill in San Francisco on July 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The problem is these greedy landlords that raise their rent [to] the maximum. They can raise it every single year while our wages don’t go up to match.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as the 2019 Tenant Protection Act moves closer towards its expiration date, Alvarado and other tenants are worried about what it means for their own housing security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She splits the monthly payment with her husband and two children for a two-bedroom, single-family home. In November, she said her rent jumped from $2,780 to $3,030 a month — a nearly 9% increase. She also had to pay more toward her security deposit. To make up the cost, she said she would have to miss payments for her gas and electricity bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>Devastated,” she said. “Next time I come up here [to Sacramento], I will probably be homeless.”[aside postID=news_12038224 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/2022-9-28-KQED-News_Tenant-Organizing_006_qed-1020x681.jpg']Since Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San José, introduced it last year, AB 1157 faced an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034212/california-lawmakers-push-lower-rent-cap-expand-protections-property-owners-worried\">uphill battle\u003c/a>. Powerful realtor and builder groups loudly opposed it, saying it would undermine the state’s efforts to build more housing supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038224/california-bill-expand-rent-control-pulled-for-year-bay-area-lawmaker\">Kalra transformed it\u003c/a> into a two-year bill, vowing to resurface the bill this year after buying more time to work on it with lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenants rights advocates were feeling hopeful about its chances this time around, especially after Gov. Gavin Newsom called out the 2019 law in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069094/in-final-state-of-state-speech-gov-newsom-says-california-offers-model-for-the-nation\">State of the State\u003c/a> address, saying it was “the strongest statewide renter protections in America.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Kalra wanted to win over skeptical colleagues. Early in Tuesday’s hearing, he announced he would remove a controversial provision extending tenant protections to those renting single-family homes, individually owned condos and duplexes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s all on the table,” Kalra said, “if folks are willing to come to the table to have those conversations meaningfully.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069626\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069626\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9984.JPG_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9984.JPG_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9984.JPG_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9984.JPG_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Giselle Penuela, 10, and Alexander Penuela, 6 attend at a vigil outside Redwood City’s city council chamber calling for rent control and other renter protections. \u003ccite>(Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite the concessions made, reactions to the bill were mixed. Some committee members spoke in favor, while others raised concerns about its impact on the already expensive rental market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m concerned about the big arm of government telling private property owners what they have to do,” said Asm. Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach. “Because at some point they say, ‘The heck with it, we’ll go to Arizona and build apartment units and housing units there for a lot less money.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Committee members also took issue with the bill’s lowered rent cap. Existing law allows property owners to annually increase rent by 5% plus the cost of living, or up to 10%. As inflation has increased in the years since the law was passed, the amount landlords can raise rents has \u003ca href=\"https://caanet.org/all-cpi-figures-for-2024-ab-1482-rent-increases-now-available/\">crept closer to that 10%\u003c/a> threshold. AB 1157 would have cut that in half, limiting landlords to a 5% annual increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement ahead of the hearing, Adam Pearce, president of the California Rental Housing Association, said the bill could push “mom-and-pop owners out of the market, ultimately shrinking housing supply and hurting the very renters it intends to help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069650\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069650\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250325-ApartmentsonWestside-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250325-ApartmentsonWestside-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250325-ApartmentsonWestside-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250325-ApartmentsonWestside-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Sunset District from the Sunset Reservoir in San Francisco on March 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008424/prop-33-rent-control-is-on-the-ballot-again-election-2024-california\">Research on this topic is mixed\u003c/a>. Traditionally, economists have largely agreed with that sentiment, saying that rent-control policies are \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-does-economic-evidence-tell-us-about-the-effects-of-rent-control/\">inefficient, create scarcity and drive up rents in non-regulated units\u003c/a>. But economists have also given credence to supporters’ claims that rent control is \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aer.20181289\">effective at stemming displacement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Economists have argued that strict rent control could discourage new apartment construction — though other research shows \u003ca href=\"https://dornsife.usc.edu/eri/publications/rent-matters/\">more moderate policies\u003c/a> tend to have little impact. And one recent anecdotal example seemed to support that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, St. Paul, Minnesota, enacted one of the strictest rent-control policies in the country. Minneapolis, on the other hand, passed a series of land-use laws two years prior, boosting apartment construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/minnesota-rent-control-regulation-prices-34221bd4?mod=hp_lead_pos9#comments_sector\">\u003cem>Wall\u003c/em> \u003cem>Street\u003c/em> \u003cem>Journal\u003c/em> analysis\u003c/a>, permits to build apartments in St. Paul fell by nearly 80% in early 2022, after the city passed its rent-control ordinance. Conversely, housing permits in Minneapolis saw a fourfold increase during that same time period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069652\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069652\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/001_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/001_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/001_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/001_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings in Nob Hill in San Francisco on July 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But support for rent stabilization has grown among tenants and lawmakers in recent years, including from a coalition of 32 economists who wrote to the Federal Housing Finance Agency in 2023, urging the nationwide use of rental control. And last year, New York City voters elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform\">multi-year rent freeze\u003c/a> for the city’s rent-stabilized apartments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today’s vote is nothing short of betrayal,” Christina Livingston, executive director of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, said in an emailed statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this moment, when Californians desperately need housing stability, our legislators chose to side with corporate landlords instead. When given the opportunity to solidify basic tenant protections, they failed, and we are outraged.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "AB 1157, known as the Affordable Rent Act, didn’t get enough votes to advance out of committee. It is unlikely to resurface this legislative session. ",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1768354961,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 27,
"wordCount": 1140
},
"headData": {
"title": "Tenants ‘Crushed’ After California Renter Protections Bill Stalls in the Legislature | KQED",
"description": "AB 1157, known as the Affordable Rent Act, didn’t get enough votes to advance out of committee. It is unlikely to resurface this legislative session. ",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Tenants ‘Crushed’ After California Renter Protections Bill Stalls in the Legislature",
"datePublished": "2026-01-14T05:00:52-08:00",
"dateModified": "2026-01-13T17:42:41-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"primaryCategory": {
"termId": 6266,
"slug": "housing",
"name": "Housing"
},
"sticky": false,
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/12069513/tenants-crushed-after-california-renter-protections-bill-stalls-in-the-legislature",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After taking \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038224/california-bill-expand-rent-control-pulled-for-year-bay-area-lawmaker\">blows from landlord groups and the building trades\u003c/a>, a statewide bill that aimed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034212/california-lawmakers-push-lower-rent-cap-expand-protections-property-owners-worried\">expand renter protections\u003c/a> and make them permanent is likely dead this legislative season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1157\">AB 1157\u003c/a>, dubbed the “Affordable Rent Act,” would have expanded the 2019 Tenant Protection Act to more renters and lowered the amount rent can increase each year. It would have also made those changes permanent, removing a 2030 sunset date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday marked the bill’s first hearing of the year in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, where tenants and advocates pleaded with committee members to advance the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, it faced stiff opposition from rental property and building trade groups, who said it would make housing construction more expensive and could push smaller landlords out of the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill failed to get enough votes, and without any additional hearings scheduled, AB 1157 will likely die there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m just really, really crushed because they talk about how they don’t want to hurt the property owners, they don’t want to have them take their properties off the market,” said Chula Vista renter Tammy Alvarado, who took a 13-hour bus ride to testify in support of the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069627\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069627\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/024_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/024_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/024_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/024_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A “For Rent” sign hangs in the window of an apartment building in Nob Hill in San Francisco on July 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The problem is these greedy landlords that raise their rent [to] the maximum. They can raise it every single year while our wages don’t go up to match.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as the 2019 Tenant Protection Act moves closer towards its expiration date, Alvarado and other tenants are worried about what it means for their own housing security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She splits the monthly payment with her husband and two children for a two-bedroom, single-family home. In November, she said her rent jumped from $2,780 to $3,030 a month — a nearly 9% increase. She also had to pay more toward her security deposit. To make up the cost, she said she would have to miss payments for her gas and electricity bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>Devastated,” she said. “Next time I come up here [to Sacramento], I will probably be homeless.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_12038224",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/2022-9-28-KQED-News_Tenant-Organizing_006_qed-1020x681.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Since Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San José, introduced it last year, AB 1157 faced an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034212/california-lawmakers-push-lower-rent-cap-expand-protections-property-owners-worried\">uphill battle\u003c/a>. Powerful realtor and builder groups loudly opposed it, saying it would undermine the state’s efforts to build more housing supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038224/california-bill-expand-rent-control-pulled-for-year-bay-area-lawmaker\">Kalra transformed it\u003c/a> into a two-year bill, vowing to resurface the bill this year after buying more time to work on it with lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenants rights advocates were feeling hopeful about its chances this time around, especially after Gov. Gavin Newsom called out the 2019 law in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069094/in-final-state-of-state-speech-gov-newsom-says-california-offers-model-for-the-nation\">State of the State\u003c/a> address, saying it was “the strongest statewide renter protections in America.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Kalra wanted to win over skeptical colleagues. Early in Tuesday’s hearing, he announced he would remove a controversial provision extending tenant protections to those renting single-family homes, individually owned condos and duplexes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s all on the table,” Kalra said, “if folks are willing to come to the table to have those conversations meaningfully.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069626\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069626\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9984.JPG_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9984.JPG_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9984.JPG_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/IMG_9984.JPG_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Giselle Penuela, 10, and Alexander Penuela, 6 attend at a vigil outside Redwood City’s city council chamber calling for rent control and other renter protections. \u003ccite>(Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite the concessions made, reactions to the bill were mixed. Some committee members spoke in favor, while others raised concerns about its impact on the already expensive rental market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m concerned about the big arm of government telling private property owners what they have to do,” said Asm. Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach. “Because at some point they say, ‘The heck with it, we’ll go to Arizona and build apartment units and housing units there for a lot less money.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Committee members also took issue with the bill’s lowered rent cap. Existing law allows property owners to annually increase rent by 5% plus the cost of living, or up to 10%. As inflation has increased in the years since the law was passed, the amount landlords can raise rents has \u003ca href=\"https://caanet.org/all-cpi-figures-for-2024-ab-1482-rent-increases-now-available/\">crept closer to that 10%\u003c/a> threshold. AB 1157 would have cut that in half, limiting landlords to a 5% annual increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement ahead of the hearing, Adam Pearce, president of the California Rental Housing Association, said the bill could push “mom-and-pop owners out of the market, ultimately shrinking housing supply and hurting the very renters it intends to help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069650\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069650\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250325-ApartmentsonWestside-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250325-ApartmentsonWestside-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250325-ApartmentsonWestside-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250325-ApartmentsonWestside-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Sunset District from the Sunset Reservoir in San Francisco on March 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008424/prop-33-rent-control-is-on-the-ballot-again-election-2024-california\">Research on this topic is mixed\u003c/a>. Traditionally, economists have largely agreed with that sentiment, saying that rent-control policies are \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-does-economic-evidence-tell-us-about-the-effects-of-rent-control/\">inefficient, create scarcity and drive up rents in non-regulated units\u003c/a>. But economists have also given credence to supporters’ claims that rent control is \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aer.20181289\">effective at stemming displacement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Economists have argued that strict rent control could discourage new apartment construction — though other research shows \u003ca href=\"https://dornsife.usc.edu/eri/publications/rent-matters/\">more moderate policies\u003c/a> tend to have little impact. And one recent anecdotal example seemed to support that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, St. Paul, Minnesota, enacted one of the strictest rent-control policies in the country. Minneapolis, on the other hand, passed a series of land-use laws two years prior, boosting apartment construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/minnesota-rent-control-regulation-prices-34221bd4?mod=hp_lead_pos9#comments_sector\">\u003cem>Wall\u003c/em> \u003cem>Street\u003c/em> \u003cem>Journal\u003c/em> analysis\u003c/a>, permits to build apartments in St. Paul fell by nearly 80% in early 2022, after the city passed its rent-control ordinance. Conversely, housing permits in Minneapolis saw a fourfold increase during that same time period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069652\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069652\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/001_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/001_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/001_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/001_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings in Nob Hill in San Francisco on July 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But support for rent stabilization has grown among tenants and lawmakers in recent years, including from a coalition of 32 economists who wrote to the Federal Housing Finance Agency in 2023, urging the nationwide use of rental control. And last year, New York City voters elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform\">multi-year rent freeze\u003c/a> for the city’s rent-stabilized apartments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today’s vote is nothing short of betrayal,” Christina Livingston, executive director of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, said in an emailed statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this moment, when Californians desperately need housing stability, our legislators chose to side with corporate landlords instead. When given the opportunity to solidify basic tenant protections, they failed, and we are outraged.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/12069513/tenants-crushed-after-california-renter-protections-bill-stalls-in-the-legislature",
"authors": [
"11672"
],
"categories": [
"news_31795",
"news_1758",
"news_6266",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_3921",
"news_18538",
"news_18372",
"news_1775",
"news_17996",
"news_20967",
"news_34973"
],
"featImg": "news_12069623",
"label": "news"
}
},
"programsReducer": {
"all-things-considered": {
"id": "all-things-considered",
"title": "All Things Considered",
"info": "Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/all-things-considered"
},
"american-suburb-podcast": {
"id": "american-suburb-podcast",
"title": "American Suburb: The Podcast",
"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 19
},
"link": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"
}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "\"KQED Bay Curious",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
"link": "/podcasts/baycurious",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9jYXRlZ29yeS9iYXktY3VyaW91cy1wb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdA",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"
}
},
"bbc-world-service": {
"id": "bbc-world-service",
"title": "BBC World Service",
"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-the-california-report/id79681292",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1MDAyODE4NTgz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432285393/the-california-report",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-the-california-report-podcast-8838",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcram/feed/podcast"
}
},
"californiareportmagazine": {
"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Magazine-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report Magazine",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 10
},
"link": "/californiareportmagazine",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/564733126/the-california-report-magazine",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-california-report-magazine",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"
}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
"tagline": "Your irreverent guide to the trends redefining our world",
"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/CAT_2_Tile-scaled.jpg",
"imageAlt": "\"KQED Close All Tabs",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/close-all-tabs/id214663465",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC6993880386",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/92d9d4ac-67a3-4eed-b10a-fb45d45b1ef2/close-all-tabs",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6LAJFHnGK1pYXYzv6SIol6?si=deb0cae19813417c"
}
},
"code-switch-life-kit": {
"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"
}
},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"
}
},
"forum": {
"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/forum",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"
}
},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Fresh-Air-p17/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
}
},
"here-and-now": {
"id": "here-and-now",
"title": "Here & Now",
"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
"airtime": "MON-THU 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Here-And-Now-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/here-and-now",
"subsdcribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=426698661",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Here--Now-p211/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/How-I-Built-This-p910896/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hyphenaci%C3%B3n/id1191591838",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
"youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/c/kqedarts",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/790253322/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/jerrybrown/feed/podcast/",
"tuneIn": "http://tun.in/pjGcK",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/54C1dmuyFyKMFttY6X2j6r?si=K8SgRCoISNK6ZbjpXrX5-w",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9zZXJpZXMvamVycnlicm93bi9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qv"
}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Latino-USA-p621/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201853034&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/APM-Marketplace-p88/",
"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
}
},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5Nzk2MzI2MTEx",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/political-breakdown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/07RVyIjIdk2WDuVehvBMoN",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/political-breakdown/feed/podcast"
}
},
"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
}
},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pri.org/programs/the-world",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "PRI"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pri-the-world",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pris-the-world-latest-edition/id278196007?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/",
"rss": "http://feeds.feedburner.com/pri/theworld"
}
},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
"airtime": "SUN 12am-1am, SAT 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/radiolab1400.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/radiolab",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radiolab/id152249110?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/RadioLab-p68032/",
"rss": "https://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab"
}
},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Reveal-p679597/",
"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
}
},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rightnowish-Podcast-Tile-500x500-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Rightnowish with Pendarvis Harshaw",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 16
},
"link": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/rightnowish/feed/podcast",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMxMjU5MTY3NDc4",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I"
}
},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
"airtime": "FRI 11am-1pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-Friday-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/science-friday",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/science-friday",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=73329284&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Science-Friday-p394/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/science-friday"
}
},
"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
"airtime": "SAT 1pm-2pm, 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Snap-Judgment-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 4
},
"link": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/snap-judgment/id283657561",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/449018144/snap-judgment",
"stitcher": "https://www.pandora.com/podcast/snap-judgment/PC:241?source=stitcher-sunset",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3Cct7ZWmxHNAtLgBTqjC5v",
"rss": "https://snap.feed.snapjudgment.org/"
}
},
"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sold-Out-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/soldout",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 13
},
"link": "/podcasts/soldout",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-a-new-future-for-housing",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/soldout",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america",
"tunein": "https://tunein.com/radio/SOLD-OUT-Rethinking-Housing-in-America-p1365871/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vc29sZG91dA"
}
},
"spooked": {
"id": "spooked",
"title": "Spooked",
"tagline": "True-life supernatural stories",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Spooked-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 7
},
"link": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spooked/id1279361017",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/549547848/snap-judgment-presents-spooked",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/76571Rfl3m7PLJQZKQIGCT",
"rss": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/TBotaapn"
}
},
"tech-nation": {
"id": "tech-nation",
"title": "Tech Nation Radio Podcast",
"info": "Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.",
"airtime": "FRI 10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tech-Nation-Radio-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://technation.podomatic.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "Tech Nation Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tech-nation",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://technation.podomatic.com/rss2.xml"
}
},
"ted-radio-hour": {
"id": "ted-radio-hour",
"title": "TED Radio Hour",
"info": "The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm, SAT 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/tedRadioHour.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/?showDate=2018-06-22",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/ted-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/8vsS",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=523121474&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/TED-Radio-Hour-p418021/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510298/podcast.xml"
}
},
"thebay": {
"id": "thebay",
"title": "The Bay",
"tagline": "Local news to keep you rooted",
"info": "Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Bay-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Bay",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/thebay",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 2
},
"link": "/podcasts/thebay",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM4MjU5Nzg2MzI3",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/586725995/the-bay",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-bay",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/4BIKBKIujizLHlIlBNaAqQ",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC8259786327"
}
},
"thelatest": {
"id": "thelatest",
"title": "The Latest",
"tagline": "Trusted local news in real time",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-Latest-2025-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Latest",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/thelatest",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 6
},
"link": "/thelatest",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-latest-from-kqed/id1197721799",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1257949365/the-latest-from-k-q-e-d",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/5KIIXMgM9GTi5AepwOYvIZ?si=bd3053fec7244dba",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9137121918"
}
},
"theleap": {
"id": "theleap",
"title": "The Leap",
"tagline": "What if you closed your eyes, and jumped?",
"info": "Stories about people making dramatic, risky changes, told by award-winning public radio reporter Judy Campbell.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Leap-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Leap",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/theleap",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 17
},
"link": "/podcasts/theleap",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leap/id1046668171",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM0NTcwODQ2MjY2",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/447248267/the-leap",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-leap",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3sSlVHHzU0ytLwuGs1SD1U",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/programs/the-leap/feed/podcast"
}
},
"the-moth-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-moth-radio-hour",
"title": "The Moth Radio Hour",
"info": "Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. For information on all of our programs and live events, visit themoth.org.",
"airtime": "SAT 8pm-9pm and SUN 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/theMoth.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://themoth.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "prx"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-moth-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-podcast/id275699983?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/The-Moth-p273888/",
"rss": "http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast"
}
},
"the-new-yorker-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"title": "The New Yorker Radio Hour",
"info": "The New Yorker Radio Hour is a weekly program presented by the magazine's editor, David Remnick, and produced by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Each episode features a diverse mix of interviews, profiles, storytelling, and an occasional burst of humor inspired by the magazine, and shaped by its writers, artists, and editors. This isn't a radio version of a magazine, but something all its own, reflecting the rich possibilities of audio storytelling and conversation. Theme music for the show was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YArDs.",
"airtime": "SAT 10am-11am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-New-Yorker-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/tnyradiohour",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1050430296",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/New-Yorker-Radio-Hour-p803804/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/newyorkerradiohour"
}
},
"the-sam-sanders-show": {
"id": "the-sam-sanders-show",
"title": "The Sam Sanders Show",
"info": "One of public radio's most dynamic voices, Sam Sanders helped launch The NPR Politics Podcast and hosted NPR's hit show It's Been A Minute. Now, the award-winning host returns with something brand new, The Sam Sanders Show. Every week, Sam Sanders and friends dig into the culture that shapes our lives: what's driving the biggest trends, how artists really think, and even the memes you can't stop scrolling past. Sam is beloved for his way of unpacking the world and bringing you up close to fresh currents and engaging conversations. The Sam Sanders Show is smart, funny and always a good time.",
"airtime": "FRI 12-1pm AND SAT 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Sam-Sanders-Show-Podcast-Tile-400x400-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "KCRW"
},
"link": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feed.cdnstream1.com/zjb/feed/download/ac/28/59/ac28594c-e1d0-4231-8728-61865cdc80e8.xml"
}
},
"the-splendid-table": {
"id": "the-splendid-table",
"title": "The Splendid Table",
"info": "\u003cem>The Splendid Table\u003c/em> hosts our nation's conversations about cooking, sustainability and food culture.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Splendid-Table-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.splendidtable.org/",
"airtime": "SUN 10-11 pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-splendid-table"
},
"this-american-life": {
"id": "this-american-life",
"title": "This American Life",
"info": "This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.",
"airtime": "SAT 12pm-1pm, 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/thisAmericanLife.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wbez"
},
"link": "/radio/program/this-american-life",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201671138&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"rss": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/rss.xml"
}
},
"tinydeskradio": {
"id": "tinydeskradio",
"title": "Tiny Desk Radio",
"info": "We're bringing the best of Tiny Desk to the airwaves, only on public radio.",
"airtime": "SUN 8pm and SAT 9pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/300x300-For-Member-Station-Logo-Tiny-Desk-Radio-@2x.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-52030/tiny-desk-radio",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tinydeskradio",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/g-s1-52030/rss.xml"
}
},
"wait-wait-dont-tell-me": {
"id": "wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"title": "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!",
"info": "Peter Sagal and Bill Kurtis host the weekly NPR News quiz show alongside some of the best and brightest news and entertainment personalities.",
"airtime": "SUN 10am-11am, SAT 11am-12pm, SAT 6pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wait-Wait-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/Xogv",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=121493804&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Wait-Wait-Dont-Tell-Me-p46/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/344098539/podcast.xml"
}
},
"weekend-edition-saturday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-saturday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Saturday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Saturday wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.",
"airtime": "SAT 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-saturday"
},
"weekend-edition-sunday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-sunday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Sunday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Sunday features interviews with newsmakers, artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, writers, theologians and historians. The program has covered news events from Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from a South African prison to the capture of Saddam Hussein.",
"airtime": "SUN 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-sunday"
}
},
"racesReducer": {},
"racesGenElectionReducer": {},
"radioSchedulesReducer": {},
"listsReducer": {
"posts/news?tag=housing": {
"isFetching": false,
"latestQuery": {
"from": 0,
"postsToRender": 9
},
"tag": null,
"vitalsOnly": true,
"totalRequested": 9,
"isLoading": false,
"isLoadingMore": true,
"total": {
"value": 832,
"relation": "eq"
},
"items": [
"news_12074738",
"news_12072999",
"news_12073193",
"news_12072666",
"news_12072054",
"news_12070650",
"news_12069815",
"news_12069608",
"news_12069513"
]
}
},
"recallGuideReducer": {
"intros": {},
"policy": {},
"candidates": {}
},
"savedArticleReducer": {
"articles": [],
"status": {}
},
"pfsSessionReducer": {},
"subscriptionsReducer": {},
"termsReducer": {
"about": {
"name": "About",
"type": "terms",
"id": "about",
"slug": "about",
"link": "/about",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"arts": {
"name": "Arts & Culture",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"description": "KQED Arts provides daily in-depth coverage of the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature and arts news, as well as cultural commentary and criticism.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts",
"slug": "arts",
"link": "/arts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"artschool": {
"name": "Art School",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "artschool",
"slug": "artschool",
"link": "/artschool",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareabites": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareabites",
"slug": "bayareabites",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareahiphop": {
"name": "Bay Area Hiphop",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareahiphop",
"slug": "bayareahiphop",
"link": "/bayareahiphop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"campaign21": {
"name": "Campaign 21",
"type": "terms",
"id": "campaign21",
"slug": "campaign21",
"link": "/campaign21",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"checkplease": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "checkplease",
"slug": "checkplease",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"education": {
"name": "Education",
"grouping": [
"education"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "education",
"slug": "education",
"link": "/education",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"elections": {
"name": "Elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "elections",
"slug": "elections",
"link": "/elections",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"events": {
"name": "Events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "events",
"slug": "events",
"link": "/events",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"event": {
"name": "Event",
"alias": "events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "event",
"slug": "event",
"link": "/event",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"filmschoolshorts": {
"name": "Film School Shorts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "filmschoolshorts",
"slug": "filmschoolshorts",
"link": "/filmschoolshorts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"food": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "food",
"slug": "food",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"forum": {
"name": "Forum",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/forum?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "forum",
"slug": "forum",
"link": "/forum",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"futureofyou": {
"name": "Future of You",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "futureofyou",
"slug": "futureofyou",
"link": "/futureofyou",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"jpepinheart": {
"name": "KQED food",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/food,bayareabites,checkplease",
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "jpepinheart",
"slug": "jpepinheart",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"liveblog": {
"name": "Live Blog",
"type": "terms",
"id": "liveblog",
"slug": "liveblog",
"link": "/liveblog",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"livetv": {
"name": "Live TV",
"parent": "tv",
"type": "terms",
"id": "livetv",
"slug": "livetv",
"link": "/livetv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"lowdown": {
"name": "The Lowdown",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/lowdown?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "lowdown",
"slug": "lowdown",
"link": "/lowdown",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"mindshift": {
"name": "Mindshift",
"parent": "news",
"description": "MindShift explores the future of education by highlighting the innovative – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways educators and parents are helping all children succeed.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift",
"slug": "mindshift",
"link": "/mindshift",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news": {
"name": "News",
"grouping": [
"news",
"forum"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "news",
"slug": "news",
"link": "/news",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"perspectives": {
"name": "Perspectives",
"parent": "radio",
"type": "terms",
"id": "perspectives",
"slug": "perspectives",
"link": "/perspectives",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"podcasts": {
"name": "Podcasts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "podcasts",
"slug": "podcasts",
"link": "/podcasts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pop": {
"name": "Pop",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pop",
"slug": "pop",
"link": "/pop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pressroom": {
"name": "Pressroom",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pressroom",
"slug": "pressroom",
"link": "/pressroom",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"quest": {
"name": "Quest",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "quest",
"slug": "quest",
"link": "/quest",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"radio": {
"name": "Radio",
"grouping": [
"forum",
"perspectives"
],
"description": "Listen to KQED Public Radio – home of Forum and The California Report – on 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento, 88.3 FM in Santa Rosa and 88.1 FM in Martinez.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "radio",
"slug": "radio",
"link": "/radio",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"root": {
"name": "KQED",
"image": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"imageWidth": 1200,
"imageHeight": 630,
"headData": {
"title": "KQED | News, Radio, Podcasts, TV | Public Media for Northern California",
"description": "KQED provides public radio, television, and independent reporting on issues that matter to the Bay Area. We’re the NPR and PBS member station for Northern California."
},
"type": "terms",
"id": "root",
"slug": "root",
"link": "/root",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"science": {
"name": "Science",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"description": "KQED Science brings you award-winning science and environment coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "science",
"slug": "science",
"link": "/science",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"stateofhealth": {
"name": "State of Health",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "stateofhealth",
"slug": "stateofhealth",
"link": "/stateofhealth",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"support": {
"name": "Support",
"type": "terms",
"id": "support",
"slug": "support",
"link": "/support",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"thedolist": {
"name": "The Do List",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "thedolist",
"slug": "thedolist",
"link": "/thedolist",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"trulyca": {
"name": "Truly CA",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "trulyca",
"slug": "trulyca",
"link": "/trulyca",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"tv": {
"name": "TV",
"type": "terms",
"id": "tv",
"slug": "tv",
"link": "/tv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"voterguide": {
"name": "Voter Guide",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "voterguide",
"slug": "voterguide",
"link": "/voterguide",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"guiaelectoral": {
"name": "Guia Electoral",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "guiaelectoral",
"slug": "guiaelectoral",
"link": "/guiaelectoral",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news_1775": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1775",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1775",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null,
"imageData": {
"ogImageSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"width": 1200,
"height": 630
},
"twImageSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
},
"twitterCard": "summary_large_image"
}
},
"ttid": 1790,
"slug": "housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/housing"
},
"source_news_12072666": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_12072666",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "The Bay",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/thebay",
"isLoading": false
},
"news_6266": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_6266",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "6266",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 6290,
"slug": "housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/housing"
},
"news_8": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_8",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "8",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "News",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "News Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 8,
"slug": "news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/news"
},
"news_3921": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_3921",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "3921",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "affordable housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "affordable housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 3940,
"slug": "affordable-housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/affordable-housing"
},
"news_21863": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_21863",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "21863",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "development",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "development Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21880,
"slug": "development",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/development"
},
"news_23794": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_23794",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "23794",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "pleasant hill",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "pleasant hill Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 23811,
"slug": "pleasant-hill",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/pleasant-hill"
},
"news_18541": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18541",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18541",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "San Jose",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "San Jose Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 91,
"slug": "san-jose",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/san-jose"
},
"news_21285": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_21285",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "21285",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "South Bay",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "South Bay Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21302,
"slug": "south-bay",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/south-bay"
},
"news_33739": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33739",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33739",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33756,
"slug": "housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/housing"
},
"news_33733": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33733",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33733",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "News",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "News Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33750,
"slug": "news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/news"
},
"news_33731": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33731",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33731",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "South Bay",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "South Bay Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33748,
"slug": "south-bay",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/south-bay"
},
"news_13": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_13",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "13",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Politics",
"slug": "politics",
"taxonomy": "category",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Politics | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 13,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/politics"
},
"news_18538": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18538",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18538",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 31,
"slug": "california",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california"
},
"news_29125": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_29125",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "29125",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "california governor",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "california governor Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 29142,
"slug": "california-governor",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-governor"
},
"news_35699": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_35699",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "35699",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "california governor's race",
"slug": "california-governors-race",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "california governor's race | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 35716,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-governors-race"
},
"news_27626": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_27626",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "27626",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "featured-news",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "featured-news Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 27643,
"slug": "featured-news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/featured-news"
},
"news_34377": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_34377",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "34377",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "featured-politics",
"slug": "featured-politics",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "featured-politics Archives | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 34394,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/featured-politics"
},
"news_31197": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_31197",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "31197",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Matt Mahan",
"slug": "matt-mahan",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Matt Mahan | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 31214,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/matt-mahan"
},
"news_17968": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_17968",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "17968",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Politics",
"slug": "politics",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Politics | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 18002,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/politics"
},
"news_22864": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_22864",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "22864",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Tiny Homes",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Tiny Homes Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 22881,
"slug": "tiny-homes",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/tiny-homes"
},
"news_33734": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33734",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33734",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Local Politics",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Local Politics Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33751,
"slug": "local-politics",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/local-politics"
},
"news_28250": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_28250",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "28250",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Local",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Local Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 28267,
"slug": "local",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/local"
},
"news_38": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_38",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "38",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "San Francisco",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "San Francisco Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 58,
"slug": "san-francisco",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/san-francisco"
},
"news_35898": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_35898",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "35898",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "yimby",
"slug": "yimby",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "yimby | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 35915,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/yimby"
},
"news_33729": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33729",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33729",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "San Francisco",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "San Francisco Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33746,
"slug": "san-francisco",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/san-francisco"
},
"news_4020": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_4020",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "4020",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Homelessness",
"slug": "homelessness",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Homelessness | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "index"
},
"ttid": 4039,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/homelessness"
},
"news_33812": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33812",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33812",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Interests",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Interests Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33829,
"slug": "interests",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/interests"
},
"news_22598": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_22598",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "22598",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "The Bay",
"description": "\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11638190\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/TheBay_1200x6301.png\" alt=\"\" />\r\n\u003cbr/>\r\n\r\nEvery good story starts local. So that’s where we start. \u003ci>The Bay\u003c/i> is storytelling for daily news. KQED host Devin Katayama talks with reporters to help us make sense of what’s happening in the Bay Area. One story. One conversation. One idea.\r\n\r\n\u003cstrong>Subscribe to The Bay:\u003c/strong>\r\n\r\n\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452?mt=2\">\u003cimg src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/Listen_on_Apple_Podcasts_sRGB_US-e1515635079510.png\" />\u003c/a>",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "Every good story starts local. So that’s where we start. The Bay is storytelling for daily news. KQED host Devin Katayama talks with reporters to help us make sense of what’s happening in the Bay Area. One story. One conversation. One idea. Subscribe to The Bay:",
"title": "The Bay Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 22615,
"slug": "the-bay",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/the-bay"
},
"news_1386": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1386",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1386",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Bay Area",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Bay Area Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1398,
"slug": "bay-area",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/bay-area"
},
"news_35213": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_35213",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "35213",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "homeless shelters",
"slug": "homeless-shelters",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "homeless shelters | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 35230,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/homeless-shelters"
},
"news_36245": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_36245",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "36245",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "shelters",
"slug": "shelters",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "shelters | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 36262,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/shelters"
},
"news_783": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_783",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "783",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Super Bowl",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Super Bowl Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 792,
"slug": "super-bowl",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/super-bowl"
},
"news_31795": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_31795",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "31795",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 31812,
"slug": "california",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/california"
},
"news_1758": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1758",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1758",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Economy",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "Full coverage of the economy",
"title": "Economy Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2648,
"slug": "economy",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/economy"
},
"news_18545": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18545",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18545",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Economy",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Economy Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1771,
"slug": "economy",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/economy"
},
"news_34388": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_34388",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "34388",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "funding",
"slug": "funding",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "funding Archives | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 34405,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/funding"
},
"news_21308": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_21308",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "21308",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "low-income",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "low-income Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21325,
"slug": "low-income",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/low-income"
},
"news_17996": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_17996",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "17996",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "News",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "News Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 18030,
"slug": "news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/news"
},
"news_33738": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33738",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33738",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33755,
"slug": "california",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/california"
},
"news_26731": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_26731",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "26731",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "The California Report Magazine",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "program",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "The California Report Magazine Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 26748,
"slug": "the-california-report-magazine",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/program/the-california-report-magazine"
},
"news_33520": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33520",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33520",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Podcast",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Podcast Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33537,
"slug": "podcast",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/podcast"
},
"news_1323": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1323",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1323",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Donald Trump",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Donald Trump Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1335,
"slug": "donald-trump",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/donald-trump"
},
"news_21027": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_21027",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "21027",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "ICE",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "ICE Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21044,
"slug": "ice",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/ice"
},
"news_20242": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_20242",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "20242",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Sikh",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Sikh Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20259,
"slug": "sikh",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/sikh"
},
"news_20056": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_20056",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "20056",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Sikh Community",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Sikh Community Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20073,
"slug": "sikh-community",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/sikh-community"
},
"news_26598": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_26598",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "26598",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "affordability",
"slug": "affordability",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "affordability | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 26615,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/affordability"
},
"news_3651": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_3651",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "3651",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California economy",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California economy Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 3669,
"slug": "california-economy",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-economy"
},
"news_20754": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_20754",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "20754",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "child care",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "child care Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20771,
"slug": "child-care",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/child-care"
},
"news_36350": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_36350",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "36350",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "featured-affordability",
"slug": "featured-affordability",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "featured-affordability | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 36367,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/featured-affordability"
},
"news_641": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_641",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "641",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "gas prices",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "gas prices Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 650,
"slug": "gas-prices",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/gas-prices"
},
"news_34418": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_34418",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "34418",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "grocery prices",
"slug": "grocery-prices",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "grocery prices | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 34435,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/grocery-prices"
},
"news_30764": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_30764",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "30764",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "rising gas prices",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "rising gas prices Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 30781,
"slug": "rising-gas-prices",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/rising-gas-prices"
},
"news_23900": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_23900",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "23900",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "utilities",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "utilities Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 23917,
"slug": "utilities",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/utilities"
},
"news_33534": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33534",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33534",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "utility bills",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "utility bills Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33551,
"slug": "utility-bills",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/utility-bills"
},
"news_34943": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_34943",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "34943",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "utility rates",
"slug": "utility-rates",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "utility rates | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 34960,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/utility-rates"
},
"news_18372": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18372",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18372",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "evictions",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "evictions Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 18406,
"slug": "evictions",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/evictions"
},
"news_20967": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_20967",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "20967",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Rent",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Rent Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20984,
"slug": "rent",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/rent"
},
"news_34973": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_34973",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "34973",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "tenants rights",
"slug": "tenants-rights",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "tenants rights | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 34990,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/tenants-rights"
}
},
"userAgentReducer": {
"userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)",
"isBot": true
},
"userPermissionsReducer": {
"wpLoggedIn": false
},
"localStorageReducer": {},
"browserHistoryReducer": [],
"eventsReducer": {},
"fssReducer": {},
"tvDailyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvWeeklyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvPrimetimeScheduleReducer": {},
"tvMonthlyScheduleReducer": {},
"userAccountReducer": {
"user": {
"email": null,
"emailStatus": "EMAIL_UNVALIDATED",
"loggedStatus": "LOGGED_OUT",
"loggingChecked": false,
"articles": [],
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"phoneNumber": null,
"fetchingMembership": false,
"membershipError": false,
"memberships": [
{
"id": null,
"startDate": null,
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"familyNumber": null,
"memberNumber": null,
"memberSince": null,
"expirationDate": null,
"pfsEligible": false,
"isSustaining": false,
"membershipLevel": "Prospect",
"membershipStatus": "Non Member",
"lastGiftDate": null,
"renewalDate": null,
"lastDonationAmount": null
}
]
},
"authModal": {
"isOpen": false,
"view": "LANDING_VIEW"
},
"error": null
},
"youthMediaReducer": {},
"checkPleaseReducer": {
"filterData": {
"region": {
"key": "Restaurant Region",
"filters": [
"Any Region"
]
},
"cuisine": {
"key": "Restaurant Cuisine",
"filters": [
"Any Cuisine"
]
}
},
"restaurantDataById": {},
"restaurantIdsSorted": [],
"error": null
},
"location": {
"pathname": "/news/tag/housing",
"previousPathname": "/"
}
}
