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It was the final union to reach a deal early this morning, allowing nearly 400,000 students to return to school this morning as usual.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The deal includes a significant wage increase, more work hours so employees can qualify for health insurance and an expansion of health care benefits.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079800/eric-swalwell-allegations-resign-congress-california-governor-race-who-is-running-primary\">Eric Swalwell Is Out of the Governor’s Race and Resigning From Congress. What Happens Now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s primary election is fast approaching, but the governor’s race remains unsettled, even more so after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079502/rep-eric-swalwell-candidate-for-california-governor-is-accused-of-sexual-assault\">bombshell allegations of sexual assault and harassment\u003c/a> were leveled last week against one of the Democratic frontrunners, East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swalwell \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079583\">dropped out of the race\u003c/a> on Sunday and announced, less than 24 hours later, that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079746/rep-eric-swalwell-says-he-is-resigning-from-congress-amid-sexual-assault-allegations\">he will resign from Congress\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Assemblymember Matt Haney Promotes New Bill to Bring Housing to Downtowns\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">San Francisco Assemblyman Matt Haney was in San Diego Monday, working to build support for his legislation to bring more housing to California’s struggling downtowns. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Haney says AB 20-74 would speed up construction of more high-density housing in downtown zones and lower barriers for these projects. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our downtowns currently have been built in so many ways around bringing people in for the 9-to-5,” said Haney. “We need to start to think about it as places that people are going to be 24 hours cause they’re going to live here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://krcb.org/the-707/filing-on-shaky-ground-why-immigrant-tax-filings-are-dropping-across-california\">Filing on Shaky Ground: Why Immigrant Tax Filings Are Dropping across California\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across California, tax preparers in immigrant communities are seeing an unprecedented drop in filings, in some places, more than 60 percent. KRCB News Reporter Shandra Back explores why undocumented and mixed status families are stepping back from the tax system this year. We visit a legacy tax prep business in Santa Rosa where longtime clients are walking away, discouraged by shrinking credits and shaken trust in federal agencies. We hear from families who have filed faithfully for decades but now question whether it’s worth it. Then, we zoom out with statewide experts from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and the California Immigrant Policy Center to understand the broader economic stakes, from billions in lost revenue to the long-term consequences of eroding trust in filing. Finally, we head to Southern California, where fear of immigration raids is keeping even documented Latino residents from leaving their homes, let alone filing taxes.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swalwell \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079583\">dropped out of the race\u003c/a> on Sunday and announced, less than 24 hours later, that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079746/rep-eric-swalwell-says-he-is-resigning-from-congress-amid-sexual-assault-allegations\">he will resign from Congress\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Assemblymember Matt Haney Promotes New Bill to Bring Housing to Downtowns\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">San Francisco Assemblyman Matt Haney was in San Diego Monday, working to build support for his legislation to bring more housing to California’s struggling downtowns. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Haney says AB 20-74 would speed up construction of more high-density housing in downtown zones and lower barriers for these projects. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our downtowns currently have been built in so many ways around bringing people in for the 9-to-5,” said Haney. “We need to start to think about it as places that people are going to be 24 hours cause they’re going to live here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://krcb.org/the-707/filing-on-shaky-ground-why-immigrant-tax-filings-are-dropping-across-california\">Filing on Shaky Ground: Why Immigrant Tax Filings Are Dropping across California\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across California, tax preparers in immigrant communities are seeing an unprecedented drop in filings, in some places, more than 60 percent. KRCB News Reporter Shandra Back explores why undocumented and mixed status families are stepping back from the tax system this year. We visit a legacy tax prep business in Santa Rosa where longtime clients are walking away, discouraged by shrinking credits and shaken trust in federal agencies. We hear from families who have filed faithfully for decades but now question whether it’s worth it. Then, we zoom out with statewide experts from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and the California Immigrant Policy Center to understand the broader economic stakes, from billions in lost revenue to the long-term consequences of eroding trust in filing. Finally, we head to Southern California, where fear of immigration raids is keeping even documented Latino residents from leaving their homes, let alone filing taxes.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>How We Get By\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>full series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Ms. Hernandez’s son began to ask her where he would attend high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His curiosity brought forward a bigger question looming in her mind: Was their family going to be able to stay in San Francisco at all?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m sorry, baby, but I don’t know,” she told her middle-schooler. “I don’t know if we’re going to continue to be living in the city; things are going to be too expensive here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a> paraeducator and her husband had lived in the Bay Area for two decades, mostly in the city. For the last 10 years, they’d shared a two-bedroom apartment in the Outer Mission, paying about $3,000 a month in rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building was aging, the family was growing tired of struggles with their landlord, and they wanted to be in a neighborhood that felt safer. For years, though, finding another apartment in their price range seemed impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At one point we even wondered if we wanted to stay here or move even across the country,” Hernandez, who asked to be identified by only her last name because of ongoing litigation with a previous landlord, told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple affordable housing applications had gotten her no further than long waiting lists and only a few calls back to apply. Then, in May, MidPen Housing called to say her family had been selected for a unit in a new affordable housing development that gives priority to school district staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079592\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12079592 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_016_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_016_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_016_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_016_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shirley Chisholm Village, an affordable housing development that gives priority to San Francisco Unified School District educators, on April 12, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I felt like I was dreaming,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hernandez remembers picking her son up from school after they got the keys, ordering pizza and bringing him to the building near Ocean Beach as a surprise. “This is going to be your new house,” she told him, hopeful that he’d attend high school in their new neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new, five-story apartment building, nestled between the Sunset District’s signature two-story single-family homes and a burgeoning number of neighborhood restaurants, bookstores and coffee shops, is now home to more than 100 SFUSD employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.midpen-housing.org/shirley-chisholm-village/\">Shirley Chisholm Village development\u003c/a> sprang from a partnership between the school district and the city’s affordable housing program that was announced in 2015. It’s part of a growing number of teacher housing projects cropping up throughout the Bay Area as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">cost of living in the region continues to climb\u003c/a>, often outpacing the salaries of essential education workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Sarah Karlinsky, the director of research and policy at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation, the trend follows many universities and public sector employers, who have provided housing options for decades — both because of sky-high costs and a shortage of units in urban areas.[aside postID=news_12075761 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AFFORDABILITYCHILDCARE00263_TV-KQED.jpg']“Many of us are familiar with this idea of the ‘company town,’” she said. “When there’s a large-scale employer and they want to make sure they can attract talent and workers … they need to ensure their workers have housing. Even if you think about building the railroads, large infrastructure projects involve thinking about where workers might live.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, even companies in higher-paying sectors like tech have sought to help house their employees because of the lack of housing stock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School districts are among the latest to pursue the model as they find themselves with vacant properties and employees who say they can’t afford to live near work or, in some cases, stay in the profession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarita Lavin, an ethnic studies teacher at George Washington High School, has worked in SFUSD for five years and lived in San Francisco for more than 10, but she said that before she moved into Shirley Chisholm Village, she was considering leaving both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’d lived with roommates for a decade, navigating the usual cohabitating strifes like dirty dishes in the sink and uninvited guests, as well as some less common circumstances — like a pet reptile on the loose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s nothing like opening a cabinet and having a six-foot African king snake looking at you,” Lavin said. “That was the big moment where I was like, ‘Maybe it’s time for me to really start thinking about independent living.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lavin said the Sunset District apartment, which is considered affordable, still costs more than half of her monthly take-home income at about $2,500 a month. But it’s a far cry from the rates she saw on Craigslist and Zillow when she started looking at studios and one-bedrooms. Those, which she said could top $3,000, are “totally out of the price range for teachers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079591\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12079591 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_015_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_015_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_015_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_015_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shirley Chisholm Village has units designated for various income levels between 40% to 120% of the area median income, with priority to San Francisco Unified School District educators. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She makes the cost work in part because it was important to her to stay in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just felt like a place where my family had roots in the U.S.,” said Lavin, whose mother immigrated from Guatemala to Pacifica.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lavin grew up in Oakland but moved to the Inland Empire at 11, after her family was priced out. She said they spent a lot of their time in San Francisco, though, so she felt drawn to move here more than a decade ago to attend college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her last apartment, Lavin paid $1,100 a month, plus about $200 to $300 in utilities, for a room with two roommates — a low outlier among city rents, because the three tenants split the cost of their space equitably based on their salaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as she got older, it became increasingly important to have her own space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was really thinking, if I can’t get this place, then I might want to start looking outside of San Francisco, move maybe out to the East Bay and leave SFUSD, because it’s just too unaffordable to live here,” Lavin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now I kind of feel like maybe I don’t need an exit strategy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Seeing results, but challenges remain\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Throughout the 2010s, Jefferson Union High School District was losing and replacing about 25% of its employees every year across its five campuses in Daly City and Pacifica.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we surveyed our staff, we found that the number one reason that they were leaving our district was long commutes and housing affordability,” said Denise Shreve, the district’s director of housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jefferson Union, the lowest-funded high school district in San Mateo County, “had to be creative” to retain teachers and recruit new ones, Shreve said. That led to a plan to build affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, the district was one of the first in the nation to pass a bond measure to fund affordable teacher housing, generating about $33 million. Shreve said it borrowed an additional $40 million or so through certificates of participation, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/certificateofparticipation.asp\">form of municipal financing\u003c/a> often used as an alternative to traditional voter-approved bonds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district broke ground in 2020 on a 122-unit development at its Serramonte Del Rey campus in Daly City, which opened in 2022 with all of its one- to three-bedroom units filled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just two years later, the district began the school year without any job openings. “We were completely, fully staffed. Before we had staff housing, that was unheard of,” Shreve said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other districts across the Bay Area have also pursued similar projects in recent years. Neighboring Jefferson Elementary School District opened 56 apartments for staff in 2024. Santa Clara Unified School District was one of the first in the state to provide housing for teachers, constructing 40 units in 2001 and 30 more in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, an Oakland nonprofit announced it had purchased an apartment complex that it would turn into housing for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078453/one-way-to-help-oakland-teachers-salaries-go-further-affordable-housing\">Oakland Unified School District employees\u003c/a>, pricing units at 30% of their household income. The 33-unit building in the Temescal District is the first that the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation’s Rooted program has acquired as part of its effort to purchase 150 residential units in the next three years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When SFUSD began work on the Shirley Chisholm development, it cited many of the same challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, more than 64% of district teachers surveyed said they spent more than 30% of their income on rent, and about 15% spent 50% or more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079588\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079588\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_009_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_009_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_009_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_009_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teacher Shayla Putnam walks through a courtyard at Shirley Chisholm Village on April 12, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a resolution committing to pursue workforce housing that was passed the previous year, the San Francisco school board said, “High housing costs are a significant contributing factor to SFUSD educators’ ability to remain in San Francisco and remain employed with SFUSD, risking dire and unpredictable negative effects on the quality of SFUSD education when educators can no longer afford to live here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, workforce housing has not completely solved the problem for teachers in areas with a high cost of living. For those like Lavin, even an affordable housing unit can take up a large chunk of their take-home salary. And in San Francisco, many teachers, especially those with more experience, make too much to qualify for some of the units in Shirley Chisholm Village.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building has units designated for various income levels between 40% to 120% of the area median income. For a single person, that equates to an annual salary between $41,130 and $130,900.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, fully credentialed \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/information-employees/labor-relations/labor-partners/uesf-certificated#78271\">teacher salaries\u003c/a> ranged from $81,350 to $134,762, meaning that even entry-level teachers are ineligible for 34 of the affordable apartments. And as educators — especially those with more post-college credits — gain seniority, they surpass the income threshold for more units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While SFUSD educators have priority for the building, about 10% of its units are occupied by non-SFUSD renters, most of whom have priority for specially designed ADA units. Of the 115 units that house SFUSD employees, many are occupied by support staffers who make lower salaries, such as paraeducators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because the district’s housing is operated in partnership with the city, residents have to go through San Francisco’s affordable housing lottery to apply for a unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lavin and Hernandez said that the process took months, and they had to provide a lot of information that the district already knows, like income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of these issues are less pervasive in districts like Jefferson Union, which operates its housing independently, with the help of a property manager. It designates about two-thirds of its units for certificated teachers, while the rest are available to paraeducators and other staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a smaller district, it’s also able to have a bigger impact. While about a quarter of the staff lives in Jefferson Union’s workforce housing, only about 115 of more than 6,000 SFUSD employees live in its apartment complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, SFUSD set a goal of developing more than 500 housing units by 2030, and the district said it is exploring additional sites and partnerships to expand. It’s already broken ground on a second subsidized housing development in the Western Addition, which will add 75 more apartment units. And it’s identified \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/about-sfusd/sfusd-news/press-releases/2024-04-04-sfusd-identifies-additional-sites-educator-housing#:~:text=In%20October%202023%2C%20SFUSD%20formed,enable%20the%20development%20of%20housing.\">multiple other district-owned properties\u003c/a> throughout the city for future projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before pursuing future projects, the district said it will conduct a “thorough analysis — including surveying staff — to understand the needs and preferences” of educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the demand is clear. Nearly 15% of SFUSD’s workforce applied for the Shirley Chisholm Village complex, and about 395 district employees are on the waitlist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079589\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079589\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_010_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_010_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_010_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_010_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teacher Shayla Putnam stands outside Shirley Chisholm Village on April 12, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Shayla Putnam, who teaches ceramics at George Washington High School, said securing a spot there felt like “hard work paid off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Putnam is the main earner for her and her partner, who have bounced around to one-bedroom apartments in the city for five years. Even at the below-market rates at Shirley Chisholm Village, they could only afford a one-bedroom unit, but she said amenities like a dishwasher and in-building laundry, as well as a measurably larger living space, have made a huge difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having the extra space does bring a quality of life that I haven’t necessarily experienced in the city,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her partner, who is an artist, has a dedicated workspace, and they were able to get a kitchen table for the first time. The bathroom is also big enough to move around comfortably — “you could spin in here with your arms out,” Putnam said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, they save about $300 a month compared to their last apartment, which was also in the Sunset.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a little more leeway,” Putnam said. “It’s the difference [between] literally cooking food every night versus being like, ‘We can eat out at this locally-owned business, we can have this coffee shop’ — those little things that make life worth living rather than scraping by.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>How We Get By\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>full series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Ms. Hernandez’s son began to ask her where he would attend high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His curiosity brought forward a bigger question looming in her mind: Was their family going to be able to stay in San Francisco at all?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m sorry, baby, but I don’t know,” she told her middle-schooler. “I don’t know if we’re going to continue to be living in the city; things are going to be too expensive here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-unified-school-district\">San Francisco Unified School District\u003c/a> paraeducator and her husband had lived in the Bay Area for two decades, mostly in the city. For the last 10 years, they’d shared a two-bedroom apartment in the Outer Mission, paying about $3,000 a month in rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building was aging, the family was growing tired of struggles with their landlord, and they wanted to be in a neighborhood that felt safer. For years, though, finding another apartment in their price range seemed impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At one point we even wondered if we wanted to stay here or move even across the country,” Hernandez, who asked to be identified by only her last name because of ongoing litigation with a previous landlord, told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple affordable housing applications had gotten her no further than long waiting lists and only a few calls back to apply. Then, in May, MidPen Housing called to say her family had been selected for a unit in a new affordable housing development that gives priority to school district staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079592\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12079592 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_016_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_016_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_016_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_016_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shirley Chisholm Village, an affordable housing development that gives priority to San Francisco Unified School District educators, on April 12, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I felt like I was dreaming,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hernandez remembers picking her son up from school after they got the keys, ordering pizza and bringing him to the building near Ocean Beach as a surprise. “This is going to be your new house,” she told him, hopeful that he’d attend high school in their new neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new, five-story apartment building, nestled between the Sunset District’s signature two-story single-family homes and a burgeoning number of neighborhood restaurants, bookstores and coffee shops, is now home to more than 100 SFUSD employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.midpen-housing.org/shirley-chisholm-village/\">Shirley Chisholm Village development\u003c/a> sprang from a partnership between the school district and the city’s affordable housing program that was announced in 2015. It’s part of a growing number of teacher housing projects cropping up throughout the Bay Area as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">cost of living in the region continues to climb\u003c/a>, often outpacing the salaries of essential education workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Sarah Karlinsky, the director of research and policy at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation, the trend follows many universities and public sector employers, who have provided housing options for decades — both because of sky-high costs and a shortage of units in urban areas.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Many of us are familiar with this idea of the ‘company town,’” she said. “When there’s a large-scale employer and they want to make sure they can attract talent and workers … they need to ensure their workers have housing. Even if you think about building the railroads, large infrastructure projects involve thinking about where workers might live.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, even companies in higher-paying sectors like tech have sought to help house their employees because of the lack of housing stock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School districts are among the latest to pursue the model as they find themselves with vacant properties and employees who say they can’t afford to live near work or, in some cases, stay in the profession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarita Lavin, an ethnic studies teacher at George Washington High School, has worked in SFUSD for five years and lived in San Francisco for more than 10, but she said that before she moved into Shirley Chisholm Village, she was considering leaving both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’d lived with roommates for a decade, navigating the usual cohabitating strifes like dirty dishes in the sink and uninvited guests, as well as some less common circumstances — like a pet reptile on the loose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s nothing like opening a cabinet and having a six-foot African king snake looking at you,” Lavin said. “That was the big moment where I was like, ‘Maybe it’s time for me to really start thinking about independent living.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lavin said the Sunset District apartment, which is considered affordable, still costs more than half of her monthly take-home income at about $2,500 a month. But it’s a far cry from the rates she saw on Craigslist and Zillow when she started looking at studios and one-bedrooms. Those, which she said could top $3,000, are “totally out of the price range for teachers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079591\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12079591 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_015_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_015_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_015_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_015_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shirley Chisholm Village has units designated for various income levels between 40% to 120% of the area median income, with priority to San Francisco Unified School District educators. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She makes the cost work in part because it was important to her to stay in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just felt like a place where my family had roots in the U.S.,” said Lavin, whose mother immigrated from Guatemala to Pacifica.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lavin grew up in Oakland but moved to the Inland Empire at 11, after her family was priced out. She said they spent a lot of their time in San Francisco, though, so she felt drawn to move here more than a decade ago to attend college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her last apartment, Lavin paid $1,100 a month, plus about $200 to $300 in utilities, for a room with two roommates — a low outlier among city rents, because the three tenants split the cost of their space equitably based on their salaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as she got older, it became increasingly important to have her own space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was really thinking, if I can’t get this place, then I might want to start looking outside of San Francisco, move maybe out to the East Bay and leave SFUSD, because it’s just too unaffordable to live here,” Lavin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now I kind of feel like maybe I don’t need an exit strategy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Seeing results, but challenges remain\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Throughout the 2010s, Jefferson Union High School District was losing and replacing about 25% of its employees every year across its five campuses in Daly City and Pacifica.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we surveyed our staff, we found that the number one reason that they were leaving our district was long commutes and housing affordability,” said Denise Shreve, the district’s director of housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jefferson Union, the lowest-funded high school district in San Mateo County, “had to be creative” to retain teachers and recruit new ones, Shreve said. That led to a plan to build affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, the district was one of the first in the nation to pass a bond measure to fund affordable teacher housing, generating about $33 million. Shreve said it borrowed an additional $40 million or so through certificates of participation, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/certificateofparticipation.asp\">form of municipal financing\u003c/a> often used as an alternative to traditional voter-approved bonds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district broke ground in 2020 on a 122-unit development at its Serramonte Del Rey campus in Daly City, which opened in 2022 with all of its one- to three-bedroom units filled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just two years later, the district began the school year without any job openings. “We were completely, fully staffed. Before we had staff housing, that was unheard of,” Shreve said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other districts across the Bay Area have also pursued similar projects in recent years. Neighboring Jefferson Elementary School District opened 56 apartments for staff in 2024. Santa Clara Unified School District was one of the first in the state to provide housing for teachers, constructing 40 units in 2001 and 30 more in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, an Oakland nonprofit announced it had purchased an apartment complex that it would turn into housing for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078453/one-way-to-help-oakland-teachers-salaries-go-further-affordable-housing\">Oakland Unified School District employees\u003c/a>, pricing units at 30% of their household income. The 33-unit building in the Temescal District is the first that the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation’s Rooted program has acquired as part of its effort to purchase 150 residential units in the next three years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When SFUSD began work on the Shirley Chisholm development, it cited many of the same challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, more than 64% of district teachers surveyed said they spent more than 30% of their income on rent, and about 15% spent 50% or more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079588\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079588\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_009_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_009_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_009_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_009_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teacher Shayla Putnam walks through a courtyard at Shirley Chisholm Village on April 12, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a resolution committing to pursue workforce housing that was passed the previous year, the San Francisco school board said, “High housing costs are a significant contributing factor to SFUSD educators’ ability to remain in San Francisco and remain employed with SFUSD, risking dire and unpredictable negative effects on the quality of SFUSD education when educators can no longer afford to live here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, workforce housing has not completely solved the problem for teachers in areas with a high cost of living. For those like Lavin, even an affordable housing unit can take up a large chunk of their take-home salary. And in San Francisco, many teachers, especially those with more experience, make too much to qualify for some of the units in Shirley Chisholm Village.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building has units designated for various income levels between 40% to 120% of the area median income. For a single person, that equates to an annual salary between $41,130 and $130,900.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, fully credentialed \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/information-employees/labor-relations/labor-partners/uesf-certificated#78271\">teacher salaries\u003c/a> ranged from $81,350 to $134,762, meaning that even entry-level teachers are ineligible for 34 of the affordable apartments. And as educators — especially those with more post-college credits — gain seniority, they surpass the income threshold for more units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While SFUSD educators have priority for the building, about 10% of its units are occupied by non-SFUSD renters, most of whom have priority for specially designed ADA units. Of the 115 units that house SFUSD employees, many are occupied by support staffers who make lower salaries, such as paraeducators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because the district’s housing is operated in partnership with the city, residents have to go through San Francisco’s affordable housing lottery to apply for a unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lavin and Hernandez said that the process took months, and they had to provide a lot of information that the district already knows, like income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of these issues are less pervasive in districts like Jefferson Union, which operates its housing independently, with the help of a property manager. It designates about two-thirds of its units for certificated teachers, while the rest are available to paraeducators and other staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a smaller district, it’s also able to have a bigger impact. While about a quarter of the staff lives in Jefferson Union’s workforce housing, only about 115 of more than 6,000 SFUSD employees live in its apartment complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, SFUSD set a goal of developing more than 500 housing units by 2030, and the district said it is exploring additional sites and partnerships to expand. It’s already broken ground on a second subsidized housing development in the Western Addition, which will add 75 more apartment units. And it’s identified \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfusd.edu/about-sfusd/sfusd-news/press-releases/2024-04-04-sfusd-identifies-additional-sites-educator-housing#:~:text=In%20October%202023%2C%20SFUSD%20formed,enable%20the%20development%20of%20housing.\">multiple other district-owned properties\u003c/a> throughout the city for future projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before pursuing future projects, the district said it will conduct a “thorough analysis — including surveying staff — to understand the needs and preferences” of educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the demand is clear. Nearly 15% of SFUSD’s workforce applied for the Shirley Chisholm Village complex, and about 395 district employees are on the waitlist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079589\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079589\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_010_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_010_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_010_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/041226Affordability-series-teacher-housing_GH_010_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teacher Shayla Putnam stands outside Shirley Chisholm Village on April 12, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Shayla Putnam, who teaches ceramics at George Washington High School, said securing a spot there felt like “hard work paid off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Putnam is the main earner for her and her partner, who have bounced around to one-bedroom apartments in the city for five years. Even at the below-market rates at Shirley Chisholm Village, they could only afford a one-bedroom unit, but she said amenities like a dishwasher and in-building laundry, as well as a measurably larger living space, have made a huge difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having the extra space does bring a quality of life that I haven’t necessarily experienced in the city,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her partner, who is an artist, has a dedicated workspace, and they were able to get a kitchen table for the first time. The bathroom is also big enough to move around comfortably — “you could spin in here with your arms out,” Putnam said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, they save about $300 a month compared to their last apartment, which was also in the Sunset.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a little more leeway,” Putnam said. “It’s the difference [between] literally cooking food every night versus being like, ‘We can eat out at this locally-owned business, we can have this coffee shop’ — those little things that make life worth living rather than scraping by.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "cambrian-park-plaza-a-beloved-san-jose-strip-mall-awaits-a-new-future",
"title": "Cambrian Park Plaza, A Beloved San José Strip Mall, Awaits a New Future",
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"headTitle": "Cambrian Park Plaza, A Beloved San José Strip Mall, Awaits a New Future | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"#Viewthefullepisodetranscript\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first thing a lot of people notice about Cambrian Park Plaza on the west side of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> is the sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s big; it’s yellow; and it has a carousel on top, complete with playful figures encircling the outside. At one point, the carousel actually rotated — but like many things in this shopping plaza — it has seen better days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plaza itself is low slung with a massive parking lot that is often empty. Storefronts are made of brick and nestle under a covered walkway. It’s not your average strip mall with a big grocery store at the center and smaller chains flanking it. Instead, there’s a bit more charm. Shops are clustered around little courtyards with white picket fences, picnic benches and trees. Some stores have window boxes with flowers. There are roses and palm trees. It’s quaint, but faded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It has a circus slash English garden theme, cottage theme,” Connie Young said. “I was like, ‘This seems like an interesting place, and a place that has a lot of history.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young was visiting Cambrian Park to volunteer at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ibokrescue.org/info/display?PageID=21948\">Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Cafe\u003c/a>, a pet adoption organization located in the plaza. She was surprised to see many nostalgic memories of the place online. She wanted to learn more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079115\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_015_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079115\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_015_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_015_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_015_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_015_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A covered walkway lined with storefronts stretches through Cambrian Park Plaza on April 7, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There seem to be a lot of people who are mourning the loss of Cambrian Park Plaza, a 1950s era strip mall in San José that is set to be demolished for housing and retail space,” she wrote in to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a>. “What’s the history of that place?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Valley of Heart’s Delight\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Cambrian Park neighborhood represents the quintessential story of San José development. For a long time, San José was small, an agricultural center for the many orchards and farms nearby. But after World War II, the Defense industry was booming and more people were moving to the area for jobs. The city manager at the time, Dutch Hammond, wanted to create the Los Angeles of Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Largely what got developed here was track housing, which was very cheap to build,” said Michael Brillot, a retired San José city planner. “You just knock down the cherry orchard or the apricot and prune orchard, and you plop in houses like you build Model T Fords on an assembly line, except the workers move as opposed to the product.”[aside postID=news_12077572 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251027-ALMADENQUICKSILVER00034_TV-KQED.jpg'] The push was to develop outwards from San José’s core and to build enough housing to supply the workforce to places like Sunnyvale and Cupertino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cambrian Park neighborhood — and its shopping mall — was part of that history. A large landowner named Paul Schaeffer owned the orchards that became Cambrian Park. He decided to tear out the trees and build houses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He recognized people need to buy stuff,” said Peter Clarke, a Cambrian Park resident and member of the Friends of Cambrian Park group. “They need a post office and a grocery store. So he assembled this particular plaza as the only real center in this area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, many families only had one car. It was common for the breadwinner to drive north to work while the other parent stayed home with the children. During its heyday, Cambrian Park Plaza had everything families needed within walking distance of their home — a grocery store, a hardware store, clothing stores, a post office, a bowling alley, even doctors’ and dentists’ offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was the downtown,” said Bob Burres, another local resident. “There is no ‘main street’ in the Cambrian Park area. This was it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A slow decline\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>That remained true for decades, but over time, the plaza began to fade and social patterns changed. People drove more and further for things, making the plaza less central to their needs. The Schaeffer family retained ownership of the plaza \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2022/08/05/structures-cambrian-timeline.html\">until 2015\u003c/a>. Peter Clarke guesses that it was passive income for owner Paul Schaeffer and his wife in their later years. But when they died, their children sold the plaza to a developer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When it was bought, and people said, ‘We’re going to redevelop it,’ we were in favor,” Peter Clarke said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079113\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_013_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079113\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_013_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_013_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_013_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_013_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Cambrian Park Plaza sign, built in 1953 with the shopping center, features a rotating carousel and received historic status in 2016, on April 7, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many Cambrian Park residents were ready for an updated space that might once again be the center of community life. The Friends of Cambrian Park group stayed involved as the developer, Texas-based Weingarten Realty, proposed various uses for the property. But residents did not like early proposals that resembled more traditional strip malls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community was very clear,” Clarke said. “They wanted to see a place that was a location that people would come to linger at, that had sit-down dining. They didn’t want more fast food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wanted something like \u003ca href=\"https://www.thepruneyard.com/\">The Pruneyard\u003c/a> in Campbell or the Los Gatos’ downtown, two locations residents currently go to for entertainment and dining.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>An iterative process\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2022/08/05/structures-cambrian-timeline.html\">Over many years,\u003c/a> after lots of city planning meetings featuring \u003cem>some\u003c/em> yelling, there’s finally a proposal on the table that many residents can get behind. It was approved by the city council in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new development would include underground parking, retail with apartments built above, a central plaza, a hotel, an assisted living facility, 48 single-family homes and 25 townhouses.[aside postID=news_12078615 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00242_TV-KQED.jpg'] But four years later and nothing has been built yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The plan that you can look through on the city’s website is not economically feasible to build,” said Kelly Snider, a professor at San José State University and a development consultant. “There’s just a lot going on in a very small parcel. It’s a little bit of a Frankenstein.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said no one developer specializes in all those various uses. On top of that, very few big projects like this are moving forward anywhere in the Bay Area. The economics just don’t work out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interest rates are high, construction materials and labor are expensive and people’s work and consumer habits have changed. Brick-and-mortar retail stores have a lot of competition online. There’s fewer business travelers in San José. More people are working remotely, so office spaces sit empty.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Will the Cambrian Park project ever get built?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“I think that the interest rates, at some point, [will] come down,” Brilliot said. “And I think some projects will come back. But I think it’s gonna be slower, more flat growth. And because of that, I don’t think you’re gonna see a massive amount of development like you did in the dot-com boom when things were just going crazy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For their part, Bob Burres and Peter Clarke are waiting nervously to see how it all turns out. They know that of all the elements in the approved plan, the single-family homes and townhouses will be the easiest for the developer to recoup investment. After all, housing is always in demand in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079109\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_005_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079109\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_005_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_005_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_005_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_005_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Red roses rise above a white picket fence in a garden at Cambrian Park Plaza on April 7, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Once you put up housing on any piece of commercial land, it’s never going to be commercial again,” Peter Clarke said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if that happens, the neighbors’ dream of a central gathering spot — like the Pruneyard — will never come to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The permit for the current \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/major-development-projects/cambrian-park-plaza-signature-project\">Cambrian Park Signature Project\u003c/a> will expire in 2028. But the developer recently applied to alter the permit so they can build the housing part of the plan first and extend the permit up to 4 years in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city is currently reviewing the proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>*An earlier version of this article called this project the “Cambrian Park Urban Village” when in fact its official name is “Cambrian Park Signature Project.” A Signature Project is one element of a larger urban village area. We regret the error.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Viewthefullepisodetranscript\">\u003c/a>Episode transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes questions come from the most random places.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I volunteer for a San José-based kitten rescue and it’s called Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Cafe. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is Connie Young, from Mountain View.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So we have adoptable foster kittens that come every weekend. And there’s two playrooms. And you can book a 50-minute slot.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The kitten cafe where she volunteers is located in Cambrian Park Plaza on the west side of San José.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So I went there to volunteer and I saw that plaza and it was kind of different than the other strip mall plazas in the area. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cambrian Park Plaza isn’t one long flat fronted building like a typical strip mall. It was built to mimic the experience of a town’s main street, so the facade turns often, creating little plazas with white picket fences and brickwork. There are window boxes and roses.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has kind of like a circus slash like English garden theme, cottage theme.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Circus because one of the defining features of this plaza is a huge yellow sign with a carousel on top. The figures \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">used\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to rotate, although like many things in this plaza, it has seen better days.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was like, this seems like an interesting place and a place that has a lot of history. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This shopping mall is slated for redevelopment, and Connie wants to know more about its history and what it could become. Connie also noticed that online many people have shared fond memories of this plaza’s heyday in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Let’s hear a few…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jaime Portillo: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I remember driving by Cambrian Plaza and seeing the carousel from when we first arrived in San José.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Carolyn Robinson: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There was always a grocery store there when I was a little kid. So we’d walk up to the grocery store to do our shopping for the day. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jaime Portillo: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was a go-to. I mean, you could do everything there. You could go to a delicatessen and get your meats and cheeses, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Carolyn Robinson:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There was Ben Franklin, which was the coolest store on the face of the planet. It was like a dime store and you could get anything there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Janet Gillis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There were hardware stores there. There were pet shops, as I said, the clothing stores, very lot of practical things that, you know, people would need.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jaime Portillo: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it was in walking distance.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Carolyn Robinson: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The minute I think of the smell of bubblegum ice cream, which for a four-year-old that was like Nirvana, I picture myself inside that ice cream parlor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jaime Portillo: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I remember going to the bowling alley. We used to go there a lot during high school and hang out with the other teenagers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Carolyn Robinson: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To this day remember the sound of the pins hitting the the back wall and the balls striking and people laughing and having a good time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Janet Gillis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We’d go down in a little group of you know five or six or eight kids and be back before dinner. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Carolyn Robinson: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There were so many things that, that as a kid, it made my life feel a little bit bigger and richer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those were nearby residents Jaime Portillo, Carolyn Robinson and Janet Gillis sharing their memories.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bay Curious editor and producer Katrina Schwartz headed to San José to find out more about the fate of Cambrian Park Plaza. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first Cambrian Park neighbors I meet are characters…they’ve been attending city meetings and organizing their neighbors to influence what gets built here for years. And they aren’t shy about some of the tactics they used..\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I’m the guy who kicked over the apple cart, repeatedly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is Bob Burres — a proud instigator. His friend and neighbor, Peter Clarke, has a different approach he says…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He’s nice, he’s polite, he’s a proper English gentleman.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am the Brit, which is the funny accent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bob and Peter like this neighborhood for its views of the mountains and quiet, neighborly charm. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This area was originally all farmland. Then the farmers decided they could make more money by essentially selling up and having housing developed on the periphery. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The guy who owned all the land that became the neighborhood of Cambrian Park was named Paul Schaeffer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But then he recognized, you know, people need to buy stuff.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This area was the heart of Cambrian Park. This was the downtown. There is no main street in Cambrian park area. This was it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Peter and Bob are showing me around it’s clear this mall is no longer the heart of the neighborhood. But the neighbors hope it could be again. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you go through you see there’s numerous little plazas and sitting spaces all around.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The plaza has a faded quality. We walk down the outside of the building, which has covered walkways that protect us from the rain that’s falling. Many storefronts are empty and I hear just as much about what it \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">used to be\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as what it is now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This used to be the Cambrian Post office for years.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That used to be a Mexican restaurant, but closed down.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The things that are left… a boxing gym, a pet adoption agency, a store for kids baseball gear…are on short term leases. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can’t put a lot of investment into a retail space for a six month lease.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peter and Bob have both lived in Cambrian Park for 30 years… but even back in the late 80s and early 90s the plaza was already in slow decline. The Schaeffer family owned it for most of its existence, but stopped keeping it up in later years. When Paul Schaffer and his wife died, their children sold it to a developer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it was bought and people said we’re going to redevelop it, we were in favor.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peter and Bob are part of a group called the Friends of Cambrian Park Plaza. They’ve been pushing the city and developers to create a vibrant place to live, shop and gather.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> We have hopes that something beautiful will come out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They look to a place like The Pruneyard in Campbell as their model. It’s got local businesses alongside chains..and is a pleasant place to hang out.We’ll dig into the details of what could be built here and explore why achieving that vision could be a tough sell in San José right now. All that, coming up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SPONSOR MESSAGE\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost a million people live in San José. It’s the largest city in Northern California, but its development hasn’t followed the pattern of a typical big city. That’s why despite being dubbed the Heart of Silicon Valley…many people think a more apt term would be “the bedroom” of Silicon Valley. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you look at San José, it very much feels like you’re in the San Fernando Valley or somewhere in Los Angeles, not the old urban part, but the more auto suburban track housing part of LA. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Michel Brilliot worked for the city of San José for 27 years…retiring as the deputy director of long range projects. He says the sprawling, residential character of the city can be traced back to one man\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michalel Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dutch Hammond. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like Cambrian Park, the rest of San José was mostly agricultural. Before Dutch Hammond came along, there were fruit trees as far as the eye could see. But after World War II, the defense industry was booming and Hammond understood its workers needed somewhere to live. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Largely what got developed here was track housing which was very cheap to build you just knock down the cherry orchard or the apricot and prune orchard and you just you plop in houses like you build model t fords on an assembly line except the workers move as opposed to the product.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Cambrian Park neighborhood was part of this era…built in the late 1950s. The homes are largely ranch style with yards and garages. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People historically would have a family and settle down and work and they would drive north for their job in what became and is now Silicon Valley. And that to a large extent has not changed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The problem with that, Michael says, is that running a city that is mostly residential, with few big businesses, is expensive. Residents want services.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They want code enforcement to deal with the RV that someone’s living in down the street or parks and maintaining the parks and they want libraries and. So they want all these things which cost money. Businesses generally don’t want as much services from the city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As early as the 1970s, San José city leaders realized it needed a better balance of businesses and homes. The goal was to bring more jobs into the city itself, to increase the tax base and to reduce congestion on the roads. Those are still the goals of city planners, says Michael.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the idea now is really to, instead of growing out, growing up, and growing up really along transit corridors and transit stations and in the downtown and create these places that are called urban villages.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The proposed plan for Cambrian Park Plaza is one of these urban villages – a cluster of amenities, housing and jobs near a transit corridor.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Music to emphasize back and forth\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would have underground parking with retail above.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A six-story apartment block on top of retail. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shops would be built around a central plaza for families and neighbors to gather. Then there’d be…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An assisted living building\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">48 single family homes, 25 townhouses, and…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A hotel.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Music ends\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But nothing has actually been built by the developer, Kimco Realty.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So we’ve seen very little higher density projects break ground. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Kelly Snider:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The plan that you can look through on the city’s website is not economically feasible to build.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kelly Snider is an adjunct professor at San José State and a development consultant. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Kelly Snider: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There’s just a lot going on in a very small parcel. It’s a little bit of a Frankenstein.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kelly says there’s no one developer who specializes in so many different types of buildings…hotels, assisted living, single family homes… retail..they’re all very different. And the economic picture right now makes it \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">even less likely \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this project will be completed anytime soon. It’s a story we see around the Bay Area. Labor is expensive. Construction materials cost more than ever… and interest rates aren’t favorable. Plus, Michael Brilliot says, the population of San José is now shrinking, not growing.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, will the Cambrian Park urban village ever get built?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think that when the interest rates, at some point, they’ll come down. And I think some projects will come back. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But I think it’s gonna be a slower, more flat growth and because of that, I don’t think you’re gonna see masses of amount of development like you did in the dot-com boom when things were just going crazy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a post-COVID world, it may not make sense to build hotels and offices. Brick and mortar stores have to compete with online retailers. It’s a different real estate picture now than when this plan was conceived a few years ago.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bob Burres, Peter Clarke and the other Friends of Cambrian Park are watching this play out nervously. They worry the only economically feasible thing to do with the property is to build townhouses…after all, in the Bay Area, housing is always in high demand.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the things that we have heard over and over from the folks in the city is developers come in with fairly grand plans. And they’re gonna do some housing, and they’re going to do some sort of commercial, and they are going to something else. Well, housing is the only thing that’s profitable. And so they decide to build, we’re going to build the housing first. And then phase two and phase three will have these other things. They build the housing and then they say, sorry, it doesn’t pencil and they abandon the project. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you put up housing on any piece of commercial land it’s never going to be commercial again.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And if that happens, their dream of a gathering spot like the one in Campbell…the Pruneyard…will never become a reality. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I brought all this back to Connie Young, our question asker. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I can see why they would want to kind of redevelop it into something more community focused. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Connie grew up in the South Bay and remembers wishing there was more to do…more places she could go without a ride from her parents. Now she’s living in Mountain View and has enjoyed the way streets have been closed downtown to make space for dining and gathering.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I feel like that’s what the South Bay is missing in a lot of the cities, especially San José, like a central plaza or the neighborhood where everybody gathers in the evening and their kids run around and play. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The permit for the current Cambrian Park Urban Village plan will expire in 2028. Getting new ones would be expensive for the developer…maybe that’s why the company recently applied to alter the permit so they can build the housing part of the plan first and extend the permit up to 4 years in the process. The city is currently reviewing the proposal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That was Bay Curious editor and producer, Katrina Schwartz. Thanks to Connie Young for asking this week’s question. It was selected by you in a monthly voting round on Bay \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://curious.org\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Curious.or\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">g. That’s one of the things I think makes Bay Curious unique… it is driven by you – your questions, about your community. And, it’s funded by you too. We need your support to keep things going, so please consider making a donation to KQED today. It only takes a few minutes. You can do it right from your phone. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/donate\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">KQED.org/donate\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the place to do it. Thanks!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our show is produced by Christopher Beale, Katrina Schwartz and Olivia Allen-Price.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With extra support from Maha Sanad, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on team KQED.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Cambrian Park Plaza, A Beloved San José Strip Mall, Awaits a New Future | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"#Viewthefullepisodetranscript\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first thing a lot of people notice about Cambrian Park Plaza on the west side of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> is the sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s big; it’s yellow; and it has a carousel on top, complete with playful figures encircling the outside. At one point, the carousel actually rotated — but like many things in this shopping plaza — it has seen better days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plaza itself is low slung with a massive parking lot that is often empty. Storefronts are made of brick and nestle under a covered walkway. It’s not your average strip mall with a big grocery store at the center and smaller chains flanking it. Instead, there’s a bit more charm. Shops are clustered around little courtyards with white picket fences, picnic benches and trees. Some stores have window boxes with flowers. There are roses and palm trees. It’s quaint, but faded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It has a circus slash English garden theme, cottage theme,” Connie Young said. “I was like, ‘This seems like an interesting place, and a place that has a lot of history.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young was visiting Cambrian Park to volunteer at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ibokrescue.org/info/display?PageID=21948\">Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Cafe\u003c/a>, a pet adoption organization located in the plaza. She was surprised to see many nostalgic memories of the place online. She wanted to learn more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079115\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_015_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079115\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_015_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_015_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_015_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_015_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A covered walkway lined with storefronts stretches through Cambrian Park Plaza on April 7, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There seem to be a lot of people who are mourning the loss of Cambrian Park Plaza, a 1950s era strip mall in San José that is set to be demolished for housing and retail space,” she wrote in to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a>. “What’s the history of that place?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Valley of Heart’s Delight\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Cambrian Park neighborhood represents the quintessential story of San José development. For a long time, San José was small, an agricultural center for the many orchards and farms nearby. But after World War II, the Defense industry was booming and more people were moving to the area for jobs. The city manager at the time, Dutch Hammond, wanted to create the Los Angeles of Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Largely what got developed here was track housing, which was very cheap to build,” said Michael Brillot, a retired San José city planner. “You just knock down the cherry orchard or the apricot and prune orchard, and you plop in houses like you build Model T Fords on an assembly line, except the workers move as opposed to the product.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> The push was to develop outwards from San José’s core and to build enough housing to supply the workforce to places like Sunnyvale and Cupertino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cambrian Park neighborhood — and its shopping mall — was part of that history. A large landowner named Paul Schaeffer owned the orchards that became Cambrian Park. He decided to tear out the trees and build houses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He recognized people need to buy stuff,” said Peter Clarke, a Cambrian Park resident and member of the Friends of Cambrian Park group. “They need a post office and a grocery store. So he assembled this particular plaza as the only real center in this area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, many families only had one car. It was common for the breadwinner to drive north to work while the other parent stayed home with the children. During its heyday, Cambrian Park Plaza had everything families needed within walking distance of their home — a grocery store, a hardware store, clothing stores, a post office, a bowling alley, even doctors’ and dentists’ offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was the downtown,” said Bob Burres, another local resident. “There is no ‘main street’ in the Cambrian Park area. This was it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A slow decline\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>That remained true for decades, but over time, the plaza began to fade and social patterns changed. People drove more and further for things, making the plaza less central to their needs. The Schaeffer family retained ownership of the plaza \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2022/08/05/structures-cambrian-timeline.html\">until 2015\u003c/a>. Peter Clarke guesses that it was passive income for owner Paul Schaeffer and his wife in their later years. But when they died, their children sold the plaza to a developer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When it was bought, and people said, ‘We’re going to redevelop it,’ we were in favor,” Peter Clarke said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079113\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_013_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079113\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_013_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_013_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_013_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_013_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Cambrian Park Plaza sign, built in 1953 with the shopping center, features a rotating carousel and received historic status in 2016, on April 7, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many Cambrian Park residents were ready for an updated space that might once again be the center of community life. The Friends of Cambrian Park group stayed involved as the developer, Texas-based Weingarten Realty, proposed various uses for the property. But residents did not like early proposals that resembled more traditional strip malls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community was very clear,” Clarke said. “They wanted to see a place that was a location that people would come to linger at, that had sit-down dining. They didn’t want more fast food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wanted something like \u003ca href=\"https://www.thepruneyard.com/\">The Pruneyard\u003c/a> in Campbell or the Los Gatos’ downtown, two locations residents currently go to for entertainment and dining.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>An iterative process\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2022/08/05/structures-cambrian-timeline.html\">Over many years,\u003c/a> after lots of city planning meetings featuring \u003cem>some\u003c/em> yelling, there’s finally a proposal on the table that many residents can get behind. It was approved by the city council in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new development would include underground parking, retail with apartments built above, a central plaza, a hotel, an assisted living facility, 48 single-family homes and 25 townhouses.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> But four years later and nothing has been built yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The plan that you can look through on the city’s website is not economically feasible to build,” said Kelly Snider, a professor at San José State University and a development consultant. “There’s just a lot going on in a very small parcel. It’s a little bit of a Frankenstein.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said no one developer specializes in all those various uses. On top of that, very few big projects like this are moving forward anywhere in the Bay Area. The economics just don’t work out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interest rates are high, construction materials and labor are expensive and people’s work and consumer habits have changed. Brick-and-mortar retail stores have a lot of competition online. There’s fewer business travelers in San José. More people are working remotely, so office spaces sit empty.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Will the Cambrian Park project ever get built?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“I think that the interest rates, at some point, [will] come down,” Brilliot said. “And I think some projects will come back. But I think it’s gonna be slower, more flat growth. And because of that, I don’t think you’re gonna see a massive amount of development like you did in the dot-com boom when things were just going crazy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For their part, Bob Burres and Peter Clarke are waiting nervously to see how it all turns out. They know that of all the elements in the approved plan, the single-family homes and townhouses will be the easiest for the developer to recoup investment. After all, housing is always in demand in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12079109\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_005_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12079109\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_005_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_005_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_005_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/040726Bay-Curious_Cambrian-Plaza_GH_005_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Red roses rise above a white picket fence in a garden at Cambrian Park Plaza on April 7, 2026, in San José. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Once you put up housing on any piece of commercial land, it’s never going to be commercial again,” Peter Clarke said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if that happens, the neighbors’ dream of a central gathering spot — like the Pruneyard — will never come to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The permit for the current \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/major-development-projects/cambrian-park-plaza-signature-project\">Cambrian Park Signature Project\u003c/a> will expire in 2028. But the developer recently applied to alter the permit so they can build the housing part of the plan first and extend the permit up to 4 years in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city is currently reviewing the proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>*An earlier version of this article called this project the “Cambrian Park Urban Village” when in fact its official name is “Cambrian Park Signature Project.” A Signature Project is one element of a larger urban village area. We regret the error.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Viewthefullepisodetranscript\">\u003c/a>Episode transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes questions come from the most random places.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I volunteer for a San José-based kitten rescue and it’s called Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Cafe. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is Connie Young, from Mountain View.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So we have adoptable foster kittens that come every weekend. And there’s two playrooms. And you can book a 50-minute slot.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The kitten cafe where she volunteers is located in Cambrian Park Plaza on the west side of San José.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So I went there to volunteer and I saw that plaza and it was kind of different than the other strip mall plazas in the area. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cambrian Park Plaza isn’t one long flat fronted building like a typical strip mall. It was built to mimic the experience of a town’s main street, so the facade turns often, creating little plazas with white picket fences and brickwork. There are window boxes and roses.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has kind of like a circus slash like English garden theme, cottage theme.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Circus because one of the defining features of this plaza is a huge yellow sign with a carousel on top. The figures \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">used\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to rotate, although like many things in this plaza, it has seen better days.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was like, this seems like an interesting place and a place that has a lot of history. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This shopping mall is slated for redevelopment, and Connie wants to know more about its history and what it could become. Connie also noticed that online many people have shared fond memories of this plaza’s heyday in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Let’s hear a few…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jaime Portillo: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I remember driving by Cambrian Plaza and seeing the carousel from when we first arrived in San José.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Carolyn Robinson: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There was always a grocery store there when I was a little kid. So we’d walk up to the grocery store to do our shopping for the day. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jaime Portillo: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was a go-to. I mean, you could do everything there. You could go to a delicatessen and get your meats and cheeses, \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Carolyn Robinson:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There was Ben Franklin, which was the coolest store on the face of the planet. It was like a dime store and you could get anything there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Janet Gillis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There were hardware stores there. There were pet shops, as I said, the clothing stores, very lot of practical things that, you know, people would need.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jaime Portillo: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it was in walking distance.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Carolyn Robinson: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The minute I think of the smell of bubblegum ice cream, which for a four-year-old that was like Nirvana, I picture myself inside that ice cream parlor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jaime Portillo: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I remember going to the bowling alley. We used to go there a lot during high school and hang out with the other teenagers.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Carolyn Robinson: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To this day remember the sound of the pins hitting the the back wall and the balls striking and people laughing and having a good time. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Janet Gillis: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We’d go down in a little group of you know five or six or eight kids and be back before dinner. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Carolyn Robinson: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There were so many things that, that as a kid, it made my life feel a little bit bigger and richer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those were nearby residents Jaime Portillo, Carolyn Robinson and Janet Gillis sharing their memories.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bay Curious editor and producer Katrina Schwartz headed to San José to find out more about the fate of Cambrian Park Plaza. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first Cambrian Park neighbors I meet are characters…they’ve been attending city meetings and organizing their neighbors to influence what gets built here for years. And they aren’t shy about some of the tactics they used..\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I’m the guy who kicked over the apple cart, repeatedly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is Bob Burres — a proud instigator. His friend and neighbor, Peter Clarke, has a different approach he says…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He’s nice, he’s polite, he’s a proper English gentleman.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am the Brit, which is the funny accent.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bob and Peter like this neighborhood for its views of the mountains and quiet, neighborly charm. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This area was originally all farmland. Then the farmers decided they could make more money by essentially selling up and having housing developed on the periphery. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The guy who owned all the land that became the neighborhood of Cambrian Park was named Paul Schaeffer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But then he recognized, you know, people need to buy stuff.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This area was the heart of Cambrian Park. This was the downtown. There is no main street in Cambrian park area. This was it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Peter and Bob are showing me around it’s clear this mall is no longer the heart of the neighborhood. But the neighbors hope it could be again. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you go through you see there’s numerous little plazas and sitting spaces all around.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The plaza has a faded quality. We walk down the outside of the building, which has covered walkways that protect us from the rain that’s falling. Many storefronts are empty and I hear just as much about what it \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">used to be\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as what it is now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This used to be the Cambrian Post office for years.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That used to be a Mexican restaurant, but closed down.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The things that are left… a boxing gym, a pet adoption agency, a store for kids baseball gear…are on short term leases. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can’t put a lot of investment into a retail space for a six month lease.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peter and Bob have both lived in Cambrian Park for 30 years… but even back in the late 80s and early 90s the plaza was already in slow decline. The Schaeffer family owned it for most of its existence, but stopped keeping it up in later years. When Paul Schaffer and his wife died, their children sold it to a developer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it was bought and people said we’re going to redevelop it, we were in favor.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peter and Bob are part of a group called the Friends of Cambrian Park Plaza. They’ve been pushing the city and developers to create a vibrant place to live, shop and gather.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> We have hopes that something beautiful will come out. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They look to a place like The Pruneyard in Campbell as their model. It’s got local businesses alongside chains..and is a pleasant place to hang out.We’ll dig into the details of what could be built here and explore why achieving that vision could be a tough sell in San José right now. All that, coming up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SPONSOR MESSAGE\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost a million people live in San José. It’s the largest city in Northern California, but its development hasn’t followed the pattern of a typical big city. That’s why despite being dubbed the Heart of Silicon Valley…many people think a more apt term would be “the bedroom” of Silicon Valley. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you look at San José, it very much feels like you’re in the San Fernando Valley or somewhere in Los Angeles, not the old urban part, but the more auto suburban track housing part of LA. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Michel Brilliot worked for the city of San José for 27 years…retiring as the deputy director of long range projects. He says the sprawling, residential character of the city can be traced back to one man\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michalel Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dutch Hammond. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like Cambrian Park, the rest of San José was mostly agricultural. Before Dutch Hammond came along, there were fruit trees as far as the eye could see. But after World War II, the defense industry was booming and Hammond understood its workers needed somewhere to live. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Largely what got developed here was track housing which was very cheap to build you just knock down the cherry orchard or the apricot and prune orchard and you just you plop in houses like you build model t fords on an assembly line except the workers move as opposed to the product.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Cambrian Park neighborhood was part of this era…built in the late 1950s. The homes are largely ranch style with yards and garages. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People historically would have a family and settle down and work and they would drive north for their job in what became and is now Silicon Valley. And that to a large extent has not changed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The problem with that, Michael says, is that running a city that is mostly residential, with few big businesses, is expensive. Residents want services.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They want code enforcement to deal with the RV that someone’s living in down the street or parks and maintaining the parks and they want libraries and. So they want all these things which cost money. Businesses generally don’t want as much services from the city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As early as the 1970s, San José city leaders realized it needed a better balance of businesses and homes. The goal was to bring more jobs into the city itself, to increase the tax base and to reduce congestion on the roads. Those are still the goals of city planners, says Michael.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the idea now is really to, instead of growing out, growing up, and growing up really along transit corridors and transit stations and in the downtown and create these places that are called urban villages.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The proposed plan for Cambrian Park Plaza is one of these urban villages – a cluster of amenities, housing and jobs near a transit corridor.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Music to emphasize back and forth\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would have underground parking with retail above.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A six-story apartment block on top of retail. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shops would be built around a central plaza for families and neighbors to gather. Then there’d be…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An assisted living building\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">48 single family homes, 25 townhouses, and…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A hotel.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Music ends\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But nothing has actually been built by the developer, Kimco Realty.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So we’ve seen very little higher density projects break ground. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Kelly Snider:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The plan that you can look through on the city’s website is not economically feasible to build.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kelly Snider is an adjunct professor at San José State and a development consultant. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Kelly Snider: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There’s just a lot going on in a very small parcel. It’s a little bit of a Frankenstein.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kelly says there’s no one developer who specializes in so many different types of buildings…hotels, assisted living, single family homes… retail..they’re all very different. And the economic picture right now makes it \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">even less likely \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this project will be completed anytime soon. It’s a story we see around the Bay Area. Labor is expensive. Construction materials cost more than ever… and interest rates aren’t favorable. Plus, Michael Brilliot says, the population of San José is now shrinking, not growing.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, will the Cambrian Park urban village ever get built?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Michael Brilliot: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think that when the interest rates, at some point, they’ll come down. And I think some projects will come back. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But I think it’s gonna be a slower, more flat growth and because of that, I don’t think you’re gonna see masses of amount of development like you did in the dot-com boom when things were just going crazy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a post-COVID world, it may not make sense to build hotels and offices. Brick and mortar stores have to compete with online retailers. It’s a different real estate picture now than when this plan was conceived a few years ago.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bob Burres, Peter Clarke and the other Friends of Cambrian Park are watching this play out nervously. They worry the only economically feasible thing to do with the property is to build townhouses…after all, in the Bay Area, housing is always in high demand.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Bob Burres: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the things that we have heard over and over from the folks in the city is developers come in with fairly grand plans. And they’re gonna do some housing, and they’re going to do some sort of commercial, and they are going to something else. Well, housing is the only thing that’s profitable. And so they decide to build, we’re going to build the housing first. And then phase two and phase three will have these other things. They build the housing and then they say, sorry, it doesn’t pencil and they abandon the project. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Clarke: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you put up housing on any piece of commercial land it’s never going to be commercial again.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And if that happens, their dream of a gathering spot like the one in Campbell…the Pruneyard…will never become a reality. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I brought all this back to Connie Young, our question asker. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I can see why they would want to kind of redevelop it into something more community focused. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Connie grew up in the South Bay and remembers wishing there was more to do…more places she could go without a ride from her parents. Now she’s living in Mountain View and has enjoyed the way streets have been closed downtown to make space for dining and gathering.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Connie Young: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I feel like that’s what the South Bay is missing in a lot of the cities, especially San José, like a central plaza or the neighborhood where everybody gathers in the evening and their kids run around and play. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The permit for the current Cambrian Park Urban Village plan will expire in 2028. Getting new ones would be expensive for the developer…maybe that’s why the company recently applied to alter the permit so they can build the housing part of the plan first and extend the permit up to 4 years in the process. The city is currently reviewing the proposal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That was Bay Curious editor and producer, Katrina Schwartz. Thanks to Connie Young for asking this week’s question. It was selected by you in a monthly voting round on Bay \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://curious.org\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Curious.or\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">g. That’s one of the things I think makes Bay Curious unique… it is driven by you – your questions, about your community. And, it’s funded by you too. We need your support to keep things going, so please consider making a donation to KQED today. It only takes a few minutes. You can do it right from your phone. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/donate\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">KQED.org/donate\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the place to do it. Thanks!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our show is produced by Christopher Beale, Katrina Schwartz and Olivia Allen-Price.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With extra support from Maha Sanad, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on team KQED.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Housing, Tech and Taxes: 50 Years of Unaffordability in the Bay Area",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">How We Get By\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">full series here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The carefully curated flower pots, matcha mixing bowls and Buddhist prayer beads at Kogura Co. in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José’s\u003c/a> Japantown have drawn shoppers for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Kogura’s family has operated the Japanese gift and home goods store, now near the corner of Jackson and North Sixth streets, since his grandfather Kohei Kogura started the company in 1928.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the decades, the store’s inventory has shifted — from radios and sewing machines to home goods and gifts — mirroring the changes unfolding outside its doors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just as the wares have changed over the years, so has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13904788/san-jose-japantown-changes-minato-gombei-shuei-do-santo-market\">Japantown\u003c/a>: evolving from a working-class neighborhood to a haven of high-priced apartments as handsomely paid tech workers and developers have flocked to the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As I look at folks that are moving into our neighborhood,” Kogura said, “the only people who can afford to move into the neighborhood right now are the high-tech.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the street from his shop is Sixth and Jackson, a 518-apartment complex opened two years ago that lists studios for rent beginning at roughly $3,000 per month, climbing to roughly $11,000 for the highest-end three-bedroom units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The sponsors of our Little League teams were the Plumbers, the Carpenters, the Teamsters,” Kogura, 70, recalled as he walked the aisles of his family’s shop on a sunny Tuesday in March and reflected on his upbringing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077577\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12077577 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00054_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00054_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00054_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00054_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Richard Kogura, a third-generation resident of Japantown and co-owner of Kogura Company, poses for a portrait at Kogura Company in San José on March 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If you needed a job, there was always work because of the canneries,” he said, referring to companies like Del Monte that once anchored the local economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those jobs are gone. In their place: a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/category/silicon-valley\">tech-driven economy\u003c/a> that brought immense wealth — and costs that many longtime residents can no longer afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past half-century, the Bay Area has transformed from a region where working- and middle-class families could build stable lives into one of the most expensive places in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That shift was driven by the collision of explosive tech-fueled wealth with decades of constrained housing growth, shaped by local opposition to development, environmental regulation and tax policies like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/proposition-13\">Proposition 13\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077583\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12077583 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00657_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00657_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00657_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00657_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cards made by Tracie Kogura, Richard Kogura’s daughter, are sold at Kogura Company in San José on March 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The result is a region where soaring home prices and rents have outpaced wages, deepened inequality and pushed longtime residents to the margins or out altogether — forces now \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952476/san-jose-japantown-photo-night-cukui\">reshaping communities like San José’s Japantown\u003c/a> and affecting the people struggling to remain in them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Powered by decades of tech expansion, limited housing construction and policies that restrict turnover and development, the region’s cost of living first got out of sync with the rest of the country around 50 years ago, experts say, with more recent tech booms only furthering sky-high costs and wide disparities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area is rich and prosperous, and that creates a very high demand for housing, and that drives up prices,” said Richard Walker, professor emeritus of geography at UC Berkeley and an expert on California history.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Spurning growth\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Beginning in the 1970s, communities across the Bay Area pushed back against rapid development, reshaping how — and whether — new housing would be built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A hard shift toward anti-growth policies and environmental regulation flourished, as residents fought displacement and sprawl caused by major urban and suburban development efforts, such as highways and commercial projects. Their effects linger today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077579\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077579\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00483_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00483_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00483_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00483_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Customers browse at Kogura Company in San José on March 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In the same way that California was the poster child for uncontrolled growth in the first two and a half decades of the post-war era from the mid-1940s to the mid to late 1960s, not coincidentally, it is the epicenter of the most concerted and most politically successful effort to reign in growth into the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s,” said Jacob Anbinder, a research fellow at Cornell University, who is writing a book about the roots of America’s housing crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until last year, when the Legislature enacted major reforms, the California Environmental Quality Act — the state’s landmark environmental law, passed in 1970 — hamstrung projects of all stripes. Meanwhile, a Byzantine patchwork of county and local policies slows down and limits new housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The region’s collective failure to build enough homes has made it tougher for everyday workers to secure reasonably priced housing. Over the last nearly 50 years, the Bay Area has had one of the lowest permitting rates for new homes per capita in the nation, compared to other major metros, according to an analysis by the \u003ca href=\"https://siepr.stanford.edu/\">Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research\u003c/a> performed for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Housing Permits, 1980-Present\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-MXDLW\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/MXDLW/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"575\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phil Cosentino’s livelihood has been shaped by the rise and fall of that pro-building ethos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After World War II, as defense and technology companies grew and hastened the rise of Silicon Valley, developers built out suburbs that sprawled farther and farther from job centers, prompting the construction of more roads and highways to transport more workers to offices throughout San José and the Peninsula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Cosentino’s father opened a family farm in South San José 81 years ago, the property stretched 10 acres. But it was whittled to about two acres after California officials used eminent domain to buy the land in the 1950s to build what is now Highway 85, which cuts along the edge of the farm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077607\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077607\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-022-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-022-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-022-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-022-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heidi Shimamoto shops at J&P Cosentino Family Farm in San José on Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, the 96-year-old’s small farm is sandwiched between the highway and a residential neighborhood that sprouted over the decades as developers bought up neighboring farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was closing in, closing in, closing in, and there was nothing we could do about it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, homes in the area sell for well above $1 million to tech workers drawn in part by easy access to the highway. The orchards that helped sustain generations of Cosentinos, however, some years fail to break even.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077605\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12077605 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-005-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-005-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-005-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-005-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A drone photo of the farm and a family photo hang on the wall at J&P Cosentino Family Farm in San José on Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The situation we’re living in today is the product of decisions that were made not just 10, 20 years ago, but 50, 60, even 70 years ago,” Anbinder said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even as a range of factors constrained housing supply, the region’s economy continued to boom, bringing in more residents and driving up demand and prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“About 50 years ago, you can start to see a very clear upward movement in housing prices that deviates from the rest of the country by California, and also even more so by the Bay Area,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rising housing costs\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Around 1970, the median home value in the U.S. was about $20,000. In California, it was roughly $23,000, and in the Bay Area it was higher still — reaching $28,000 in San Francisco, according to the U.S. Census.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2024, the census found, the median home value in the city was around $1.4 million, compared to less than $400,000 nationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077584\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12077584 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00764_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00764_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00764_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00764_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carolyn Kogura (center right), a third-generation resident of Japantown and co-owner of Kogura Company, helps customer Nick Marozick (left) at the cash register at Kogura Company in San José on March 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">rise in real estate values\u003c/a> has far outstripped the growth in average wages, greatly diminishing buying power for many.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the tech industry has fueled extreme wealth and financial stability for a significant number of residents capable of scooping up much of the available supply of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why is our housing more expensive than anywhere in the country? It’s because we are richer than anywhere in the country, on average,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Home Values on Zillow\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-FmS51\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/FmS51/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"486\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kogura and his grown children have been able to maintain family-owned homes in Japantown. But that’s largely because his grandfather and parents were able to buy and pass on properties before prices skyrocketed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He doesn’t think his kids would be able to buy their own homes now due to the high prices and property taxes, which he said are exacerbated by investors who buy and sell historic buildings in the area in hopes of redeveloping them and cashing in on the neighborhood’s cachet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Median Income for Select Professions\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-iiZQd\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/iiZQd/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"675\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erika McEntarfer, the former head of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and a research scholar at SIEPR, said that while tech wages have long dwarfed those of other professions like nurses, teachers and retail or sales workers, a tech boom in the years following the great financial crisis of 2008 pushed compensation in that industry even higher, with direct impacts on housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can see it in the housing price statistics. You can see it in income data. The Bay Area starts to have housing prices that increase faster than other cities, right as the tech boom is taking off and incomes are also going way up,” McEntarfer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That takeoff in earnings didn’t happen for everybody. The latest U.S. Census data shows median Bay Area tech worker income hovering a little above $180,000 annually in 2024, compared with just over $120,000 for nurses, while teachers and sales workers earned less than half of that.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Tech compensation\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Rachel Massaro, vice president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a think tank that studies the region, said inequality is “escalating exponentially” in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What high earners are able to pay for a good or service affects what people will charge, Massaro said, which impacts everyone. Tech workers are willing and able to pay more for everyday essentials, from housing to child care, influencing costs for the whole region and exacerbating historic imbalances.[aside postID=news_12078480 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Lede.jpg']This year’s \u003ca href=\"https://jointventure.org/13-publications/silicon-valley-index\">Silicon Valley Index\u003c/a>, an annual snapshot of the region published by the nonprofit, highlighted that investment income — such as dividends from stock portfolios and earnings from rental properties — is “overwhelmingly concentrated among higher-income households,” bringing in $200,000 or more each year. For households earning less than that, “investment income is nearly absent,” the report said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those investments, Massaro said, can generate much more income than wages alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In practice, those assets for tech workers can feel like bonuses, making it easier to snap up a rental property or to upgrade to a bigger home, “things that might seem out of reach for a lot of other people in our region,” Massaro said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compounding all of this is the fact that the Bay Area — in addition to being flush with well-paid product managers, engineers, programmers and marketers — has one of the highest concentrations of billionaires in the country. Executives and founders like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang are some of the 126 billionaires who call the area home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people across the country talk about the wealth gap in terms of the top 1%. But in Silicon Valley, the concentration goes way beyond that. It’s the top 0.001% alone that holds 18% of all of our liquid wealth,” Massaro said. “And the top 1% hold roughly a third. So things are different here, particularly because of billionaire liquid wealth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other indicators reaffirm the Bay Area’s higher cost of living, including data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which researchers from SIEPR analyzed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Far Does $100,000 Go?\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-44DiX\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/44DiX/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Between 2012 and the pandemic, prices in the Bay Area increased faster than other metros and the nation at large,” researchers at SIEPR said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One way to think of this is that if you make $100,000 in San Francisco, the purchasing power it gives you relative to living in Houston is $85,000,” McEntarfer said. “And relative to living in Birmingham, Alabama, that money would go [as far as] $110,000.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area workers looking to stretch their dollars have fled San Francisco and Silicon Valley for the East Bay and beyond in search of a lower cost of living. But as more people make that move, the limited housing supply has meant rising prices in previously affordable neighborhoods, which has pushed many families out of the region entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Proposition 13\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>McEntarfer said economists sometimes compare housing stock to lasagna, where layers accommodate the different circumstances people experience in their lives and careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s controversial Proposition 13 and high home prices have complicated that notion locally, with many older residents staying in larger homes after their children have moved out and partners have died because downsizing is too expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077589\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077589\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00642_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00642_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00642_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00642_TV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages is located on 609 North 13th St., in San José, on March 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For those who have already secured a home in the Bay Area, especially members of the Baby Boomer generation, the nearly 50-year-old Proposition 13 has shielded them from high annual property tax increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enacted in 1978 by California voters frustrated about unpredictable inflationary pressures and increasing property tax bills, Proposition 13 requires the state to assess properties based on their purchase price, not current market value, and caps the annual increase in assessed value at 2%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It means, for instance, that the buyer of a house who purchased the property in 2022 \u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/prop-13/\">pays dramatically more\u003c/a> in property taxes than their neighbor who bought a comparable home in the 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077591\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077591\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00664_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00664_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00664_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00664_TV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dried pasta and sauce are sold at Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages in San José on March 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The law benefits residential and commercial property owners, but disincentivizes them from moving and severely \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11701044/how-proposition-13-transformed-neighborhood-public-schools-throughout-california\">limits funding for schools\u003c/a> and other municipal services, prompting officials to more frequently ask local voters for tax increases and bond measures.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>“It definitely transfers the burden of paying for all of the expensive services that we have to pay for in communities to the younger up-and-coming working families,” said Kelly Snider, a developer and professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at San José State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077593\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077593\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00682_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00682_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00682_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00682_TV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Louis Chiaramonte, owner of Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages, poses for a portrait at Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages in San José on March 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some analyses have shown that Proposition 13 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911156/prop-13-offers-bigger-tax-breaks-to-homeowners-in-wealthy-white-neighborhoods\">disproportionately benefits white and wealthier homeowners\u003c/a> in higher-value neighborhoods because the difference between their homes’ assessed value and market value is greater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The upshot, McEntarfer said, is that in the Bay Area, “even relatively well-off working professionals like the nurses, educators, people with good middle-class jobs, they can’t afford to buy a house anymore, so they’re renting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Average rental rates in the San José and San Francisco metro areas hover around $3,000 a month for apartments, and about $4,200 a month for single-family homes, the Silicon Valley index reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077594\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077594\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00690_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00690_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00690_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00690_TV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A.J. Fernandez makes a sandwich at Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages in San José on March 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A.J. Fernandez pays far less than that — just $600 a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s the grand-nephew of Louis Chiaramonte, the 81-year-old proprietor of Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages in San José’s Northside neighborhood, which has operated for 118 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chiaramonte said people of his generation could buy a home “even with a regular type of job where you didn’t have to have a special education or special talents,” but Fernandez said he “couldn’t do that in my lifetime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Share of Super-Commuters\" aria-label=\"Grouped column chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-sYKh5\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/sYKh5/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 34-year-old, who works crafting the deli’s housemade Italian sausage sandwiches, rents a room in a family-owned home with his grandmother. “They charge me very modestly, and even then, it’s hard to live in the Bay Area,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s this huge crunch in terms of how expensive it is to just simply have a roof over your head,” said Stasia Hansen, the research and policy director for \u003ca href=\"https://workingeastbay.org/\">East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that advocates for economic, racial, and social justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hansen said that when the pinch of increasing housing costs pushes people farther from the region’s major job centers, it disconnects them from their families and communities and adds to their transportation costs as commutes increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077592\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077592\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00673_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00673_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00673_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00673_TV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old photos of Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages from the 1920s and onward are hung on a shelf at Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages in San José on March 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Moving from bigger cities like Oakland to smaller burbs in Contra Costa and Solano counties also means tenants often give up renter protections, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One consequence of all that movement has been an explosion of supercommuters, people who commute more than an hour to their workplaces. In the Bay Area in 2019, just under 9% of regional workers identified as supercommuters, according to U.S. Census data, nearly double the national rate at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic-driven remote work wave “took the edge off of the number of supercommuters in the Bay Area,” McEntarfer said, but the percentage of these commuters in the region in 2024 was still well above the national average.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Increasing strain\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As more people fan out in search of housing they can afford, that puts pressure on lower-income neighborhoods and the people who live there. Black workers have historically been underrepresented in tech and other white-collar sectors, Hansen said. They are also more likely, according to the index, to be paid less even when they do hold the same degrees and jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About half of Black workers in the East Bay were considered rent burdened, meaning they paid more than 30% of their income toward rent, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058985\">an October report\u003c/a> from UC Berkeley’s Labor Center. More than four in every 10 Latino workers were rent-burdened, compared to about a third of white renters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078837\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00285_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00285_TV_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00285_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00285_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Twenty-four-year-old Kassandra Gutierrez embraces her 4-year-old son Esteban while getting him ready for school at her mother’s home in Oakland on April 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kassandra Gutierrez said the financial strain of trying to stay in the Bay Area has taken a huge toll on her emotional well-being. She works full-time and is a single parent to a 4-year-old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been trying to see if I can get a second job just to make sure I can maintain a roof over my son’s head. It’s very mentally frustrating, mentally draining,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gutierrez, 24, is a case worker at a mental health care agency in Oakland, where she serves up to 30 clients at a time. Despite living in an affordable apartment complex in Richmond, she worries she could face eviction because she’s struggling to pay a recent $250 increase in rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078834\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078834\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00217_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00217_TV_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00217_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00217_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kassandra Gutierrez, a single mother, gets ready at her mother’s home in Oakland on April 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Raised in Oakland, she said, “everything was easier” when she was younger, and it’s been painful to see the costs of daily life spiking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I first started driving, gas was like $2.50, so filling up [my car]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>wasn’t such an issue. Just seeing that increase in gas, seeing an increase in groceries, just buying a pack of strawberries is already almost 10 bucks, or a gallon of milk is six bucks,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s such a fast increase that no one can really catch up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What comes next?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Walker, the Berkeley professor emeritus, said the inequality gripping the Bay Area is difficult to escape without drastic action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What comes next? Well, nothing. It’ll just be more of the same unless you get a mass popular movement and significant political change. We need to reclaim our state and reclaim our country from the rich,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He suggested everything from higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations, to stricter AI regulation and more subsidized housing like the public housing projects of the New Deal era that helped house the burgeoning workforce of the Bay Area after WWI. A proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaires in the state has gained momentum in recent months but faces vehement opposition from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/business/california-billionaire-tax-ballot-opposition-6a00047d?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqcxAnMF28subEWffDfgqSmdc38fyPNQOMOVQdP7pWka8zRT2Z8xERxYnwFSNLk%3D&gaa_ts=69c6c184&gaa_sig=tcbkMNY46yjBYaXnaTCAb1Os9mLrNtN7ZWT_ZDJ86L2LPBzWIWU-my8nNz26ctCDKI4uHEyUIv61kij89en1Cw%3D%3D\">subjects of the tax\u003c/a>.[aside postID=news_12069608 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed.jpg']McEntarfer, who moved from Washington, D.C., to the Bay Area in the fall and lived in accessory dwelling units before finding an apartment, said she loves the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really easy to see why the area is in high demand,” she said. “There is great weather, natural beauty and a lot of jobs. There are very few places in the U.S. that are blessed with all three of those things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those blessings come with a downside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Silicon Valley, San Francisco — they’ve created an enormous number of jobs, but they haven’t built enough housing to house all of those workers. And it’s pushing up prices, it’s pushing people to take very long commutes to try and find some affordable housing,” she said. “Consistently, what you hear on the East Coast about San Francisco and the Bay Area is that it’s lovely but it’s unaffordable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Kogura, whose family business is approaching the century mark in Japantown, the rising costs are eroding the close-knit neighborhood he grew up in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our people know each other, and it’s a real small community,” he said. “But we’re losing that, and it’s almost inevitable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ebaldassari\">\u003cem>Erin Baldassari\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Housing, Tech and Taxes: 50 Years of Unaffordability in the Bay Area | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">How We Get By\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">full series here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The carefully curated flower pots, matcha mixing bowls and Buddhist prayer beads at Kogura Co. in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José’s\u003c/a> Japantown have drawn shoppers for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Kogura’s family has operated the Japanese gift and home goods store, now near the corner of Jackson and North Sixth streets, since his grandfather Kohei Kogura started the company in 1928.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the decades, the store’s inventory has shifted — from radios and sewing machines to home goods and gifts — mirroring the changes unfolding outside its doors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just as the wares have changed over the years, so has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13904788/san-jose-japantown-changes-minato-gombei-shuei-do-santo-market\">Japantown\u003c/a>: evolving from a working-class neighborhood to a haven of high-priced apartments as handsomely paid tech workers and developers have flocked to the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As I look at folks that are moving into our neighborhood,” Kogura said, “the only people who can afford to move into the neighborhood right now are the high-tech.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the street from his shop is Sixth and Jackson, a 518-apartment complex opened two years ago that lists studios for rent beginning at roughly $3,000 per month, climbing to roughly $11,000 for the highest-end three-bedroom units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The sponsors of our Little League teams were the Plumbers, the Carpenters, the Teamsters,” Kogura, 70, recalled as he walked the aisles of his family’s shop on a sunny Tuesday in March and reflected on his upbringing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077577\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12077577 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00054_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00054_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00054_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00054_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Richard Kogura, a third-generation resident of Japantown and co-owner of Kogura Company, poses for a portrait at Kogura Company in San José on March 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If you needed a job, there was always work because of the canneries,” he said, referring to companies like Del Monte that once anchored the local economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those jobs are gone. In their place: a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/category/silicon-valley\">tech-driven economy\u003c/a> that brought immense wealth — and costs that many longtime residents can no longer afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past half-century, the Bay Area has transformed from a region where working- and middle-class families could build stable lives into one of the most expensive places in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That shift was driven by the collision of explosive tech-fueled wealth with decades of constrained housing growth, shaped by local opposition to development, environmental regulation and tax policies like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/proposition-13\">Proposition 13\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077583\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12077583 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00657_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00657_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00657_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00657_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cards made by Tracie Kogura, Richard Kogura’s daughter, are sold at Kogura Company in San José on March 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The result is a region where soaring home prices and rents have outpaced wages, deepened inequality and pushed longtime residents to the margins or out altogether — forces now \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952476/san-jose-japantown-photo-night-cukui\">reshaping communities like San José’s Japantown\u003c/a> and affecting the people struggling to remain in them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Powered by decades of tech expansion, limited housing construction and policies that restrict turnover and development, the region’s cost of living first got out of sync with the rest of the country around 50 years ago, experts say, with more recent tech booms only furthering sky-high costs and wide disparities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area is rich and prosperous, and that creates a very high demand for housing, and that drives up prices,” said Richard Walker, professor emeritus of geography at UC Berkeley and an expert on California history.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Spurning growth\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Beginning in the 1970s, communities across the Bay Area pushed back against rapid development, reshaping how — and whether — new housing would be built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A hard shift toward anti-growth policies and environmental regulation flourished, as residents fought displacement and sprawl caused by major urban and suburban development efforts, such as highways and commercial projects. Their effects linger today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077579\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077579\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00483_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00483_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00483_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00483_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Customers browse at Kogura Company in San José on March 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In the same way that California was the poster child for uncontrolled growth in the first two and a half decades of the post-war era from the mid-1940s to the mid to late 1960s, not coincidentally, it is the epicenter of the most concerted and most politically successful effort to reign in growth into the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s,” said Jacob Anbinder, a research fellow at Cornell University, who is writing a book about the roots of America’s housing crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until last year, when the Legislature enacted major reforms, the California Environmental Quality Act — the state’s landmark environmental law, passed in 1970 — hamstrung projects of all stripes. Meanwhile, a Byzantine patchwork of county and local policies slows down and limits new housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The region’s collective failure to build enough homes has made it tougher for everyday workers to secure reasonably priced housing. Over the last nearly 50 years, the Bay Area has had one of the lowest permitting rates for new homes per capita in the nation, compared to other major metros, according to an analysis by the \u003ca href=\"https://siepr.stanford.edu/\">Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research\u003c/a> performed for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Housing Permits, 1980-Present\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-MXDLW\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/MXDLW/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"575\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phil Cosentino’s livelihood has been shaped by the rise and fall of that pro-building ethos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After World War II, as defense and technology companies grew and hastened the rise of Silicon Valley, developers built out suburbs that sprawled farther and farther from job centers, prompting the construction of more roads and highways to transport more workers to offices throughout San José and the Peninsula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Cosentino’s father opened a family farm in South San José 81 years ago, the property stretched 10 acres. But it was whittled to about two acres after California officials used eminent domain to buy the land in the 1950s to build what is now Highway 85, which cuts along the edge of the farm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077607\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077607\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-022-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-022-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-022-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-022-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heidi Shimamoto shops at J&P Cosentino Family Farm in San José on Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, the 96-year-old’s small farm is sandwiched between the highway and a residential neighborhood that sprouted over the decades as developers bought up neighboring farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was closing in, closing in, closing in, and there was nothing we could do about it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, homes in the area sell for well above $1 million to tech workers drawn in part by easy access to the highway. The orchards that helped sustain generations of Cosentinos, however, some years fail to break even.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077605\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12077605 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-005-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-005-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-005-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/231017-COSENTINOFARM-005-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A drone photo of the farm and a family photo hang on the wall at J&P Cosentino Family Farm in San José on Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The situation we’re living in today is the product of decisions that were made not just 10, 20 years ago, but 50, 60, even 70 years ago,” Anbinder said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even as a range of factors constrained housing supply, the region’s economy continued to boom, bringing in more residents and driving up demand and prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“About 50 years ago, you can start to see a very clear upward movement in housing prices that deviates from the rest of the country by California, and also even more so by the Bay Area,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rising housing costs\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Around 1970, the median home value in the U.S. was about $20,000. In California, it was roughly $23,000, and in the Bay Area it was higher still — reaching $28,000 in San Francisco, according to the U.S. Census.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2024, the census found, the median home value in the city was around $1.4 million, compared to less than $400,000 nationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077584\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12077584 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00764_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00764_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00764_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260320-KOGURACOMPANY00764_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carolyn Kogura (center right), a third-generation resident of Japantown and co-owner of Kogura Company, helps customer Nick Marozick (left) at the cash register at Kogura Company in San José on March 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">rise in real estate values\u003c/a> has far outstripped the growth in average wages, greatly diminishing buying power for many.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the tech industry has fueled extreme wealth and financial stability for a significant number of residents capable of scooping up much of the available supply of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why is our housing more expensive than anywhere in the country? It’s because we are richer than anywhere in the country, on average,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Home Values on Zillow\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-FmS51\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/FmS51/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"486\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kogura and his grown children have been able to maintain family-owned homes in Japantown. But that’s largely because his grandfather and parents were able to buy and pass on properties before prices skyrocketed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He doesn’t think his kids would be able to buy their own homes now due to the high prices and property taxes, which he said are exacerbated by investors who buy and sell historic buildings in the area in hopes of redeveloping them and cashing in on the neighborhood’s cachet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Median Income for Select Professions\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-iiZQd\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/iiZQd/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"675\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erika McEntarfer, the former head of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and a research scholar at SIEPR, said that while tech wages have long dwarfed those of other professions like nurses, teachers and retail or sales workers, a tech boom in the years following the great financial crisis of 2008 pushed compensation in that industry even higher, with direct impacts on housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can see it in the housing price statistics. You can see it in income data. The Bay Area starts to have housing prices that increase faster than other cities, right as the tech boom is taking off and incomes are also going way up,” McEntarfer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That takeoff in earnings didn’t happen for everybody. The latest U.S. Census data shows median Bay Area tech worker income hovering a little above $180,000 annually in 2024, compared with just over $120,000 for nurses, while teachers and sales workers earned less than half of that.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Tech compensation\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Rachel Massaro, vice president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a think tank that studies the region, said inequality is “escalating exponentially” in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What high earners are able to pay for a good or service affects what people will charge, Massaro said, which impacts everyone. Tech workers are willing and able to pay more for everyday essentials, from housing to child care, influencing costs for the whole region and exacerbating historic imbalances.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This year’s \u003ca href=\"https://jointventure.org/13-publications/silicon-valley-index\">Silicon Valley Index\u003c/a>, an annual snapshot of the region published by the nonprofit, highlighted that investment income — such as dividends from stock portfolios and earnings from rental properties — is “overwhelmingly concentrated among higher-income households,” bringing in $200,000 or more each year. For households earning less than that, “investment income is nearly absent,” the report said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those investments, Massaro said, can generate much more income than wages alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In practice, those assets for tech workers can feel like bonuses, making it easier to snap up a rental property or to upgrade to a bigger home, “things that might seem out of reach for a lot of other people in our region,” Massaro said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Compounding all of this is the fact that the Bay Area — in addition to being flush with well-paid product managers, engineers, programmers and marketers — has one of the highest concentrations of billionaires in the country. Executives and founders like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang are some of the 126 billionaires who call the area home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people across the country talk about the wealth gap in terms of the top 1%. But in Silicon Valley, the concentration goes way beyond that. It’s the top 0.001% alone that holds 18% of all of our liquid wealth,” Massaro said. “And the top 1% hold roughly a third. So things are different here, particularly because of billionaire liquid wealth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other indicators reaffirm the Bay Area’s higher cost of living, including data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which researchers from SIEPR analyzed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Far Does $100,000 Go?\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-44DiX\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/44DiX/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Between 2012 and the pandemic, prices in the Bay Area increased faster than other metros and the nation at large,” researchers at SIEPR said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One way to think of this is that if you make $100,000 in San Francisco, the purchasing power it gives you relative to living in Houston is $85,000,” McEntarfer said. “And relative to living in Birmingham, Alabama, that money would go [as far as] $110,000.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area workers looking to stretch their dollars have fled San Francisco and Silicon Valley for the East Bay and beyond in search of a lower cost of living. But as more people make that move, the limited housing supply has meant rising prices in previously affordable neighborhoods, which has pushed many families out of the region entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Proposition 13\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>McEntarfer said economists sometimes compare housing stock to lasagna, where layers accommodate the different circumstances people experience in their lives and careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s controversial Proposition 13 and high home prices have complicated that notion locally, with many older residents staying in larger homes after their children have moved out and partners have died because downsizing is too expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077589\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077589\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00642_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00642_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00642_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00642_TV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages is located on 609 North 13th St., in San José, on March 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For those who have already secured a home in the Bay Area, especially members of the Baby Boomer generation, the nearly 50-year-old Proposition 13 has shielded them from high annual property tax increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enacted in 1978 by California voters frustrated about unpredictable inflationary pressures and increasing property tax bills, Proposition 13 requires the state to assess properties based on their purchase price, not current market value, and caps the annual increase in assessed value at 2%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It means, for instance, that the buyer of a house who purchased the property in 2022 \u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/prop-13/\">pays dramatically more\u003c/a> in property taxes than their neighbor who bought a comparable home in the 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077591\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077591\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00664_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00664_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00664_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00664_TV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dried pasta and sauce are sold at Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages in San José on March 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The law benefits residential and commercial property owners, but disincentivizes them from moving and severely \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11701044/how-proposition-13-transformed-neighborhood-public-schools-throughout-california\">limits funding for schools\u003c/a> and other municipal services, prompting officials to more frequently ask local voters for tax increases and bond measures.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>“It definitely transfers the burden of paying for all of the expensive services that we have to pay for in communities to the younger up-and-coming working families,” said Kelly Snider, a developer and professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at San José State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077593\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077593\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00682_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00682_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00682_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00682_TV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Louis Chiaramonte, owner of Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages, poses for a portrait at Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages in San José on March 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some analyses have shown that Proposition 13 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911156/prop-13-offers-bigger-tax-breaks-to-homeowners-in-wealthy-white-neighborhoods\">disproportionately benefits white and wealthier homeowners\u003c/a> in higher-value neighborhoods because the difference between their homes’ assessed value and market value is greater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The upshot, McEntarfer said, is that in the Bay Area, “even relatively well-off working professionals like the nurses, educators, people with good middle-class jobs, they can’t afford to buy a house anymore, so they’re renting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Average rental rates in the San José and San Francisco metro areas hover around $3,000 a month for apartments, and about $4,200 a month for single-family homes, the Silicon Valley index reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077594\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077594\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00690_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00690_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00690_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00690_TV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A.J. Fernandez makes a sandwich at Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages in San José on March 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A.J. Fernandez pays far less than that — just $600 a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s the grand-nephew of Louis Chiaramonte, the 81-year-old proprietor of Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages in San José’s Northside neighborhood, which has operated for 118 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chiaramonte said people of his generation could buy a home “even with a regular type of job where you didn’t have to have a special education or special talents,” but Fernandez said he “couldn’t do that in my lifetime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Share of Super-Commuters\" aria-label=\"Grouped column chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-sYKh5\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/sYKh5/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 34-year-old, who works crafting the deli’s housemade Italian sausage sandwiches, rents a room in a family-owned home with his grandmother. “They charge me very modestly, and even then, it’s hard to live in the Bay Area,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s this huge crunch in terms of how expensive it is to just simply have a roof over your head,” said Stasia Hansen, the research and policy director for \u003ca href=\"https://workingeastbay.org/\">East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that advocates for economic, racial, and social justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hansen said that when the pinch of increasing housing costs pushes people farther from the region’s major job centers, it disconnects them from their families and communities and adds to their transportation costs as commutes increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077592\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077592\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00673_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00673_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00673_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260307-CHIARAMONTEDELI00673_TV-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old photos of Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages from the 1920s and onward are hung on a shelf at Chiaramonte’s Deli & Sausages in San José on March 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Moving from bigger cities like Oakland to smaller burbs in Contra Costa and Solano counties also means tenants often give up renter protections, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One consequence of all that movement has been an explosion of supercommuters, people who commute more than an hour to their workplaces. In the Bay Area in 2019, just under 9% of regional workers identified as supercommuters, according to U.S. Census data, nearly double the national rate at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic-driven remote work wave “took the edge off of the number of supercommuters in the Bay Area,” McEntarfer said, but the percentage of these commuters in the region in 2024 was still well above the national average.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Increasing strain\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As more people fan out in search of housing they can afford, that puts pressure on lower-income neighborhoods and the people who live there. Black workers have historically been underrepresented in tech and other white-collar sectors, Hansen said. They are also more likely, according to the index, to be paid less even when they do hold the same degrees and jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About half of Black workers in the East Bay were considered rent burdened, meaning they paid more than 30% of their income toward rent, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058985\">an October report\u003c/a> from UC Berkeley’s Labor Center. More than four in every 10 Latino workers were rent-burdened, compared to about a third of white renters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078837\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00285_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00285_TV_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00285_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00285_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Twenty-four-year-old Kassandra Gutierrez embraces her 4-year-old son Esteban while getting him ready for school at her mother’s home in Oakland on April 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kassandra Gutierrez said the financial strain of trying to stay in the Bay Area has taken a huge toll on her emotional well-being. She works full-time and is a single parent to a 4-year-old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been trying to see if I can get a second job just to make sure I can maintain a roof over my son’s head. It’s very mentally frustrating, mentally draining,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gutierrez, 24, is a case worker at a mental health care agency in Oakland, where she serves up to 30 clients at a time. Despite living in an affordable apartment complex in Richmond, she worries she could face eviction because she’s struggling to pay a recent $250 increase in rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078834\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078834\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00217_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00217_TV_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00217_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260406-kassandragutierrez00217_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kassandra Gutierrez, a single mother, gets ready at her mother’s home in Oakland on April 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Raised in Oakland, she said, “everything was easier” when she was younger, and it’s been painful to see the costs of daily life spiking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I first started driving, gas was like $2.50, so filling up [my car]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>wasn’t such an issue. Just seeing that increase in gas, seeing an increase in groceries, just buying a pack of strawberries is already almost 10 bucks, or a gallon of milk is six bucks,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s such a fast increase that no one can really catch up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What comes next?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Walker, the Berkeley professor emeritus, said the inequality gripping the Bay Area is difficult to escape without drastic action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What comes next? Well, nothing. It’ll just be more of the same unless you get a mass popular movement and significant political change. We need to reclaim our state and reclaim our country from the rich,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He suggested everything from higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations, to stricter AI regulation and more subsidized housing like the public housing projects of the New Deal era that helped house the burgeoning workforce of the Bay Area after WWI. A proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaires in the state has gained momentum in recent months but faces vehement opposition from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/business/california-billionaire-tax-ballot-opposition-6a00047d?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqcxAnMF28subEWffDfgqSmdc38fyPNQOMOVQdP7pWka8zRT2Z8xERxYnwFSNLk%3D&gaa_ts=69c6c184&gaa_sig=tcbkMNY46yjBYaXnaTCAb1Os9mLrNtN7ZWT_ZDJ86L2LPBzWIWU-my8nNz26ctCDKI4uHEyUIv61kij89en1Cw%3D%3D\">subjects of the tax\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>McEntarfer, who moved from Washington, D.C., to the Bay Area in the fall and lived in accessory dwelling units before finding an apartment, said she loves the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really easy to see why the area is in high demand,” she said. “There is great weather, natural beauty and a lot of jobs. There are very few places in the U.S. that are blessed with all three of those things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those blessings come with a downside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Silicon Valley, San Francisco — they’ve created an enormous number of jobs, but they haven’t built enough housing to house all of those workers. And it’s pushing up prices, it’s pushing people to take very long commutes to try and find some affordable housing,” she said. “Consistently, what you hear on the East Coast about San Francisco and the Bay Area is that it’s lovely but it’s unaffordable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Kogura, whose family business is approaching the century mark in Japantown, the rising costs are eroding the close-knit neighborhood he grew up in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our people know each other, and it’s a real small community,” he said. “But we’re losing that, and it’s almost inevitable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ebaldassari\">\u003cem>Erin Baldassari\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "grass-is-really-greener-for-many-californians-leaving-the-state",
"title": "Grass Is Really Greener for Many Californians Leaving the State",
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"headTitle": "Grass Is Really Greener for Many Californians Leaving the State | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, April 6, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Want a better life? Move out of California. Well, sort of. According to \u003ca href=\"https://capolicylab.org/priced-out-relocation-amidst-californias-affordability-crisis/\">a new study from the California Policy Lab\u003c/a>, the Golden State’s high cost of living is still squeezing residents and pushing them out of the state.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">President Trump is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078793/trump-endorses-steve-hilton-for-california-governor-giving-gop-a-front-runner\">endorsing Republican Steve Hilton\u003c/a> in the race for California governor.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California is suing the Trump administration again, this time over the president’s executive order to give the US Postal Service new powers to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078711/california-sues-to-block-trumps-order-on-vote-by-mail\">oversee voting by mail. \u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An affordable housing project in Crescent City \u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/housing/2026-04-02/https-affordable-housing-project-in-crescent-city-set-to-resume-construction-after-months-of-delay\">plans to restart\u003c/a> construction soon after a series of setbacks.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>California affordability challenges shaping who’s leaving the state\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the cost of living continues to soar in California, more and more people are considering relocating and moving out of state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://capolicylab.org/priced-out-relocation-amidst-californias-affordability-crisis/\">new study from UC Berkeley’s California Policy Lab\u003c/a> examines who’s leaving, where they’re going and and what happens to their finances after they move. The findings suggest that affordability plays a major role in Californians’ relocation decisions. And Californians who leave move to much more affordable areas and see large increases in home ownership, on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The affordability crisis in the state does seem to be impacting where people move and perhaps even the choice to move,” said California Policy Lab Executive Director Evan White. “Though when people leave the state, they are moving to much more affordable communities than the ones that they lived in in California. The housing costs in those communities are close to $700 cheaper than in the neighborhoods that they left. And then I should say the home prices in the new neighborhoods are $398,000 less.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers were able to track movers during the years after they leave California. And Californians who left the state were much more likely to own a home a few years later. That likelihood grows over time. Seven years after leaving California, movers were 11 percentage points (or 48%) more likely to be a homeowner than those who stayed in the state, even after controlling for age. By contrast, those who chose to move to California were only 6 percentage points (or 27%) more likely to be homeowners seven years after arriving than they were before they came to California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078793/trump-endorses-steve-hilton-for-california-governor-giving-gop-a-front-runner\">\u003cstrong>Trump endorses Republican Steve Hilton in governor’s race \u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>President Donald Trump has endorsed Republican \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/steve-hilton-california-governor-newsom-11c0ec5b378e8b2792721c2ff7597499\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">Steve Hilton\u003c/a>\u003c/span> for California governor, reordering a crowded, wide-open race to lead the nation’s most populous state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump \u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116356081038721731\">posted late Sunday on his social media platform Truth Social\u003c/a> that he has known Hilton for years and called the conservative commentator “a truly fine man” who could turn around a state beset with notoriously high taxes. California, Trump wrote, “has gone to hell.” “With Federal help, and a Great Governor, like Steve Hilton, California can be better than ever before!” Trump added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The endorsement — coming about a month before mail ballots go to voters in advance of the June 2 primary — will help Hilton coalesce conservative support in a race \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-democrats-newsom-governor-trump-election-e40ca2ade2844240271daa0cb950c19f\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">with no clear leader.\u003c/a>\u003c/span> However, Trump is widely unpopular in heavily Democratic California outside his conservative base and Trump’s backing would become a liability if Hilton faces a Democrat in the November election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a large field, Democrats have been fearful that a quirk in the state’s unusual “top two” primary system could \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-republican-governor-democratic-candidates-422542e08fc8419c7101a1ebf62b4684\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">allow only two Republicans\u003c/a>\u003c/span> to reach the November general election ballot — Hilton and GOP rival \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-governor-race-riverside-county-sheriff-9f251ca0f09a16344ae3902c7ffe009e\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">Chad Bianco,\u003c/a>\u003c/span> the Riverside County sheriff. Trump’s decision — a strong signal to undecided conservative voters — will make that outcome less likely by helping Hilton lure additional support.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078711/california-sues-to-block-trumps-order-on-vote-by-mail\">\u003cstrong>California sues to block Trump’s order on vote-by-mail\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California Attorney General \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/rob-bonta\">Rob Bonta\u003c/a> filed suit on Friday to block President Donald Trump’s executive order that gives the United States Postal Service new power to oversee vote-by-mail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s order is the latest move in his crusade to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077491/california-vote-by-mail-faces-legal-political-challenges-from-trump-allies\">limit mail voting\u003c/a>, which he has described without evidence as a source of “massive cheating” in elections. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Massachusetts, Bonta and nearly two dozen attorneys general argue that Trump is attempting a “shocking and unprecedented power grab” ahead of the 2026 election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The president doesn’t have authority over the time, place and manner of elections in the states, and he knows that,” Bonta said in a press call announcing the suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2021, California has mailed all registered voters a ballot by default before each election. In the state’s 2025 special election, nearly 89% of voters cast a vote-by-mail ballot — which includes ballots returned to drop boxes, polling places and through the mail. Trump’s order would require the Department of Homeland Security to send each state a list of U.S. citizens who will be 18 by the next election. States would then have to send the United States Postal Service a list of eligible voters for the election. Under the order, the USPS would not return ballots from voters unless they appear on the states’ list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the lawsuit, Bonta and the other attorneys general argue that the Constitution vests the powers to regulate elections solely with the states and Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArtP-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/housing/2026-04-02/https-affordable-housing-project-in-crescent-city-set-to-resume-construction-after-months-of-delay\">\u003cstrong>Crescent City affordable housing project plans to restart after costly setbacks\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Construction on the Battery Point Apartments in Crescent City is expected to resume in the coming weeks after months of delays caused by storms, water damage and construction challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Battery Point will include 162 units, with a mix of workforce housing for families, apartments for low-income seniors and two units for managers. Project leaders say the goal is to provide housing in Del Norte County, which has experienced one of the highest \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026/2025-popest-metro-micro-counties.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">population declines\u003c/a> in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction stalled after storms caused water damage and prevented site work. Additional delays came from unexpected seismic remediation needs, according to Bill Rice, president of \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.synergycdc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Synergy Community Development Corp.\u003c/a>, the project’s developer. “All these things create kind of a cycle of slowing the process for what we desperately want to deliver, [which] is quality affordable housing for those senior residents because there’s huge demand for it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The original geotechnical report incorrectly listed the soil conditions on the site, Rice said. That meant more work had to be done to strengthen the structures, especially the apartments for seniors, which are modular construction. Crews had to remove the entire bottom floor of each module, lift the structures so workers could reinforce them with new steel beams and then replace the flooring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Battery Point is now about a year behind schedule. Rice said he expects to resume in the next couple of weeks, with a planned opening date in mid- to late-2027.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A new study shows the high cost of living is still squeezing residents and pushing them out of the state.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, April 6, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Want a better life? Move out of California. Well, sort of. According to \u003ca href=\"https://capolicylab.org/priced-out-relocation-amidst-californias-affordability-crisis/\">a new study from the California Policy Lab\u003c/a>, the Golden State’s high cost of living is still squeezing residents and pushing them out of the state.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">President Trump is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078793/trump-endorses-steve-hilton-for-california-governor-giving-gop-a-front-runner\">endorsing Republican Steve Hilton\u003c/a> in the race for California governor.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California is suing the Trump administration again, this time over the president’s executive order to give the US Postal Service new powers to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078711/california-sues-to-block-trumps-order-on-vote-by-mail\">oversee voting by mail. \u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An affordable housing project in Crescent City \u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/housing/2026-04-02/https-affordable-housing-project-in-crescent-city-set-to-resume-construction-after-months-of-delay\">plans to restart\u003c/a> construction soon after a series of setbacks.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>California affordability challenges shaping who’s leaving the state\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the cost of living continues to soar in California, more and more people are considering relocating and moving out of state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://capolicylab.org/priced-out-relocation-amidst-californias-affordability-crisis/\">new study from UC Berkeley’s California Policy Lab\u003c/a> examines who’s leaving, where they’re going and and what happens to their finances after they move. The findings suggest that affordability plays a major role in Californians’ relocation decisions. And Californians who leave move to much more affordable areas and see large increases in home ownership, on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The affordability crisis in the state does seem to be impacting where people move and perhaps even the choice to move,” said California Policy Lab Executive Director Evan White. “Though when people leave the state, they are moving to much more affordable communities than the ones that they lived in in California. The housing costs in those communities are close to $700 cheaper than in the neighborhoods that they left. And then I should say the home prices in the new neighborhoods are $398,000 less.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers were able to track movers during the years after they leave California. And Californians who left the state were much more likely to own a home a few years later. That likelihood grows over time. Seven years after leaving California, movers were 11 percentage points (or 48%) more likely to be a homeowner than those who stayed in the state, even after controlling for age. By contrast, those who chose to move to California were only 6 percentage points (or 27%) more likely to be homeowners seven years after arriving than they were before they came to California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078793/trump-endorses-steve-hilton-for-california-governor-giving-gop-a-front-runner\">\u003cstrong>Trump endorses Republican Steve Hilton in governor’s race \u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>President Donald Trump has endorsed Republican \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/steve-hilton-california-governor-newsom-11c0ec5b378e8b2792721c2ff7597499\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">Steve Hilton\u003c/a>\u003c/span> for California governor, reordering a crowded, wide-open race to lead the nation’s most populous state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump \u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116356081038721731\">posted late Sunday on his social media platform Truth Social\u003c/a> that he has known Hilton for years and called the conservative commentator “a truly fine man” who could turn around a state beset with notoriously high taxes. California, Trump wrote, “has gone to hell.” “With Federal help, and a Great Governor, like Steve Hilton, California can be better than ever before!” Trump added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The endorsement — coming about a month before mail ballots go to voters in advance of the June 2 primary — will help Hilton coalesce conservative support in a race \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-democrats-newsom-governor-trump-election-e40ca2ade2844240271daa0cb950c19f\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">with no clear leader.\u003c/a>\u003c/span> However, Trump is widely unpopular in heavily Democratic California outside his conservative base and Trump’s backing would become a liability if Hilton faces a Democrat in the November election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a large field, Democrats have been fearful that a quirk in the state’s unusual “top two” primary system could \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-republican-governor-democratic-candidates-422542e08fc8419c7101a1ebf62b4684\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">allow only two Republicans\u003c/a>\u003c/span> to reach the November general election ballot — Hilton and GOP rival \u003cspan class=\"LinkEnhancement\">\u003ca class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-governor-race-riverside-county-sheriff-9f251ca0f09a16344ae3902c7ffe009e\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\">Chad Bianco,\u003c/a>\u003c/span> the Riverside County sheriff. Trump’s decision — a strong signal to undecided conservative voters — will make that outcome less likely by helping Hilton lure additional support.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12078711/california-sues-to-block-trumps-order-on-vote-by-mail\">\u003cstrong>California sues to block Trump’s order on vote-by-mail\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California Attorney General \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/rob-bonta\">Rob Bonta\u003c/a> filed suit on Friday to block President Donald Trump’s executive order that gives the United States Postal Service new power to oversee vote-by-mail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s order is the latest move in his crusade to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077491/california-vote-by-mail-faces-legal-political-challenges-from-trump-allies\">limit mail voting\u003c/a>, which he has described without evidence as a source of “massive cheating” in elections. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Massachusetts, Bonta and nearly two dozen attorneys general argue that Trump is attempting a “shocking and unprecedented power grab” ahead of the 2026 election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The president doesn’t have authority over the time, place and manner of elections in the states, and he knows that,” Bonta said in a press call announcing the suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2021, California has mailed all registered voters a ballot by default before each election. In the state’s 2025 special election, nearly 89% of voters cast a vote-by-mail ballot — which includes ballots returned to drop boxes, polling places and through the mail. Trump’s order would require the Department of Homeland Security to send each state a list of U.S. citizens who will be 18 by the next election. States would then have to send the United States Postal Service a list of eligible voters for the election. Under the order, the USPS would not return ballots from voters unless they appear on the states’ list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the lawsuit, Bonta and the other attorneys general argue that the Constitution vests the powers to regulate elections solely with the states and Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"ArtP-headline\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/housing/2026-04-02/https-affordable-housing-project-in-crescent-city-set-to-resume-construction-after-months-of-delay\">\u003cstrong>Crescent City affordable housing project plans to restart after costly setbacks\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Construction on the Battery Point Apartments in Crescent City is expected to resume in the coming weeks after months of delays caused by storms, water damage and construction challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Battery Point will include 162 units, with a mix of workforce housing for families, apartments for low-income seniors and two units for managers. Project leaders say the goal is to provide housing in Del Norte County, which has experienced one of the highest \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026/2025-popest-metro-micro-counties.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">population declines\u003c/a> in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction stalled after storms caused water damage and prevented site work. Additional delays came from unexpected seismic remediation needs, according to Bill Rice, president of \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.synergycdc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Synergy Community Development Corp.\u003c/a>, the project’s developer. “All these things create kind of a cycle of slowing the process for what we desperately want to deliver, [which] is quality affordable housing for those senior residents because there’s huge demand for it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The original geotechnical report incorrectly listed the soil conditions on the site, Rice said. That meant more work had to be done to strengthen the structures, especially the apartments for seniors, which are modular construction. Crews had to remove the entire bottom floor of each module, lift the structures so workers could reinforce them with new steel beams and then replace the flooring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Battery Point is now about a year behind schedule. Rice said he expects to resume in the next couple of weeks, with a planned opening date in mid- to late-2027.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-great-squeeze-bay-area-residents-downsize-and-adapt-to-rising-costs",
"title": "The Great Squeeze: Bay Area Residents Downsize and Adapt to Rising Costs",
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"headTitle": "The Great Squeeze: Bay Area Residents Downsize and Adapt to Rising Costs | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>How We Get By\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>full series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brooke Dawson wanted the house. She wanted the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/marriage\">marriage\u003c/a>, the kids — one boy, one girl — and the financial freedom to make and sell ceramics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, at 42, one kid and one divorce later, that dream has been squeezed into an Airstream trailer parked in the side yard of her mother’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/north-bay\">North Bay\u003c/a> suburban home, her kiln and throwing wheel relegated to storage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the surface, she realizes it may appear as though she’s far from achieving what she had wanted. But the act of whittling down her dream to fit her economic reality has changed her, she said, and made her reevaluate how her life should look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just looks different,” the hospice nurse said. “I was struggling so hard up through January, and I’m at the point just now where I’m starting to see some daylight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Living in a smaller space has forced her to own and spend less. But now she has access to a yard and is putting the energy she spent on ceramics into gardening. Being close to her mother and brother, who also live in the house, has provided flexible childcare for her 5-year-old son that wasn’t possible when she lived almost an hour’s drive away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trade-off has been worth it, Dawson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m OK. I’ve found a way,” she said. “And I thank God for every little thing. I’ve never had this degree of gratitude in my life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078565\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078565\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260327-AffordabilityIntroBrooke-08-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260327-AffordabilityIntroBrooke-08-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260327-AffordabilityIntroBrooke-08-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260327-AffordabilityIntroBrooke-08-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brooke Dawson makes a sandwich in the Airstream where she lives in her mother’s backyard on March 27, 2026. She shares the property with her mother and brother, a living arrangement that makes staying in the area more affordable. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078566\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"845\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-2000x660.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-2048x676.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Brooke Dawson and her son Everest walk out of their Airstream. Right: Brooke Dawson blows bubbles with her son, Everest, and brother, Cameron. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dawson’s choice to downsize isn’t unusual. When \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069608/californias-cost-of-living-keeps-climbing-how-are-you-coping\">KQED asked Bay Area residents\u003c/a> how they’re managing the region’s high cost of living, many described similar compromises: moving into smaller homes, doubling up with family, taking on extra work, or cutting back on everyday expenses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their experiences reveal how rising housing costs and inflation are reshaping middle-class life in the Bay Area — forcing people to rethink what “enough” looks like and how to make ends meet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also mirror two national polls from the Washington Post and New York Times that found Americans see \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/us/politics/affordability-poll.html\">upward mobility\u003c/a> as less attainable and consider maintaining the trappings of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/02/27/affordability-homeownership-poll/\">middle-class lifestyle\u003c/a> increasingly unaffordable — feelings that are expected to influence November’s midterm elections, with likely voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-early-look-2026-midterms\">repeatedly citing\u003c/a> the \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/golden-age-americans-doubt-trumps-claim-booming-economy-midterms-near-2026-02-27/\">cost of living\u003c/a> as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/poll-trump-struggles-immigration-prices-iran-democrats-midterm-edge-rcna261861\">top concern\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both nationally and in California, the pandemic-era inflation spike is a big part of that story, with prices rising for everything from new cars to groceries. In turn, that’s putting into sharp relief cracks in the foundations of major industries, such as healthcare and child care, said Neale Mahoney, director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy and Research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078640\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078640\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-23-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-23-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-23-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-23-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brooke Dawson holds her son, Everest, in her mother’s backyard. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Inflation, he said, has “really revealed and emphasized the underlying structural issues we have with the cost of healthcare that have been around for a long time, issues with the costs of child care that have been around for a long time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At their core, he said, is the cost of housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Housing,” Mahoney said, “is at the root of many of the affordability issues we see in the Bay Area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, the typical home value was nearly $1.2 million last year — lower than the 2022 peak of about $1.3 million — but still 77% higher than it was in 2012, even when accounting for inflation, according to researchers at the \u003ca href=\"https://vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/indicators/home-values\">Metropolitan Transportation Commission\u003c/a>. Meanwhile, the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Bay Area was $3,300 as of early April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/bay-area-ca/?bedrooms=2\">according to Zillow\u003c/a>, about 83% higher than the national average.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The big squeeze\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Those escalating rent prices aren’t new: Many respondents could trace their decisions about how and where to live to major changes in the housing market over the past two decades, including the 2008 financial crisis that left \u003ca href=\"https://www.har.com/blog_56675_the-foreclosure-crisis-10-years-later\">nearly 8 million homeowners\u003c/a> in foreclosure or the \u003ca href=\"https://vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/indicators/rent-payments\">rapid rise in Bay Area rents\u003c/a> during the post-dot-com tech boom of the 2010s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keith Alvord, 65, and his wife, Lisa Alvord, were one of the families that found themselves underwater on their mortgage in 2010, eventually foreclosing on their home in the Trinity County town of Weaverville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That house had been part of their retirement plan, a home base they could return to while they spent the majority of their golden years sailing. Instead, they went with Plan B: living full-time on their 35-foot sailboat. For the past three years, the Alvords have been docked at Bay Area marinas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078590\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078590\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-14-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keith Alvord prepares the sailboat he shares with his wife, Lisa, for a sail in the Bay in Emeryville on March 20, 2026. The couple had been living aboard while fixing it up for a planned trip down the California coast, but have since shifted course to support their family while still planning to make the journey in the future. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078589\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078589\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-2000x667.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-2048x682.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Lisa Alvord holds a photo of an ADU they are building on their son’s property on the sailboat she shares with her husband, Keith. Right: Keith and Lisa Alvord prepare their sailboat for a sail in the Bay on March 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Winters are the hardest, Keith Alvord said. But, “We kind of felt like we didn’t really have many other options.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, though, they’re trading the sailboat for a garage at their 43-year-old son’s home back in Weaverville, after their son suffered a financial crisis of his own. They hope to convert the space into an ADU, a move Alvord said will help both them and their son. Still, Alvord is worried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I really didn’t want to be in this situation, where I was basing mine and my wife’s stability off of my son’s stability,” he said. “If he gets to a point where he wants to sell the house, then we are kind of back in that situation where we’re like, ‘Well, where are we going to live?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078660\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-21-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-21-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-21-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-21-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keith Alvord prepares the sailboat he shares with his wife, Lisa, for a sail in the Bay. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But with home insurance prices rising, Alvord sees little other option than to stick close because, he said, “I don’t know how a single family is supposed to make that work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/one-big-happy-household-how-families-and-the-data-are-shaping-multigenerational-living\">survey last year\u003c/a> from the National Association of Realtors found more families are making this choice, with multigenerational homebuying at an all-time high, representing 17% of homes purchased in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey also found that 36% of homebuyers cited “cost savings” as the primary reason for the joint purchase, up from 15% in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Misha Kurita-Ditz, 24, found themselves doubling up with a parent last year, when they moved back to their mother’s San Francisco condo after going to college and working in Oregon for several years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The situation isn’t always ideal: “I’m a little bit cleaner than my mom,” they said. But it has its benefits, too. “It’s been really lovely to be able to have an adult relationship between me and my mother.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078641\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078641\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-03-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-03-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-03-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-03-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Misha Kurita-Ditz works on a sewing project at the apartment they share with their mom in San Francisco on March 24, 2026. After Misha returned to the city and moved in, they are navigating the high cost of living and the shift to sharing space as adults. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078648\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078648\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"828\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1-2000x662.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1-1536x509.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1-2048x678.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Barbara Ditz grades students’ work in her bedroom. Right: Misha Kurita-Ditz and their mom, Barbara Ditz, update each other about recent events in their lives at their apartment. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The artist and retail worker grew up in a rent-controlled Edwardian walk-up in the city’s Western Addition/Lower Haight neighborhood with their parents and keenly felt the impacts of rising rents as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/urbanist-article/2013-12-17/tech-boom\">tech industry boomed\u003c/a> in the 2010s, pushing up prices across the city. New landlords began pressuring them to leave, Kurita-Ditz said, and they were ultimately evicted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of these things definitely contributed to feeling a lot of resentment and anger,” Kurita-Ditz said. That perspective has only further hardened after watching the latest AI boom \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2026/02/san-francisc-rents-ai-boom-tenants/\">drive rents even higher\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do we carve out a future for the culture of San Francisco, for the culture of the Bay Area in the face of impossible housing prices?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>On the margins\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When housing eats so much of one household’s budget, it’s harder to feed other needs. KQED’s survey respondents said that it’s forced them to make choices about items they once considered essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citlali Iriarte, 39, buys less meat when her monthly budget grows tight. Between 2019 and 2025, grocery prices rose \u003ca href=\"https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUSA422SAF11\">roughly 34%\u003c/a> for the average Bay Area resident, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Iriarte found herself telling her two kids: “OK, this week we’re gonna eat different. We’re going to see more vegetables.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078659\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/251031-SFMarinFoodBank-21-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/251031-SFMarinFoodBank-21-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/251031-SFMarinFoodBank-21-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/251031-SFMarinFoodBank-21-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers sort fresh produce into boxes at the San Francisco‑Marin Food Bank warehouse in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She works two jobs, one taking care of her special-needs daughter through In-Home Supportive Services and the other as an early childhood educator at the YMCA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Life in the Bay Area has never been particularly affordable for Iriarte, who immigrated from Mexico 13 years ago. But after years spent working nights, earning a high school diploma, securing her work authorization and eventually moving herself and her children into their own place, she said it would be difficult to move anywhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It took me years to be able to find a community that I can belong to,” Iriarte said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even some two-income households bringing in far more than Iriarte are finding themselves forced to cut back. Marion Gloege, 54, who immigrated from Germany 23 years ago and bought a Los Gatos home in 2021, said she’s always felt comfortably middle class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, unexpected budget items she might have previously dismissed weigh on her: new tires for their car or paying for urgent care and an ER visit when her 17-year-old son suffered a concussion playing soccer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Five years ago we would have said, ‘Oh well, too bad,’” Gloege said. “Now we gulp, and my husband squeezes my hand in the car.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078594\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078594\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260325-AffordabilityIntroChristy-06-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260325-AffordabilityIntroChristy-06-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260325-AffordabilityIntroChristy-06-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260325-AffordabilityIntroChristy-06-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christy Brown works at Rotator Taproom in Walnut Creek on March 21, 2026. A school counselor in Danville, she supplements her income by bartending and teaching yoga. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078651\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078651\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"828\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1-2000x662.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1-1536x509.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1-2048x678.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Chad Morrison prepares bread to bake at Red Bird Bakery in Santa Rosa on April 1, 2026. They share an apartment with their boyfriend to keep rent manageable, but rising costs have cut into savings and limited everyday spending. Right: Chad Morrison sits in their car during a break at the bakery. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To make ends meet, Christy Brown, 48, a counselor at a public high school in Danville, said she’s taken on several part-time jobs — teaching yoga, bartending and extra work at her school district — to get by. Together, she estimates she works up to 65 hours a week. But that, too, takes its toll.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m just more tired, I guess. And I kind of feel a little bit like — I don’t know how to say this — frustrated and angry sometimes,” Brown said. “I feel like I’m constantly working so much, and it’s barely enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working more and carefully watching budgets means less time and money for recreation and travel. But Chad Morrison, 37, is now reconsidering something they once thought essential: owning a car. They had planned to buy a new electric vehicle when their 2013 Honda Fit, with 240,000 miles on it, finally gave up the ghost. But they no longer think they can afford it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nationally, the average total cost per 15,000 miles of car ownership rose 45% between 2017 and 2024, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.bts.gov/content/average-cost-owning-and-operating-automobilea-assuming-15000-vehicle-miles-year\">Bureau of Transportation Statistics\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that I’d be able to save money while making car payments,” Morrison said. “I’d have to make other choices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A small start\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the North Bay, Brooke Dawson is feeling more committed than ever to the choices she’s made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The past year has been one of her hardest — watching her marriage dissolve, moving in with her mother, taking out a loan to buy the Airstream, installing it in her mother’s yard and hoping she didn’t make a mistake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078639\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078639\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-10-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-10-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-10-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-10-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brooke Dawson feeds her two chickens in the backyard she shares with her family. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Living in a small space has its drawbacks, she said, including a finicky electrical system, limited water and having to pump out her septic tanks by hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, it’s forced her to spend most of her time in the backyard, where she’s planted an array of edible flowers and herbs — calendula, oregano, sage, lemon verbena — along with fruits and vegetables — sweet peas, figs, grapes, spinach, passion fruit, strawberries.[aside postID=news_12069608 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/019_KQED_RichmondHousing_08162022_qed.jpg']She’s more self-reliant than she’s ever been, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more I learn about what I’m capable of doing, the more I get to know what kind of human I am,” Dawson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she’s no longer dreaming of owning a home for only herself and her family. Now, she dreams of buying a vacant plot of land and installing a collection of tiny homes where several families could live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She imagines an intergenerational community, with other mothers and grandparents, who could support each other with child care and aging in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’d be a different way of living — more cooperative, less isolated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And this is a small start,” Dawson said of this seed of an idea, rooted in necessity. “It’s been the biggest gift that I’ve ever given myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "KQED asked readers and listeners how rising costs are reshaping their lives. You’re moving into smaller homes, cutting expenses and taking on extra work — all just to get by in the Bay Area.",
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"title": "The Great Squeeze: Bay Area Residents Downsize and Adapt to Rising Costs | KQED",
"description": "KQED asked readers and listeners how rising costs are reshaping their lives. You’re moving into smaller homes, cutting expenses and taking on extra work — all just to get by in the Bay Area.",
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"headline": "The Great Squeeze: Bay Area Residents Downsize and Adapt to Rising Costs",
"datePublished": "2026-04-06T07:00:54-07:00",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>How We Get By\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">\u003cem>full series here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brooke Dawson wanted the house. She wanted the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/marriage\">marriage\u003c/a>, the kids — one boy, one girl — and the financial freedom to make and sell ceramics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, at 42, one kid and one divorce later, that dream has been squeezed into an Airstream trailer parked in the side yard of her mother’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/north-bay\">North Bay\u003c/a> suburban home, her kiln and throwing wheel relegated to storage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the surface, she realizes it may appear as though she’s far from achieving what she had wanted. But the act of whittling down her dream to fit her economic reality has changed her, she said, and made her reevaluate how her life should look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just looks different,” the hospice nurse said. “I was struggling so hard up through January, and I’m at the point just now where I’m starting to see some daylight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Living in a smaller space has forced her to own and spend less. But now she has access to a yard and is putting the energy she spent on ceramics into gardening. Being close to her mother and brother, who also live in the house, has provided flexible childcare for her 5-year-old son that wasn’t possible when she lived almost an hour’s drive away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trade-off has been worth it, Dawson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m OK. I’ve found a way,” she said. “And I thank God for every little thing. I’ve never had this degree of gratitude in my life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078565\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078565\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260327-AffordabilityIntroBrooke-08-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260327-AffordabilityIntroBrooke-08-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260327-AffordabilityIntroBrooke-08-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260327-AffordabilityIntroBrooke-08-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brooke Dawson makes a sandwich in the Airstream where she lives in her mother’s backyard on March 27, 2026. She shares the property with her mother and brother, a living arrangement that makes staying in the area more affordable. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078566\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"845\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-2000x660.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Brooke-2048x676.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Brooke Dawson and her son Everest walk out of their Airstream. Right: Brooke Dawson blows bubbles with her son, Everest, and brother, Cameron. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dawson’s choice to downsize isn’t unusual. When \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069608/californias-cost-of-living-keeps-climbing-how-are-you-coping\">KQED asked Bay Area residents\u003c/a> how they’re managing the region’s high cost of living, many described similar compromises: moving into smaller homes, doubling up with family, taking on extra work, or cutting back on everyday expenses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their experiences reveal how rising housing costs and inflation are reshaping middle-class life in the Bay Area — forcing people to rethink what “enough” looks like and how to make ends meet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also mirror two national polls from the Washington Post and New York Times that found Americans see \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/us/politics/affordability-poll.html\">upward mobility\u003c/a> as less attainable and consider maintaining the trappings of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/02/27/affordability-homeownership-poll/\">middle-class lifestyle\u003c/a> increasingly unaffordable — feelings that are expected to influence November’s midterm elections, with likely voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-early-look-2026-midterms\">repeatedly citing\u003c/a> the \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/golden-age-americans-doubt-trumps-claim-booming-economy-midterms-near-2026-02-27/\">cost of living\u003c/a> as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/poll-trump-struggles-immigration-prices-iran-democrats-midterm-edge-rcna261861\">top concern\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both nationally and in California, the pandemic-era inflation spike is a big part of that story, with prices rising for everything from new cars to groceries. In turn, that’s putting into sharp relief cracks in the foundations of major industries, such as healthcare and child care, said Neale Mahoney, director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy and Research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078640\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078640\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-23-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-23-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-23-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-23-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brooke Dawson holds her son, Everest, in her mother’s backyard. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Inflation, he said, has “really revealed and emphasized the underlying structural issues we have with the cost of healthcare that have been around for a long time, issues with the costs of child care that have been around for a long time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At their core, he said, is the cost of housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Housing,” Mahoney said, “is at the root of many of the affordability issues we see in the Bay Area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, the typical home value was nearly $1.2 million last year — lower than the 2022 peak of about $1.3 million — but still 77% higher than it was in 2012, even when accounting for inflation, according to researchers at the \u003ca href=\"https://vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/indicators/home-values\">Metropolitan Transportation Commission\u003c/a>. Meanwhile, the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Bay Area was $3,300 as of early April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/bay-area-ca/?bedrooms=2\">according to Zillow\u003c/a>, about 83% higher than the national average.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The big squeeze\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Those escalating rent prices aren’t new: Many respondents could trace their decisions about how and where to live to major changes in the housing market over the past two decades, including the 2008 financial crisis that left \u003ca href=\"https://www.har.com/blog_56675_the-foreclosure-crisis-10-years-later\">nearly 8 million homeowners\u003c/a> in foreclosure or the \u003ca href=\"https://vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/indicators/rent-payments\">rapid rise in Bay Area rents\u003c/a> during the post-dot-com tech boom of the 2010s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keith Alvord, 65, and his wife, Lisa Alvord, were one of the families that found themselves underwater on their mortgage in 2010, eventually foreclosing on their home in the Trinity County town of Weaverville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That house had been part of their retirement plan, a home base they could return to while they spent the majority of their golden years sailing. Instead, they went with Plan B: living full-time on their 35-foot sailboat. For the past three years, the Alvords have been docked at Bay Area marinas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078590\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078590\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-14-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keith Alvord prepares the sailboat he shares with his wife, Lisa, for a sail in the Bay in Emeryville on March 20, 2026. The couple had been living aboard while fixing it up for a planned trip down the California coast, but have since shifted course to support their family while still planning to make the journey in the future. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078589\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078589\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-2000x667.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/AffordabilitySeriesIntro_Keith-2048x682.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Lisa Alvord holds a photo of an ADU they are building on their son’s property on the sailboat she shares with her husband, Keith. Right: Keith and Lisa Alvord prepare their sailboat for a sail in the Bay on March 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Winters are the hardest, Keith Alvord said. But, “We kind of felt like we didn’t really have many other options.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, though, they’re trading the sailboat for a garage at their 43-year-old son’s home back in Weaverville, after their son suffered a financial crisis of his own. They hope to convert the space into an ADU, a move Alvord said will help both them and their son. Still, Alvord is worried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I really didn’t want to be in this situation, where I was basing mine and my wife’s stability off of my son’s stability,” he said. “If he gets to a point where he wants to sell the house, then we are kind of back in that situation where we’re like, ‘Well, where are we going to live?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078660\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-21-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-21-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-21-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilityIntroKeith-21-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Keith Alvord prepares the sailboat he shares with his wife, Lisa, for a sail in the Bay. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But with home insurance prices rising, Alvord sees little other option than to stick close because, he said, “I don’t know how a single family is supposed to make that work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/one-big-happy-household-how-families-and-the-data-are-shaping-multigenerational-living\">survey last year\u003c/a> from the National Association of Realtors found more families are making this choice, with multigenerational homebuying at an all-time high, representing 17% of homes purchased in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey also found that 36% of homebuyers cited “cost savings” as the primary reason for the joint purchase, up from 15% in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Misha Kurita-Ditz, 24, found themselves doubling up with a parent last year, when they moved back to their mother’s San Francisco condo after going to college and working in Oregon for several years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The situation isn’t always ideal: “I’m a little bit cleaner than my mom,” they said. But it has its benefits, too. “It’s been really lovely to be able to have an adult relationship between me and my mother.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078641\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078641\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-03-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-03-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-03-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-03-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Misha Kurita-Ditz works on a sewing project at the apartment they share with their mom in San Francisco on March 24, 2026. After Misha returned to the city and moved in, they are navigating the high cost of living and the shift to sharing space as adults. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078648\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078648\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"828\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1-2000x662.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1-1536x509.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260324-AffordabilitySeriesIntroMishaBarbara-BL-DIP-1-2048x678.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Barbara Ditz grades students’ work in her bedroom. Right: Misha Kurita-Ditz and their mom, Barbara Ditz, update each other about recent events in their lives at their apartment. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The artist and retail worker grew up in a rent-controlled Edwardian walk-up in the city’s Western Addition/Lower Haight neighborhood with their parents and keenly felt the impacts of rising rents as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/urbanist-article/2013-12-17/tech-boom\">tech industry boomed\u003c/a> in the 2010s, pushing up prices across the city. New landlords began pressuring them to leave, Kurita-Ditz said, and they were ultimately evicted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of these things definitely contributed to feeling a lot of resentment and anger,” Kurita-Ditz said. That perspective has only further hardened after watching the latest AI boom \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2026/02/san-francisc-rents-ai-boom-tenants/\">drive rents even higher\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do we carve out a future for the culture of San Francisco, for the culture of the Bay Area in the face of impossible housing prices?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>On the margins\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When housing eats so much of one household’s budget, it’s harder to feed other needs. KQED’s survey respondents said that it’s forced them to make choices about items they once considered essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Citlali Iriarte, 39, buys less meat when her monthly budget grows tight. Between 2019 and 2025, grocery prices rose \u003ca href=\"https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUSA422SAF11\">roughly 34%\u003c/a> for the average Bay Area resident, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Iriarte found herself telling her two kids: “OK, this week we’re gonna eat different. We’re going to see more vegetables.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078659\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/251031-SFMarinFoodBank-21-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/251031-SFMarinFoodBank-21-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/251031-SFMarinFoodBank-21-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/251031-SFMarinFoodBank-21-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers sort fresh produce into boxes at the San Francisco‑Marin Food Bank warehouse in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She works two jobs, one taking care of her special-needs daughter through In-Home Supportive Services and the other as an early childhood educator at the YMCA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Life in the Bay Area has never been particularly affordable for Iriarte, who immigrated from Mexico 13 years ago. But after years spent working nights, earning a high school diploma, securing her work authorization and eventually moving herself and her children into their own place, she said it would be difficult to move anywhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It took me years to be able to find a community that I can belong to,” Iriarte said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even some two-income households bringing in far more than Iriarte are finding themselves forced to cut back. Marion Gloege, 54, who immigrated from Germany 23 years ago and bought a Los Gatos home in 2021, said she’s always felt comfortably middle class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, unexpected budget items she might have previously dismissed weigh on her: new tires for their car or paying for urgent care and an ER visit when her 17-year-old son suffered a concussion playing soccer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Five years ago we would have said, ‘Oh well, too bad,’” Gloege said. “Now we gulp, and my husband squeezes my hand in the car.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078594\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078594\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260325-AffordabilityIntroChristy-06-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260325-AffordabilityIntroChristy-06-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260325-AffordabilityIntroChristy-06-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260325-AffordabilityIntroChristy-06-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christy Brown works at Rotator Taproom in Walnut Creek on March 21, 2026. A school counselor in Danville, she supplements her income by bartending and teaching yoga. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078651\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078651\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"828\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1-2000x662.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1-1536x509.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-AffordabilitySeriesIntroChad-09-BL-DIP-1-2048x678.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Chad Morrison prepares bread to bake at Red Bird Bakery in Santa Rosa on April 1, 2026. They share an apartment with their boyfriend to keep rent manageable, but rising costs have cut into savings and limited everyday spending. Right: Chad Morrison sits in their car during a break at the bakery. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To make ends meet, Christy Brown, 48, a counselor at a public high school in Danville, said she’s taken on several part-time jobs — teaching yoga, bartending and extra work at her school district — to get by. Together, she estimates she works up to 65 hours a week. But that, too, takes its toll.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m just more tired, I guess. And I kind of feel a little bit like — I don’t know how to say this — frustrated and angry sometimes,” Brown said. “I feel like I’m constantly working so much, and it’s barely enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working more and carefully watching budgets means less time and money for recreation and travel. But Chad Morrison, 37, is now reconsidering something they once thought essential: owning a car. They had planned to buy a new electric vehicle when their 2013 Honda Fit, with 240,000 miles on it, finally gave up the ghost. But they no longer think they can afford it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nationally, the average total cost per 15,000 miles of car ownership rose 45% between 2017 and 2024, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.bts.gov/content/average-cost-owning-and-operating-automobilea-assuming-15000-vehicle-miles-year\">Bureau of Transportation Statistics\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that I’d be able to save money while making car payments,” Morrison said. “I’d have to make other choices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A small start\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the North Bay, Brooke Dawson is feeling more committed than ever to the choices she’s made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The past year has been one of her hardest — watching her marriage dissolve, moving in with her mother, taking out a loan to buy the Airstream, installing it in her mother’s yard and hoping she didn’t make a mistake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078639\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078639\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-10-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-10-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-10-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260320-AffordabilitySeriesIntroBrooke-10-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brooke Dawson feeds her two chickens in the backyard she shares with her family. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Living in a small space has its drawbacks, she said, including a finicky electrical system, limited water and having to pump out her septic tanks by hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, it’s forced her to spend most of her time in the backyard, where she’s planted an array of edible flowers and herbs — calendula, oregano, sage, lemon verbena — along with fruits and vegetables — sweet peas, figs, grapes, spinach, passion fruit, strawberries.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She’s more self-reliant than she’s ever been, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more I learn about what I’m capable of doing, the more I get to know what kind of human I am,” Dawson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she’s no longer dreaming of owning a home for only herself and her family. Now, she dreams of buying a vacant plot of land and installing a collection of tiny homes where several families could live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She imagines an intergenerational community, with other mothers and grandparents, who could support each other with child care and aging in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’d be a different way of living — more cooperative, less isolated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And this is a small start,” Dawson said of this seed of an idea, rooted in necessity. “It’s been the biggest gift that I’ve ever given myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "1 Way to Help Oakland Teachers’ Salaries Go Further? Affordable Housing",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> will soon join a growing list of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> cities allocating housing for public school teachers, as districts across the state \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913422/campus-closures-and-teacher-layoffs-bay-area-public-schools-in-crisis\">raise concerns \u003c/a>about the cost of living for educators, leading many to leave urban districts — and the profession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Fund, a nonprofit based in the city, announced Thursday that it purchased a 33-unit residential building in the Temescal District, with the goal of providing affordable housing for Oakland Unified School District educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a teacher to not have to worry about whether they can pay their rent, or whether they can even afford to stay in the community that they love … it’s going to make such a difference,” OUSD interim Superintendent Denise Saddler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know what difference it’ll make in terms of when we’re responsible for getting our best people here to do what is so important,” Saddler said\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913161/how-do-you-get-by-in-the-pricey-bay-area\">cost of living\u003c/a> outpaces the rate of teachers’ salaries, cities across the Bay Area, including San Francisco, have introduced workforce housing developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Unified School District \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12044911/san-francisco-starts-construction-on-its-second-teacher-housing-project\">opened a 134-unit building in October\u003c/a> and broke ground on another 75-unit project last June. San Mateo’s Jefferson Union High School District also has a 122-unit development, which houses about 25% of its eligible workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078519\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078519\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-30-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-30-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-30-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-30-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor Barbara Lee, Kyra Mungia, co-founder of Rooted, politicians, teachers and supporters participate in a ribbon cutting during a press conference announcing new affordable housing for Oakland Unified School District teachers and school employees at a recently purchased residential building in Oakland on April 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The housing model’s appeal is growing as teachers’ strikes mount in several Bay Area school districts. Earlier this year, Oakland’s teachers union \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12074272/oakland-teachers-approve-a-strike-as-report-calls-districts-pay-not-competitive\">threatened to strike\u003c/a> after a year of contract negotiations, citing low pay and sky-high costs of living in the city. Union President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer said about 60% of the district’s teachers can’t afford to live in Oakland with their current salaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lack of affordable housing options for educators has made it difficult for the district to attract and retain educators. Oakland loses about 400 teachers each year, according to the teachers’ union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kyra Mungia, The Oakland Fund’s chief executive officer, said that when staffing instability and classroom vacancies occur, “it’s our kids who end up paying the price.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today, we are showing that a different path is possible,” Mungia said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078514\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078514\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-02-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-02-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-02-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-02-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kyra Mungia, co-founder of Rooted, speaks during a press conference announcing new affordable housing for Oakland Unified School District teachers and school employees at a recently purchased residential building in Oakland on April 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unlike many of the workforce housing developments that Bay Area districts have pursued, the housing will be converted from existing residential units, not built from the ground up. Transferring the units to educators will be a gradual process, as turnover among tenants occurs naturally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the nonprofit, rental rates will vary by unit and be set at 30% of educators’ household income. One bedrooms will be priced between $1,120 and $2,240, while two bedrooms could cost up to $2,560.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melanie Turner, a special education teacher at Emerson Elementary School, moved into the Idora building in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078518\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078518\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland teacher Melanie Turner speaks during a press conference announcing new affordable housing for Oakland Unified School District teachers and school employees at a recently purchased residential building in Oakland on April 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been here for now my third year, and I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon because of where I live,” she said at the press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, prior to becoming a teacher, Turner and her preschool-aged son had been couch-hopping at friends’ and family members’ homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was not able to provide for my child in the way that I expected to,” she said. “Now, I can stand here in front of you and say, not only am I able to do that, but I can have savings.[aside postID=news_12078253 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240104-PEOPLES-PARK-MD-05-1020x680.jpg']She originally got a lowered price on the unit through a separate program called Teachers Rooted In Oakland. Now her rent will be reduced to 30% of her income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have to worry about, ‘Do I have enough to pay my rent and my groceries and my medical bills and commute costs, if I need to have them?’ I am at peace,” Turner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nonprofit has raised $14 million to purchase a total of 150 residential units for educator housing over the next three years. It also partnered with the city, which committed more than $7.6 million in affordable housing financing toward the first acquisition, the Idora Building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mungia said that currently, the city’s multifamily real estate market is depressed, meaning “buildings like these are changing hands.” The Idora Building on Claremont Avenue sold for $12.6 million, half the price it sold for in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The question is, who will own Oakland?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are choosing Oakland, owning Oakland,” Mungia said. “We are choosing to invest in the very people who make the city work: Our educators.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/epeppel\">\u003cem>Eliza Peppel\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> will soon join a growing list of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> cities allocating housing for public school teachers, as districts across the state \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913422/campus-closures-and-teacher-layoffs-bay-area-public-schools-in-crisis\">raise concerns \u003c/a>about the cost of living for educators, leading many to leave urban districts — and the profession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland Fund, a nonprofit based in the city, announced Thursday that it purchased a 33-unit residential building in the Temescal District, with the goal of providing affordable housing for Oakland Unified School District educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a teacher to not have to worry about whether they can pay their rent, or whether they can even afford to stay in the community that they love … it’s going to make such a difference,” OUSD interim Superintendent Denise Saddler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know what difference it’ll make in terms of when we’re responsible for getting our best people here to do what is so important,” Saddler said\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913161/how-do-you-get-by-in-the-pricey-bay-area\">cost of living\u003c/a> outpaces the rate of teachers’ salaries, cities across the Bay Area, including San Francisco, have introduced workforce housing developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Unified School District \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12044911/san-francisco-starts-construction-on-its-second-teacher-housing-project\">opened a 134-unit building in October\u003c/a> and broke ground on another 75-unit project last June. San Mateo’s Jefferson Union High School District also has a 122-unit development, which houses about 25% of its eligible workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078519\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078519\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-30-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-30-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-30-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-30-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor Barbara Lee, Kyra Mungia, co-founder of Rooted, politicians, teachers and supporters participate in a ribbon cutting during a press conference announcing new affordable housing for Oakland Unified School District teachers and school employees at a recently purchased residential building in Oakland on April 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The housing model’s appeal is growing as teachers’ strikes mount in several Bay Area school districts. Earlier this year, Oakland’s teachers union \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12074272/oakland-teachers-approve-a-strike-as-report-calls-districts-pay-not-competitive\">threatened to strike\u003c/a> after a year of contract negotiations, citing low pay and sky-high costs of living in the city. Union President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer said about 60% of the district’s teachers can’t afford to live in Oakland with their current salaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lack of affordable housing options for educators has made it difficult for the district to attract and retain educators. Oakland loses about 400 teachers each year, according to the teachers’ union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kyra Mungia, The Oakland Fund’s chief executive officer, said that when staffing instability and classroom vacancies occur, “it’s our kids who end up paying the price.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today, we are showing that a different path is possible,” Mungia said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078514\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078514\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-02-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-02-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-02-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-02-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kyra Mungia, co-founder of Rooted, speaks during a press conference announcing new affordable housing for Oakland Unified School District teachers and school employees at a recently purchased residential building in Oakland on April 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unlike many of the workforce housing developments that Bay Area districts have pursued, the housing will be converted from existing residential units, not built from the ground up. Transferring the units to educators will be a gradual process, as turnover among tenants occurs naturally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the nonprofit, rental rates will vary by unit and be set at 30% of educators’ household income. One bedrooms will be priced between $1,120 and $2,240, while two bedrooms could cost up to $2,560.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melanie Turner, a special education teacher at Emerson Elementary School, moved into the Idora building in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078518\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078518\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260402-OAKTEACHERHOUSING-25-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland teacher Melanie Turner speaks during a press conference announcing new affordable housing for Oakland Unified School District teachers and school employees at a recently purchased residential building in Oakland on April 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been here for now my third year, and I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon because of where I live,” she said at the press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, prior to becoming a teacher, Turner and her preschool-aged son had been couch-hopping at friends’ and family members’ homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was not able to provide for my child in the way that I expected to,” she said. “Now, I can stand here in front of you and say, not only am I able to do that, but I can have savings.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She originally got a lowered price on the unit through a separate program called Teachers Rooted In Oakland. Now her rent will be reduced to 30% of her income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have to worry about, ‘Do I have enough to pay my rent and my groceries and my medical bills and commute costs, if I need to have them?’ I am at peace,” Turner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nonprofit has raised $14 million to purchase a total of 150 residential units for educator housing over the next three years. It also partnered with the city, which committed more than $7.6 million in affordable housing financing toward the first acquisition, the Idora Building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mungia said that currently, the city’s multifamily real estate market is depressed, meaning “buildings like these are changing hands.” The Idora Building on Claremont Avenue sold for $12.6 million, half the price it sold for in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The question is, who will own Oakland?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are choosing Oakland, owning Oakland,” Mungia said. “We are choosing to invest in the very people who make the city work: Our educators.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/epeppel\">\u003cem>Eliza Peppel\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "east-bay-racetrack-golden-gate-fields-could-soon-be-a-new-public-waterfront-park",
"title": "East Bay Racetrack Golden Gate Fields Could Soon Be a New Public Waterfront Park",
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"headTitle": "East Bay Racetrack Golden Gate Fields Could Soon Be a New Public Waterfront Park | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The 160-acre waterfront property that was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11955826/golden-gate-fields-racetrack-set-to-close-this-fall\">once home to Golden Gate Fields\u003c/a> horse racing track could soon become a new public park, linking more than eight miles of open space along the East Bay shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trust for Public Land, a national conservation group, announced Tuesday that it had reached an agreement to purchase the site and transfer it to the East Bay Regional Park District, with intentions to restore the natural landscape of the bayshore and create recreation space for residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put nature and public access to the forefront,” said Guillermo Rodriguez, Trust for Public Land’s state director. “We at the Trust for Public Land are super excited to turn the page over on a new chapter of what this property can mean for generations to come.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodriguez said the nonprofit has until the end of the year to raise $175 million to purchase the site, which has been known as a prominent horse racing track at the border of Albany and Berkeley for more than 80 years. Even decades before Golden Gate Fields shuttered in 2024, residents, local elected officials and developers have considered what could become of the rare expanse of undeveloped waterfront land in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Restoring the shoreline and creating park space that links McLaughlin Eastshore State Park to the south and Albany Bulb and Point Isabel Regional Shoreline to the north has always been popular among residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Golden Gate Fields is located in the middle of McLaughlin Eastshore State Park. Its protection will fill a missing gap in public lands and is the culmination of decades of work and advocacy,” said Robert Cheasty, the executive director of the Citizens for East Shore Parks. “From the very creation of this 8.5-mile shoreline park … [a] major parcel has been missing — the centerpiece that has been occupied by the racetrack. Now, this crucial piece can be added.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078408\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078408\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Golden Gate Fields, a former horse racing track along the Berkeley shoreline, on April 1, 2026. The track closed in 2024, and the Trust for Public Land is working to turn the site into a public park. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1990, Albany voters passed Measure C, which restricts the waterfront land in the city to open space, parks and recreation and other water-related uses. It also permits building restaurants, bars and commercial recreation or entertainment spaces. To pursue housing or a large commercial or retail development would require another vote. Berkeley zoning codes also restrict the prospective uses for the property, about 40 acres of which are in its city limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am excited to partner with the East Bay Regional Park District to engage our community in reimagining the former racetrack as a vibrant public space, expanding opportunities to gather in community and experience the beauty of our shoreline,” Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii said. “From kayaking and kite flying to sunset dining, Berkeley’s waterfront parks are a treasured destination enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the late 2000s, Albany also conducted a wide outreach project that found significant support for a park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s “Voices to Vision” report, which surveyed about 10% of Albany residents, found that the vast majority wanted to expand its waterfront open space, while some were concerned about the loss of tax revenue that the racetrack generated.[aside postID=news_12078253 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/240104-PEOPLES-PARK-MD-05-1020x680.jpg']According to the city, the property generates about $1.1 million in special revenues for the city and $700,000 for the Albany Unified School District annually. When it was operating, the racetrack fueled another $150,000 to $300,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report concluded that the majority of the land should be maintained as open space, and a park should be created. It recommended that a smaller portion could be used for commercial and nonprofit development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, developers have proposed other uses for the site, similar to the massive projects at other former Bay Area racetracks, like San Bruno’s Tanforan, which is now a major mall, and Bay Meadows in San Mateo, a mixed-use development that includes more than 1,000 housing units, as well as significant retail and office space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso proposed a mixed-use \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2005-10-14/article/22509?headline=Albany-Council-Will-Oversee-Mall-Development-By-F.-Timothy-Martin-Special-to-the-Planet\">development\u003c/a> featuring an outdoor mall and apartments at Golden Gate Fields, and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory eyed it for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2011/11/15/seventy-years-of-racing-history-may-make-way-for-new-lab-2/\">new campus \u003c/a>in 2011. More recently, after the track announced it would close, UC Berkeley graduate students considered alternative uses of the site that included housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Berkeley professor Zachary Lamb said his students took on the project to examine ways to address the “dire need to build housing in the inner Bay,” especially in places close to transit infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really wanted to be responsive to the housing crisis and demonstrate through these hypothetical design exercises that this site is big enough and it’s well-positioned enough that you could accomplish a lot of open space, ecological restoration, climate resilience … lots of goals that could really benefit the wider community — while also building a lot of housing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078407\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078407\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Golden Gate Fields, a former horse racing track along the Berkeley shoreline, on April 1, 2026. The track closed in 2024, and the Trust for Public Land is working to turn the site into a public park. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rodriguez said the Bay Meadows project, which features about a dozen acres of open space, makes sense for its location, but that for the Bay Area’s third major racetrack redevelopment, “we have the opportunity to put nature and public access in front of the line.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next year, Trust for Public Land will be focused on raising the funds needed to act on their purchase option, which stands until the end of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The East Bay Regional Park District has already offered to put $20 million toward the purchase. That funding will come from an Alameda and Contra Costa County bond measure from 2008, which provided half a billion dollars in bonds to expand regional parks and protect open space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodriguez said the nonprofit will also pursue state funds as well as private donations, noting that Proposition 4, California’s 2024 climate bond initiative, set aside significant funding to acquire properties like the Golden Gate Fields site.[aside postID=news_12077281 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/042924_State-Capitol-Session-MG_CM_25.jpeg']“We’re approaching various state agencies who have a high interest in the property, who have high interest in restoration of the Bay, who have a high interest in expanding biodiversity and protecting biodiversity,” he said. “We think we have some real opportunities to knock on the public doors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local state representatives Sen. Jesse Arreguín and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks have already voiced support for the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the purchase goes through, the land would then be transferred to the East Bay Regional Parks District, which manages an extensive system of parks and open spaces across Alameda and Contra Costa counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not yet clear what the park could look like, or how much it could cost. The agency would conduct a community engagement process, which Rodriguez estimated could take around five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said he’s heard interest from residents in expanding opportunities for “active recreation,” like ball fields similar to those at the Tom Bates Regional Sports Complex, south of the property, and restoration of the natural shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With 161 acres, you really have the opportunity to dream big,” Rodriguez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Echols, the East Bay Regional Parks District director who represents the area, told \u003cem>Berkeleyside\u003c/em> that the district still needs to determine what environmental remediation the land needs, and how it would pay for the development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/shossaini\">\u003cem>Sara Hossaini\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5v6Atf-zIWjJr8ZXgyOmDSRVu2kSdv4_RdPTIWLdBmnVoXg/viewform?usp=header\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The 160-acre waterfront property that was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11955826/golden-gate-fields-racetrack-set-to-close-this-fall\">once home to Golden Gate Fields\u003c/a> horse racing track could soon become a new public park, linking more than eight miles of open space along the East Bay shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trust for Public Land, a national conservation group, announced Tuesday that it had reached an agreement to purchase the site and transfer it to the East Bay Regional Park District, with intentions to restore the natural landscape of the bayshore and create recreation space for residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put nature and public access to the forefront,” said Guillermo Rodriguez, Trust for Public Land’s state director. “We at the Trust for Public Land are super excited to turn the page over on a new chapter of what this property can mean for generations to come.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodriguez said the nonprofit has until the end of the year to raise $175 million to purchase the site, which has been known as a prominent horse racing track at the border of Albany and Berkeley for more than 80 years. Even decades before Golden Gate Fields shuttered in 2024, residents, local elected officials and developers have considered what could become of the rare expanse of undeveloped waterfront land in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Restoring the shoreline and creating park space that links McLaughlin Eastshore State Park to the south and Albany Bulb and Point Isabel Regional Shoreline to the north has always been popular among residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Golden Gate Fields is located in the middle of McLaughlin Eastshore State Park. Its protection will fill a missing gap in public lands and is the culmination of decades of work and advocacy,” said Robert Cheasty, the executive director of the Citizens for East Shore Parks. “From the very creation of this 8.5-mile shoreline park … [a] major parcel has been missing — the centerpiece that has been occupied by the racetrack. Now, this crucial piece can be added.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078408\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078408\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Golden Gate Fields, a former horse racing track along the Berkeley shoreline, on April 1, 2026. The track closed in 2024, and the Trust for Public Land is working to turn the site into a public park. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1990, Albany voters passed Measure C, which restricts the waterfront land in the city to open space, parks and recreation and other water-related uses. It also permits building restaurants, bars and commercial recreation or entertainment spaces. To pursue housing or a large commercial or retail development would require another vote. Berkeley zoning codes also restrict the prospective uses for the property, about 40 acres of which are in its city limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am excited to partner with the East Bay Regional Park District to engage our community in reimagining the former racetrack as a vibrant public space, expanding opportunities to gather in community and experience the beauty of our shoreline,” Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii said. “From kayaking and kite flying to sunset dining, Berkeley’s waterfront parks are a treasured destination enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the late 2000s, Albany also conducted a wide outreach project that found significant support for a park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s “Voices to Vision” report, which surveyed about 10% of Albany residents, found that the vast majority wanted to expand its waterfront open space, while some were concerned about the loss of tax revenue that the racetrack generated.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>According to the city, the property generates about $1.1 million in special revenues for the city and $700,000 for the Albany Unified School District annually. When it was operating, the racetrack fueled another $150,000 to $300,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report concluded that the majority of the land should be maintained as open space, and a park should be created. It recommended that a smaller portion could be used for commercial and nonprofit development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, developers have proposed other uses for the site, similar to the massive projects at other former Bay Area racetracks, like San Bruno’s Tanforan, which is now a major mall, and Bay Meadows in San Mateo, a mixed-use development that includes more than 1,000 housing units, as well as significant retail and office space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso proposed a mixed-use \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2005-10-14/article/22509?headline=Albany-Council-Will-Oversee-Mall-Development-By-F.-Timothy-Martin-Special-to-the-Planet\">development\u003c/a> featuring an outdoor mall and apartments at Golden Gate Fields, and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory eyed it for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2011/11/15/seventy-years-of-racing-history-may-make-way-for-new-lab-2/\">new campus \u003c/a>in 2011. More recently, after the track announced it would close, UC Berkeley graduate students considered alternative uses of the site that included housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Berkeley professor Zachary Lamb said his students took on the project to examine ways to address the “dire need to build housing in the inner Bay,” especially in places close to transit infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really wanted to be responsive to the housing crisis and demonstrate through these hypothetical design exercises that this site is big enough and it’s well-positioned enough that you could accomplish a lot of open space, ecological restoration, climate resilience … lots of goals that could really benefit the wider community — while also building a lot of housing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078407\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12078407\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Golden Gate Fields, a former horse racing track along the Berkeley shoreline, on April 1, 2026. The track closed in 2024, and the Trust for Public Land is working to turn the site into a public park. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rodriguez said the Bay Meadows project, which features about a dozen acres of open space, makes sense for its location, but that for the Bay Area’s third major racetrack redevelopment, “we have the opportunity to put nature and public access in front of the line.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next year, Trust for Public Land will be focused on raising the funds needed to act on their purchase option, which stands until the end of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The East Bay Regional Park District has already offered to put $20 million toward the purchase. That funding will come from an Alameda and Contra Costa County bond measure from 2008, which provided half a billion dollars in bonds to expand regional parks and protect open space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodriguez said the nonprofit will also pursue state funds as well as private donations, noting that Proposition 4, California’s 2024 climate bond initiative, set aside significant funding to acquire properties like the Golden Gate Fields site.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We’re approaching various state agencies who have a high interest in the property, who have high interest in restoration of the Bay, who have a high interest in expanding biodiversity and protecting biodiversity,” he said. “We think we have some real opportunities to knock on the public doors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local state representatives Sen. Jesse Arreguín and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks have already voiced support for the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the purchase goes through, the land would then be transferred to the East Bay Regional Parks District, which manages an extensive system of parks and open spaces across Alameda and Contra Costa counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not yet clear what the park could look like, or how much it could cost. The agency would conduct a community engagement process, which Rodriguez estimated could take around five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said he’s heard interest from residents in expanding opportunities for “active recreation,” like ball fields similar to those at the Tom Bates Regional Sports Complex, south of the property, and restoration of the natural shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With 161 acres, you really have the opportunity to dream big,” Rodriguez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Echols, the East Bay Regional Parks District director who represents the area, told \u003cem>Berkeleyside\u003c/em> that the district still needs to determine what environmental remediation the land needs, and how it would pay for the development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/shossaini\">\u003cem>Sara Hossaini\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\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>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/uc-berkeley\">UC Berkeley \u003c/a>will offer incoming freshmen two years of guaranteed housing next fall, marking a major expansion for the campus that’s long struggled to keep up with accommodations for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university said it will also guarantee a year of campus housing for transfer students, thanks to two new housing projects set to open to students in 2027 and 2028, adding 2,700 beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Two years of guaranteed housing for every incoming first-year student is transformative for our student experience,” Chancellor Rich Lyons said in a press release last week. “It gives students the foundation they need — a place to live, a community to be part of and the stability that supports their well-being, allowing them to fully engage in their education and in the life of this university.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Berkeley has historically had the lowest rate of students in housing of the University of California campuses, hosting just 22% of its undergraduate population a decade ago, compared to an average of 38% systemwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school only began to guarantee housing for freshmen during the 2023-2024 academic year, after a yearslong effort to expand campus housing supply, spearheaded by former Chancellor Carol Christ. One of the projects she helped get off the ground was Heumann House, the university’s 1,100-bed apartment-style housing project set to open next fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The development has been controversial on campus and has been decades in the making. It sits on the former site of People’s Park, where students and neighbors \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11971915/peoples-park-fight-pits-housing-against-history\">fought the university’s efforts \u003c/a>to build housing since it acquired the land in the late 1960s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12078284 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/UCBerkeleyPeoplesParkHousingGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/UCBerkeleyPeoplesParkHousingGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/UCBerkeleyPeoplesParkHousingGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/UCBerkeleyPeoplesParkHousingGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Storage containers surround the perimeter of People’s Park in Berkeley, California, on June 6, 2024. The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of UC Berkeley’s plans to develop the park into student housing. \u003ccite>(Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The university had planned to develop student housing before running out of money. In 1969, residents planted trees and turned it into a park. When the university tried to reclaim the land, it sparked major protests and clashes between local police and park supporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, the plot remained mostly undeveloped, serving as a gathering place for students and activists, and a long-standing homeless encampment before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989237/uc-berkeley-can-start-building-on-peoples-park-california-supreme-court-rules\">a state Supreme Court ruling\u003c/a> cleared the way for the university to build. The campus \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998188/uc-berkeley-quietly-starts-construction-at-peoples-park-capping-decades-of-conflict\">quietly broke ground\u003c/a> on its new housing in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heumann House, named for disability rights leader Judith Heumann, adds to the campus’s supply of apartment-style housing filled by many transfer students. In 2024, Berkeley opened Anchor House, which features around 800 beds in similar units. Together, the projects bring the campus’s housing capacity to 33% of its student population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bancroft-Fulton Student Housing project, the other new development expected in 2028, will add another 1,600 dorm-style beds.[aside postID=news_12066766 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251211-PEOPLES-PARK-RENDERINGS-01-KQED.jpg']Junior Ysabela Philip said she’s encouraged to see the campus offering more housing options, but is wary of the rapid expansion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want there to be quality over quantity,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Philip said most students find it less expensive to live off campus, unless they receive financial aid that they are able to put toward housing expenses. She said she’s worried that the push to be able to house more of the student population could lead the school to put off renovations on older buildings, like her freshman dorm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The conditions we were living in the dorms were terrible,” she said. “My heater was broken. I couldn’t have hot water in my shower. There was mold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of a two-year housing guarantee, [I] would have preferred to see existing housing being brought up to safer standards and higher standards,” she told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley officials say they “are committed to ensuring all of our campus housing options are safe, healthy and supportive spaces.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university has also proposed a tower up to 26 stories on the corner of Channing Way and Bowditch Street that would house up to 2,000 more students, and feature a new dining facility and “social and academic spaces.” It’s expected to go before the UC Board of Regents for approval next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By providing stability from the moment students arrive, we can help them focus on what matters most: their academic journey and building connections at Berkeley,” Jo Mackness, associate vice chancellor for Residential and Student Service programs, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/uc-berkeley\">UC Berkeley \u003c/a>will offer incoming freshmen two years of guaranteed housing next fall, marking a major expansion for the campus that’s long struggled to keep up with accommodations for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university said it will also guarantee a year of campus housing for transfer students, thanks to two new housing projects set to open to students in 2027 and 2028, adding 2,700 beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Two years of guaranteed housing for every incoming first-year student is transformative for our student experience,” Chancellor Rich Lyons said in a press release last week. “It gives students the foundation they need — a place to live, a community to be part of and the stability that supports their well-being, allowing them to fully engage in their education and in the life of this university.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Berkeley has historically had the lowest rate of students in housing of the University of California campuses, hosting just 22% of its undergraduate population a decade ago, compared to an average of 38% systemwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school only began to guarantee housing for freshmen during the 2023-2024 academic year, after a yearslong effort to expand campus housing supply, spearheaded by former Chancellor Carol Christ. One of the projects she helped get off the ground was Heumann House, the university’s 1,100-bed apartment-style housing project set to open next fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The development has been controversial on campus and has been decades in the making. It sits on the former site of People’s Park, where students and neighbors \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11971915/peoples-park-fight-pits-housing-against-history\">fought the university’s efforts \u003c/a>to build housing since it acquired the land in the late 1960s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12078284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12078284 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/UCBerkeleyPeoplesParkHousingGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/UCBerkeleyPeoplesParkHousingGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/UCBerkeleyPeoplesParkHousingGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/UCBerkeleyPeoplesParkHousingGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Storage containers surround the perimeter of People’s Park in Berkeley, California, on June 6, 2024. The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of UC Berkeley’s plans to develop the park into student housing. \u003ccite>(Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The university had planned to develop student housing before running out of money. In 1969, residents planted trees and turned it into a park. When the university tried to reclaim the land, it sparked major protests and clashes between local police and park supporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, the plot remained mostly undeveloped, serving as a gathering place for students and activists, and a long-standing homeless encampment before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989237/uc-berkeley-can-start-building-on-peoples-park-california-supreme-court-rules\">a state Supreme Court ruling\u003c/a> cleared the way for the university to build. The campus \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998188/uc-berkeley-quietly-starts-construction-at-peoples-park-capping-decades-of-conflict\">quietly broke ground\u003c/a> on its new housing in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heumann House, named for disability rights leader Judith Heumann, adds to the campus’s supply of apartment-style housing filled by many transfer students. In 2024, Berkeley opened Anchor House, which features around 800 beds in similar units. Together, the projects bring the campus’s housing capacity to 33% of its student population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bancroft-Fulton Student Housing project, the other new development expected in 2028, will add another 1,600 dorm-style beds.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Junior Ysabela Philip said she’s encouraged to see the campus offering more housing options, but is wary of the rapid expansion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want there to be quality over quantity,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Philip said most students find it less expensive to live off campus, unless they receive financial aid that they are able to put toward housing expenses. She said she’s worried that the push to be able to house more of the student population could lead the school to put off renovations on older buildings, like her freshman dorm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The conditions we were living in the dorms were terrible,” she said. “My heater was broken. I couldn’t have hot water in my shower. There was mold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of a two-year housing guarantee, [I] would have preferred to see existing housing being brought up to safer standards and higher standards,” she told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley officials say they “are committed to ensuring all of our campus housing options are safe, healthy and supportive spaces.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university has also proposed a tower up to 26 stories on the corner of Channing Way and Bowditch Street that would house up to 2,000 more students, and feature a new dining facility and “social and academic spaces.” It’s expected to go before the UC Board of Regents for approval next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By providing stability from the moment students arrive, we can help them focus on what matters most: their academic journey and building connections at Berkeley,” Jo Mackness, associate vice chancellor for Residential and Student Service programs, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Scott Wiener Passed Laws Making It Easier to Build in California. Can He Do the Same in Congress?",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the shaded courtyard of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> affordable housing complex in early March, California’s most prolific Yes In My Backyard legislator rolled out his congressional campaign’s new housing platform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/scott-wiener\">Sen. Scott Wiener\u003c/a>, it was all very on brand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flanked by union construction workers, campaign volunteers and some of the YIMBY advocates who have been on “Team Wiener” since his days on the city’s Board of Supervisors, Wiener ticked through the housing policy highlights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The package was a mix of hyperambitious spending proposals — the type that rarely make it beyond campaign literature — wonky left-of-center objectives and a raft of the kind of pro-development, deregulatory proposals upon which Wiener has built his political reputation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposals to cut red tape might seem an odd fit for Congress, which has historically steered clear of local land-use and construction rules. Wiener was happy to address the apparent mismatch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was also an area, first of all, that the state traditionally was not involved in — and we changed that,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/100724_Senate-Special_FG_CM_07-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A small group of people face each other as they talk on the side of a room, where other people gather for a hearing.\">\u003cfigcaption>Left to right, State senators Scott Wiener, Henry Stern, and Benjamin Allen talk before the start of the Senate floor session at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Oct. 7, 2024. (Fred Greaves/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since Wiener joined the state Senate in 2017, California’s legislature has undergone a historic pivot on housing. Majorities now embrace the notion, at least rhetorically, that the state has an active role to play in promoting the construction of more homes, even if that means bigfooting local governments and neighborhood groups. More so than any other legislator, Wiener has been the hinge of that pivot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question now is whether Wiener, if elected, could help orchestrate the same feat of political reengineering in Congress, given its longstanding aversion to legislating on his policy issue of choice — or, as is increasingly the case, to doing much of anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Where everything good goes to die’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On the one hand, of course Wiener wants to go to Washington.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision last year to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/11/california-nancy-pelosi-retirement/\">step aside\u003c/a> after holding the seat for nearly four decades created a once-in-a-generation opportunity in San Francisco, a city brimming with Democratic political talent and few empty rungs further up the electoral ladder. Wiener has been a professional politician going on 16 years and is possessed of a professional politician’s career ambitions. He’s also termed out of the state legislature in 2028. When he announced his candidacy \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/10/scott-wiener-nancy-pelosi-election/\">last October\u003c/a>, it was a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/us/politics/pelosi-house-race-san-francisco.html\">well-foreshadowed\u003c/a> decision that caught virtually no one in the political world by surprise.[aside postID=news_12076862 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/031826-Wiener-Tan-KQED.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand … really, Congress?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the legislative branch of the federal government is not a body known for its productivity, Wiener is an exceptionally productive lawmaker. He is the rare California state legislator who can plausibly claim a degree of public name recognition not just outside of his district, but outside the state. That’s in part thanks to his knack for taking up \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/scott-wiener-right-wing-hatred-17880318.php\">searingly controversial\u003c/a>, headline-baiting bills – \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/12/controversial-bills-california-legislature/#:~:text=Lots%20to%20say%20about%20ICE%20agent%20masks\">banning ICE agents from wearing masks\u003c/a>, decriminalizing \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/digital-democracy/2024/02/wiener-waldron-psychedelic-alliance/\">psychedelics\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/12/new-ai-regulation/\">regulating AI\u003c/a>, forcing corporations to publicize their \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/09/california-corporate-climate-impacts-bill/\">carbon footprints\u003c/a> and repealing penalties for activities \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/02/us/california-prostitution-loitering-law\">related to sex work\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s also because he has a habit of actually getting a lot of them passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://thelawmakers.org/\">Center for Effective Lawmaking\u003c/a>, run jointly out of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, regularly rank lawmakers on a “State Legislative Effectiveness Score” based on the number of bills authored, how far those bills go and how substantive they are. In California’s Senate last legislative session, Wiener came first, and has spent his entire Senate tenure in the top five.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener has been particularly effective at pushing legislation aimed at boosting the construction of new housing. He has authored bills to speed up the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240sb423\">building of apartment buildings\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_201720180sb828\">tighten the screws\u003c/a> on uncooperative local governments and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2025/06/california-budget-sweeping-environmental-law-rollbacks-manufacturing/\">limit environmental review\u003c/a> for new development. In an ideological grand finale last year, Gov. Newsom signed a Wiener bill that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/10/newsom-signs-massive-california-housing-overhaul/\">legalizes mid-rise apartments\u003c/a> around major public transportation stops. That’s been a policy priority of Wiener’s since his \u003ca href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/11/scott-wiener-defeated-californias-nimbys-can-he-fix-americas-housing-crisis/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CScott%20responded%2C%20%E2%80%98I%E2%80%99ll%20take%20it%2C%E2%80%99%E2%80%9D%20Hanlon%20says\">first year\u003c/a> in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might be some time before anyone can say conclusively whether those bills have actually resulted in significantly more homes getting built or if the state has become more affordable as a result. But love him as the state’s most prolific housing champion or hate him as a developer shill — there are plenty who fall into either camp — no one can deny that Wiener gets bills passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress, where he hopes to serve, does not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By some measures, 2025 may be \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/17/us/politics/house-republicans-majority-productivity.html\">among the least productive years\u003c/a> in recent congressional memory and legislative productivity has been on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/statistics\">downward slope\u003c/a> for decades. That makes it an odd place for Wiener to take his next career step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I gave him that same speech when he was running for state Senate,” said Laura Foote, executive director of YIMBY Action and longtime Wiener ally, describing Wiener’s 2016 legislative run while still on the San Francisco board. “I was like ‘Scott, the state is a garbage hole. You’re gonna leave us here when we’re actually making some progress here locally. You’re gonna go up to the state level where everything good goes to die.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So there’s a lesson learned there,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener pushed back on the caricature of a “Do Nothing” Congress, pointing to an expansion of the Child Tax Credit during the pandemic and massive clean energy spending programs enacted under the Biden administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is Congress a tough place? Absolutely. But am I excited about the prospect of being able to take our work federal? I’m very excited about that,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/012325_Capitol-Session_FG_CM_35-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A lawmaker, wearing a light blue suit and patterned tie, stands in front of a microphone, while surrounded by other lawmakers sitting at their desks inside a legislative room of the state Capitol.\">\u003cfigcaption>State Sen. Scott Wiener addresses lawmakers during a Senate floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 23, 2025. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He also stressed that his plan would not be to simply re-run his state legislative playbook at the federal level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the state level, what we learned and acted on was that the state has dramatic power to shape zoning and permitting,” he said. But other barriers, like the high cost of construction, a relative shortage of construction workers and costly financing, are well within Congress’ wheelhouse, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other big ticket items from his platform include the creation of a federal revolving loan fund for mixed-income “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/25/business/affordable-housing-montgomery-county.html\">social housing\u003c/a>” projects, a proposed boost in funding for rental assistance programs and more federal support for trade schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The proposals that I’m making for Congress strongly complement the land use reforms at the state level,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are also some Wiener classics in the mix. They include tweaking construction regulations and building codes to allow for cheaper development, rewriting the National Environmental Policy Act so that it won’t impede “climate friendly housing” and the creating a “Prohousing Incentive Fund” to reward the governments of localities where more housing is getting built.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is Congress going YIMBY?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Congress does appear to be coming around slowly to Wiener’s view on housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year-and-a-half ago, a bipartisan group of House members formed the chamber’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2024/11/21/scoop-the-yimbys-are-coming-to-congress-00190812\">first YIMBY Caucus\u003c/a>. No coincidence that many of them, like Democratic co-chairs Robert Garcia from Long Beach and Scott Peters from San Diego, hail from California, the political \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/585765/golden-gates-by-conor-dougherty/\">birthplace\u003c/a> of the movement and Patient Zero of what has now become a national housing affordability crisis.\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>“California is a little ahead of the curve because we had our crisis hit 10 years ago,” said Rep. Laura Friedman, a Burbank Democrat and former Assemblymember who ran for Congress under the YIMBY mantle in 2024. It’s only in the last few years that once-affordable refuges across the country are \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/06/zoning-sun-belt-housing-shortage/683352/\">starting to look a bit Californian\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leading the pack in unaffordability also gave California’s lawmakers an early headstart in trying to tackle the problem, she said. “California has become a testing ground for a lot of these solutions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed what is widely seen as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/us/politics/senate-housing-bill.html\">largest housing bill\u003c/a> in a generation. The legislation includes \u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/whats-in-the-21st-century-road-to-housing-act/\">measures\u003c/a> that would be at home in Wiener’s platform, including tying federal grants to local housing production and adding new tools to speed up or bypass federal environmental review. (The House still needs to pass the bill.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill represents an unusual development in Congress, where housing was thought of as a “silent crisis,” said Dennis Shea, who oversees housing policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington D.C.-based thinktank. “Now you can’t go a day without being bombarded by three or four stories about housing affordability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As in California, housing has become an issue that cuts across partisan and ideological lines, making it one of the more dealmaking-friendly topics in Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Housing has been a bit of an island of bipartisanship in a sea of division,” said Shea. Case in point: The Senate bill is co-authored by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive, and South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, policymaking in Congress looks a little different than it does in Sacramento, said Friedman, who served in the Assembly between 2016 and 2024. That can make it challenging for former state lawmakers eager to pick up where they left off in Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/032016-Scott-Wiener-Campaign-BC-CM-01-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A candidate speaks at a podium during a campaign event while supporters stand behind them holding “Scott Wiener for Congress” signs. The group gathers outside a residential building under a clear sky.\">\u003cfigcaption>State Sen. Scott Wiener speaks to supporters during a campaign event at an affordable senior housing complex in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood, on March 9, 2026. (Ben Christopher/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The skills are transferable because the skills are really about building consensus, but also being strategic about how you can get things moved through. But the process is much harder,” she said. A Democrat in the much smaller California legislature can expect most of their bills to at least get a hearing. Not so in Congress, said Friedman, which has five times the membership and where leadership plays a more assertive role in elevating or throttling legislative proposals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flavor of housing policy is a bit different too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, lawmakers have passed a raft of bills over the last decade, steamrolling the preferences and prerogatives of local governments over issues of development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The federal government has never played that role,” said David Garcia, deputy director of policy at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation. Nor is it likely to anytime soon. The bill awaiting a vote in the House is heavy on carrots and light on sticks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, it remains unusual in its aim to promote new housing construction more broadly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The speed with which it has become accepted that the federal government should do more on supply is shocking,” Garcia said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Good timing, it would seem, for California’s YIMBY-in-chief to run for Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/03/scott-wiener-congress-legislation/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\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",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the shaded courtyard of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> affordable housing complex in early March, California’s most prolific Yes In My Backyard legislator rolled out his congressional campaign’s new housing platform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/scott-wiener\">Sen. Scott Wiener\u003c/a>, it was all very on brand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flanked by union construction workers, campaign volunteers and some of the YIMBY advocates who have been on “Team Wiener” since his days on the city’s Board of Supervisors, Wiener ticked through the housing policy highlights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The package was a mix of hyperambitious spending proposals — the type that rarely make it beyond campaign literature — wonky left-of-center objectives and a raft of the kind of pro-development, deregulatory proposals upon which Wiener has built his political reputation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposals to cut red tape might seem an odd fit for Congress, which has historically steered clear of local land-use and construction rules. Wiener was happy to address the apparent mismatch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was also an area, first of all, that the state traditionally was not involved in — and we changed that,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/100724_Senate-Special_FG_CM_07-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A small group of people face each other as they talk on the side of a room, where other people gather for a hearing.\">\u003cfigcaption>Left to right, State senators Scott Wiener, Henry Stern, and Benjamin Allen talk before the start of the Senate floor session at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Oct. 7, 2024. (Fred Greaves/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Since Wiener joined the state Senate in 2017, California’s legislature has undergone a historic pivot on housing. Majorities now embrace the notion, at least rhetorically, that the state has an active role to play in promoting the construction of more homes, even if that means bigfooting local governments and neighborhood groups. More so than any other legislator, Wiener has been the hinge of that pivot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question now is whether Wiener, if elected, could help orchestrate the same feat of political reengineering in Congress, given its longstanding aversion to legislating on his policy issue of choice — or, as is increasingly the case, to doing much of anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Where everything good goes to die’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On the one hand, of course Wiener wants to go to Washington.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision last year to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/11/california-nancy-pelosi-retirement/\">step aside\u003c/a> after holding the seat for nearly four decades created a once-in-a-generation opportunity in San Francisco, a city brimming with Democratic political talent and few empty rungs further up the electoral ladder. Wiener has been a professional politician going on 16 years and is possessed of a professional politician’s career ambitions. He’s also termed out of the state legislature in 2028. When he announced his candidacy \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/10/scott-wiener-nancy-pelosi-election/\">last October\u003c/a>, it was a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/us/politics/pelosi-house-race-san-francisco.html\">well-foreshadowed\u003c/a> decision that caught virtually no one in the political world by surprise.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand … really, Congress?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the legislative branch of the federal government is not a body known for its productivity, Wiener is an exceptionally productive lawmaker. He is the rare California state legislator who can plausibly claim a degree of public name recognition not just outside of his district, but outside the state. That’s in part thanks to his knack for taking up \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/scott-wiener-right-wing-hatred-17880318.php\">searingly controversial\u003c/a>, headline-baiting bills – \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/12/controversial-bills-california-legislature/#:~:text=Lots%20to%20say%20about%20ICE%20agent%20masks\">banning ICE agents from wearing masks\u003c/a>, decriminalizing \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/digital-democracy/2024/02/wiener-waldron-psychedelic-alliance/\">psychedelics\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/12/new-ai-regulation/\">regulating AI\u003c/a>, forcing corporations to publicize their \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/09/california-corporate-climate-impacts-bill/\">carbon footprints\u003c/a> and repealing penalties for activities \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/02/us/california-prostitution-loitering-law\">related to sex work\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s also because he has a habit of actually getting a lot of them passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://thelawmakers.org/\">Center for Effective Lawmaking\u003c/a>, run jointly out of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, regularly rank lawmakers on a “State Legislative Effectiveness Score” based on the number of bills authored, how far those bills go and how substantive they are. In California’s Senate last legislative session, Wiener came first, and has spent his entire Senate tenure in the top five.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener has been particularly effective at pushing legislation aimed at boosting the construction of new housing. He has authored bills to speed up the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240sb423\">building of apartment buildings\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_201720180sb828\">tighten the screws\u003c/a> on uncooperative local governments and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2025/06/california-budget-sweeping-environmental-law-rollbacks-manufacturing/\">limit environmental review\u003c/a> for new development. In an ideological grand finale last year, Gov. Newsom signed a Wiener bill that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/10/newsom-signs-massive-california-housing-overhaul/\">legalizes mid-rise apartments\u003c/a> around major public transportation stops. That’s been a policy priority of Wiener’s since his \u003ca href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/11/scott-wiener-defeated-californias-nimbys-can-he-fix-americas-housing-crisis/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CScott%20responded%2C%20%E2%80%98I%E2%80%99ll%20take%20it%2C%E2%80%99%E2%80%9D%20Hanlon%20says\">first year\u003c/a> in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might be some time before anyone can say conclusively whether those bills have actually resulted in significantly more homes getting built or if the state has become more affordable as a result. But love him as the state’s most prolific housing champion or hate him as a developer shill — there are plenty who fall into either camp — no one can deny that Wiener gets bills passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress, where he hopes to serve, does not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By some measures, 2025 may be \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/17/us/politics/house-republicans-majority-productivity.html\">among the least productive years\u003c/a> in recent congressional memory and legislative productivity has been on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/statistics\">downward slope\u003c/a> for decades. That makes it an odd place for Wiener to take his next career step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I gave him that same speech when he was running for state Senate,” said Laura Foote, executive director of YIMBY Action and longtime Wiener ally, describing Wiener’s 2016 legislative run while still on the San Francisco board. “I was like ‘Scott, the state is a garbage hole. You’re gonna leave us here when we’re actually making some progress here locally. You’re gonna go up to the state level where everything good goes to die.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So there’s a lesson learned there,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener pushed back on the caricature of a “Do Nothing” Congress, pointing to an expansion of the Child Tax Credit during the pandemic and massive clean energy spending programs enacted under the Biden administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is Congress a tough place? Absolutely. But am I excited about the prospect of being able to take our work federal? I’m very excited about that,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/012325_Capitol-Session_FG_CM_35-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A lawmaker, wearing a light blue suit and patterned tie, stands in front of a microphone, while surrounded by other lawmakers sitting at their desks inside a legislative room of the state Capitol.\">\u003cfigcaption>State Sen. Scott Wiener addresses lawmakers during a Senate floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 23, 2025. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He also stressed that his plan would not be to simply re-run his state legislative playbook at the federal level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the state level, what we learned and acted on was that the state has dramatic power to shape zoning and permitting,” he said. But other barriers, like the high cost of construction, a relative shortage of construction workers and costly financing, are well within Congress’ wheelhouse, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other big ticket items from his platform include the creation of a federal revolving loan fund for mixed-income “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/25/business/affordable-housing-montgomery-county.html\">social housing\u003c/a>” projects, a proposed boost in funding for rental assistance programs and more federal support for trade schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The proposals that I’m making for Congress strongly complement the land use reforms at the state level,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are also some Wiener classics in the mix. They include tweaking construction regulations and building codes to allow for cheaper development, rewriting the National Environmental Policy Act so that it won’t impede “climate friendly housing” and the creating a “Prohousing Incentive Fund” to reward the governments of localities where more housing is getting built.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is Congress going YIMBY?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Congress does appear to be coming around slowly to Wiener’s view on housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year-and-a-half ago, a bipartisan group of House members formed the chamber’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2024/11/21/scoop-the-yimbys-are-coming-to-congress-00190812\">first YIMBY Caucus\u003c/a>. No coincidence that many of them, like Democratic co-chairs Robert Garcia from Long Beach and Scott Peters from San Diego, hail from California, the political \u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/585765/golden-gates-by-conor-dougherty/\">birthplace\u003c/a> of the movement and Patient Zero of what has now become a national housing affordability crisis.\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>“California is a little ahead of the curve because we had our crisis hit 10 years ago,” said Rep. Laura Friedman, a Burbank Democrat and former Assemblymember who ran for Congress under the YIMBY mantle in 2024. It’s only in the last few years that once-affordable refuges across the country are \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/06/zoning-sun-belt-housing-shortage/683352/\">starting to look a bit Californian\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leading the pack in unaffordability also gave California’s lawmakers an early headstart in trying to tackle the problem, she said. “California has become a testing ground for a lot of these solutions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed what is widely seen as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/us/politics/senate-housing-bill.html\">largest housing bill\u003c/a> in a generation. The legislation includes \u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/whats-in-the-21st-century-road-to-housing-act/\">measures\u003c/a> that would be at home in Wiener’s platform, including tying federal grants to local housing production and adding new tools to speed up or bypass federal environmental review. (The House still needs to pass the bill.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill represents an unusual development in Congress, where housing was thought of as a “silent crisis,” said Dennis Shea, who oversees housing policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington D.C.-based thinktank. “Now you can’t go a day without being bombarded by three or four stories about housing affordability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As in California, housing has become an issue that cuts across partisan and ideological lines, making it one of the more dealmaking-friendly topics in Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Housing has been a bit of an island of bipartisanship in a sea of division,” said Shea. Case in point: The Senate bill is co-authored by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive, and South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, policymaking in Congress looks a little different than it does in Sacramento, said Friedman, who served in the Assembly between 2016 and 2024. That can make it challenging for former state lawmakers eager to pick up where they left off in Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/032016-Scott-Wiener-Campaign-BC-CM-01-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A candidate speaks at a podium during a campaign event while supporters stand behind them holding “Scott Wiener for Congress” signs. The group gathers outside a residential building under a clear sky.\">\u003cfigcaption>State Sen. Scott Wiener speaks to supporters during a campaign event at an affordable senior housing complex in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood, on March 9, 2026. (Ben Christopher/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The skills are transferable because the skills are really about building consensus, but also being strategic about how you can get things moved through. But the process is much harder,” she said. A Democrat in the much smaller California legislature can expect most of their bills to at least get a hearing. Not so in Congress, said Friedman, which has five times the membership and where leadership plays a more assertive role in elevating or throttling legislative proposals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flavor of housing policy is a bit different too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, lawmakers have passed a raft of bills over the last decade, steamrolling the preferences and prerogatives of local governments over issues of development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The federal government has never played that role,” said David Garcia, deputy director of policy at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation. Nor is it likely to anytime soon. The bill awaiting a vote in the House is heavy on carrots and light on sticks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, it remains unusual in its aim to promote new housing construction more broadly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The speed with which it has become accepted that the federal government should do more on supply is shocking,” Garcia said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Good timing, it would seem, for California’s YIMBY-in-chief to run for Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/03/scott-wiener-congress-legislation/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\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>",
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"title": "This San Francisco Post Office Is the Only Address Some Residents Have",
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"headTitle": "This San Francisco Post Office Is the Only Address Some Residents Have | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Gary Parkinson waited at the end of the line in San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/tenderloin\">Tenderloin \u003c/a>neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and others waited for their turn at a little window, like one where you might pick up fast food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The window is a post office, but not one where Parkinson can buy stamps or mail a letter. It’s the U.S. Postal Service \u003ca href=\"https://tools.usps.com/locations/details/1492402\">General Delivery Unit\u003c/a> — a mail service where people who don’t have a permanent address can pick up mail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Two weeks ago in the hospital, I lost my — I had two IDs, I lost them both, and my phone,” he said. “So I’m hoping it’s come in the mail.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parkinson hoped to find out if his replacement driver’s license had arrived. He uses General Delivery’s address — 391 Ellis St. — on his license because, like most patrons in line here, he does not have an address of his own. He’s been unhoused for the better part of 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parkinson, 65, has lived in various vehicles for the past year, and currently parks his van a couple of miles away in the Bayview neighborhood. He’s been using General Delivery to get his mail for as long as it’s been open: a decade. Before moving to San Francisco about 25 years ago, Parkinson grew up in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077126\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077126\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-03-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-03-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-03-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-03-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A line outside of the San Francisco General Delivery in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco on March 10, 2026. The service allows people without a permanent address to receive mail by picking it up at the post office. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I started out as a professional foosball player,” he said, “traveling the country. It was great. It almost got super big, but it died off. I went into sales and marketing before I gave up the desire for money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parkinson said he now lives on his social security benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, getting my information on that’s really important cause they’ll cut you off if you don’t respond,” he said. “So this has been important for that, to have an address that’s consistent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unhoused people need an address to stay on other government services, too — like food stamps.[aside postID=news_12051236 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250626-GRANTSPASSDECISIONANNI-03-BL-KQED.jpg']Kay waited in line ahead of Parkinson in her hiking boots, her grey hair pulled back with a clip. She didn’t want to share her last name. She’s a fan of General Delivery, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s great,” Kay said. “It’s a way to safely get your mail. And you don’t have to pay for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>General Delivery is a free service. To get their mail, patrons slip their IDs through a small hole in the thick plexiglass window. A USPS clerk inside searches for their mail and delivers stacks of letters and packages through a small, transparent door on one side of the window.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before post offices did delivery, this was the original way,” Kay said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Formed in 1775, the postal system predates the U.S. But free home delivery didn’t start in cities until the 1860s, and began even later in rural areas. So for decades, people went to the post office to pick up their mail. General Delivery service has evolved since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Usually, the General Delivery is in the main post office for a city,” Kay said. “Here, it’s kind of unique. It’s the first one I’ve ever seen like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because standalone General Delivery locations like this one are rare. In most parts of the United States, General Delivery is a service offered at designated post offices, not an entire dedicated branch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Tenderloin, its services are in demand; the district is home to nearly 2000 unhoused residents. General Delivery is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. And from the moment this post office opens, it is busy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077125\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">USPS employee Robert Tapia works at San Francisco General Delivery on March 10, 2026. The service allows people without a permanent address to receive mail by picking it up at the post office. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s like nonstop,” USPS clerk Robert Tapia said. “Ever since I opened the door, it’s like no break, nonstop, keep going and going and going.\u003cstrong>”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tapia is 44, and his freckled face is quick to smile. He described the types of mail that patrons commonly receive here: IDs, bills, phones and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of course, from the first of the month, it’s checks,” Tapia said. “Like social security checks. And if it’s not here, I have to be able to tell them it hasn’t arrived yet. It feels bad ‘cause I want to give them their mail. And I know they could be homeless, and they depend on the money.”[aside postID=news_12065083 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/wmn-afrofuturism-gallery-03-2000x1337.jpg']Tapia has only worked at General Delivery for around six months, but he’s starting to build relationships with his regular customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s one lady, I don’t even need to see her ID because I know her face,” Tapia said. “There are also some customers whom I’m gonna go check again. Even though I know their mail’s not there, I just go the extra mile to do a thorough look for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mail addressed to 391 Ellis St. is held for pickup for 30 days before it’s returned to the sender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 20 minutes, Parkinson reached the front of the line. He carried a tablet, which he flashed at Tapia through the window. The screen showed a photo of his lost driver’s license, which lists the General Delivery address.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tapia disappeared into the mailroom, where he examined a wall full of alphabetized slots, some stuffed with mail. He returned with a stack of a dozen letters for Parkinson, which he delivered through the tiny door in the window. Parkinson flipped through them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Credit union, Social Security Administration, City of Oakland. No driver’s license.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parkinson then spied a hand-addressed envelope in his stack. It was a letter from Zuckerberg, San Francisco General Hospital, where he lost his ID. Parkinson opens it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077131\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077131\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-16-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-16-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-16-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-16-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco General Delivery in the Tenderloin neighborhood on March 10, 2026. The service allows people without a permanent address to receive mail by picking it up at the post office. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Notice of Unclaimed Valuables: You left your phone and California ID,” he read. “This is great news. I figured maybe someone threw it away. But they had it all along. Woo! I’m going to get them right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parkinson started to head off, but turned back around and began to recite a poem he said he wrote about 20 years ago:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I’m dreaming of the day \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>That we can get away \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>From all our pains and sorrows. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sunshine replacing \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The rains of our tomorrows.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cradling his stack of letters, Gary Parkinson crossed the street, walking out of the shade and into the sun. He’s off to the hospital to collect his once-lost belongings — now found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Erin Bump is a radio reporter and podcast producer living in San Francisco. Find more of her work at \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://kalw.org\">\u003cem>kalw.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> or in the Century Lives podcast feed.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The U.S. Postal Service operates a small post office out of the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, where people without a permanent address can receive mail.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Gary Parkinson waited at the end of the line in San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/tenderloin\">Tenderloin \u003c/a>neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and others waited for their turn at a little window, like one where you might pick up fast food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The window is a post office, but not one where Parkinson can buy stamps or mail a letter. It’s the U.S. Postal Service \u003ca href=\"https://tools.usps.com/locations/details/1492402\">General Delivery Unit\u003c/a> — a mail service where people who don’t have a permanent address can pick up mail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Two weeks ago in the hospital, I lost my — I had two IDs, I lost them both, and my phone,” he said. “So I’m hoping it’s come in the mail.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parkinson hoped to find out if his replacement driver’s license had arrived. He uses General Delivery’s address — 391 Ellis St. — on his license because, like most patrons in line here, he does not have an address of his own. He’s been unhoused for the better part of 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parkinson, 65, has lived in various vehicles for the past year, and currently parks his van a couple of miles away in the Bayview neighborhood. He’s been using General Delivery to get his mail for as long as it’s been open: a decade. Before moving to San Francisco about 25 years ago, Parkinson grew up in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077126\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077126\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-03-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-03-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-03-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-03-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A line outside of the San Francisco General Delivery in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco on March 10, 2026. The service allows people without a permanent address to receive mail by picking it up at the post office. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I started out as a professional foosball player,” he said, “traveling the country. It was great. It almost got super big, but it died off. I went into sales and marketing before I gave up the desire for money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parkinson said he now lives on his social security benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, getting my information on that’s really important cause they’ll cut you off if you don’t respond,” he said. “So this has been important for that, to have an address that’s consistent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unhoused people need an address to stay on other government services, too — like food stamps.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Kay waited in line ahead of Parkinson in her hiking boots, her grey hair pulled back with a clip. She didn’t want to share her last name. She’s a fan of General Delivery, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s great,” Kay said. “It’s a way to safely get your mail. And you don’t have to pay for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>General Delivery is a free service. To get their mail, patrons slip their IDs through a small hole in the thick plexiglass window. A USPS clerk inside searches for their mail and delivers stacks of letters and packages through a small, transparent door on one side of the window.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before post offices did delivery, this was the original way,” Kay said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Formed in 1775, the postal system predates the U.S. But free home delivery didn’t start in cities until the 1860s, and began even later in rural areas. So for decades, people went to the post office to pick up their mail. General Delivery service has evolved since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Usually, the General Delivery is in the main post office for a city,” Kay said. “Here, it’s kind of unique. It’s the first one I’ve ever seen like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because standalone General Delivery locations like this one are rare. In most parts of the United States, General Delivery is a service offered at designated post offices, not an entire dedicated branch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Tenderloin, its services are in demand; the district is home to nearly 2000 unhoused residents. General Delivery is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. And from the moment this post office opens, it is busy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077125\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077125\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">USPS employee Robert Tapia works at San Francisco General Delivery on March 10, 2026. The service allows people without a permanent address to receive mail by picking it up at the post office. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s like nonstop,” USPS clerk Robert Tapia said. “Ever since I opened the door, it’s like no break, nonstop, keep going and going and going.\u003cstrong>”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tapia is 44, and his freckled face is quick to smile. He described the types of mail that patrons commonly receive here: IDs, bills, phones and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of course, from the first of the month, it’s checks,” Tapia said. “Like social security checks. And if it’s not here, I have to be able to tell them it hasn’t arrived yet. It feels bad ‘cause I want to give them their mail. And I know they could be homeless, and they depend on the money.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Tapia has only worked at General Delivery for around six months, but he’s starting to build relationships with his regular customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s one lady, I don’t even need to see her ID because I know her face,” Tapia said. “There are also some customers whom I’m gonna go check again. Even though I know their mail’s not there, I just go the extra mile to do a thorough look for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mail addressed to 391 Ellis St. is held for pickup for 30 days before it’s returned to the sender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 20 minutes, Parkinson reached the front of the line. He carried a tablet, which he flashed at Tapia through the window. The screen showed a photo of his lost driver’s license, which lists the General Delivery address.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tapia disappeared into the mailroom, where he examined a wall full of alphabetized slots, some stuffed with mail. He returned with a stack of a dozen letters for Parkinson, which he delivered through the tiny door in the window. Parkinson flipped through them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Credit union, Social Security Administration, City of Oakland. No driver’s license.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parkinson then spied a hand-addressed envelope in his stack. It was a letter from Zuckerberg, San Francisco General Hospital, where he lost his ID. Parkinson opens it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12077131\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12077131\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-16-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-16-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-16-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260310-UnhousedMail-16-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco General Delivery in the Tenderloin neighborhood on March 10, 2026. The service allows people without a permanent address to receive mail by picking it up at the post office. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Notice of Unclaimed Valuables: You left your phone and California ID,” he read. “This is great news. I figured maybe someone threw it away. But they had it all along. Woo! I’m going to get them right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parkinson started to head off, but turned back around and began to recite a poem he said he wrote about 20 years ago:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I’m dreaming of the day \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>That we can get away \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>From all our pains and sorrows. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sunshine replacing \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The rains of our tomorrows.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cradling his stack of letters, Gary Parkinson crossed the street, walking out of the shade and into the sun. He’s off to the hospital to collect his once-lost belongings — now found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Erin Bump is a radio reporter and podcast producer living in San Francisco. Find more of her work at \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://kalw.org\">\u003cem>kalw.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> or in the Century Lives podcast feed.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "san-jose-could-convert-troubled-homeless-shelter-to-permanent-housing",
"title": "San José Could Convert Troubled Homeless Shelter to Permanent Housing",
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"headTitle": "San José Could Convert Troubled Homeless Shelter to Permanent Housing | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> City Council voted Tuesday to explore converting the city’s largest interim housing community into permanent housing — just days after officials moved to terminate the city’s contract with the site’s operators, following a staff member’s arrest on drug charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Pamela Campos, whose district hosts the shelter, led the charge to pursue the conversion of the Branham Lane Emergency Interim Housing Community from a transitional shelter into permanent low-income housing. The transition would prioritize residents over age 55 and people with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move follows the March 9 arrest of LifeMoves caseworker Yasmin Wright, 46, outside the site for allegedly selling methamphetamine to residents, as first reported by \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-ends-homeless-shelter-contract-amid-worker-drug-charges/\">San José Spotlight\u003c/a>. LifeMoves, one of the most prominent shelter operators and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073006/once-a-last-stop-for-the-citys-homeless-sfo-ramps-up-outreach-and-support\">homelessness outreach nonprofits\u003c/a> in the Bay Area, has come under fire for its failure to investigate Wright, who faces felony charges for possession with intent to sell and for transporting drugs, as well as a misdemeanor for drug paraphernalia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vote came during a broader budget discussion that drew hundreds of residents to City Hall. The three-story modular site in South San José, which currently houses more than 200 people, has become a flashpoint for neighbors concerned about safety and site management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042370/in-san-jose-a-controversial-choice-for-unhoused-shelter-or-arrest\">Issa Ajlouny\u003c/a>, who chairs the community advisory committee for the site, said nearly 100 community members submitted emails in support of the transition. Neighborhood resident Lisa Doyle echoed those concerns during public comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We sincerely appreciate an expedited change in operator and approval process so our quality of life, public safety and property values can be restored,” Doyle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076666\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12076666\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260316-SJ-SHELTER-FOLO-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260316-SJ-SHELTER-FOLO-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260316-SJ-SHELTER-FOLO-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260316-SJ-SHELTER-FOLO-MD-03-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The LifeMoves Branham Lane, the largest temporary housing site in San José, on March 16, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Margie, a former resident who gave only their first name, told the council the site had been mismanaged and called on the city to pull funding from the current program because of “unprofessional” conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s Housing Department said that while a formal notice ending the contract has not yet been issued to LifeMoves, the intent has been communicated directly to the nonprofit’s leadership. Current residents will continue to receive on-site services and support throughout the transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LifeMoves said in a statement it first learned of the city’s position during a meeting with neighbors — not from city officials directly — and has since requested a meeting with the Housing Department.[aside postID=news_12076238 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/020526SJ-Tiny-Homes_GH_013_qed.jpg']“Our first priority remains the well-being and stability of the clients currently residing at the Branham Lane community and all of our 25 sites,” LifeMoves said. The nonprofit added that it is conducting an “organization-wide risk assessment” and a thorough review of internal processes following the arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The modular site at Branham Lane and Monterey Road opened in early 2025 and serves up to 216 people across 204 units, all of which include full bathrooms and kitchenettes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the \u003ca href=\"https://lifemoves.org/city-of-san-jose-and-lifemoves-unveil-citys-largest-interim-housing-community/\">LifeMoves website\u003c/a>, the project was funded through a $51.8 million state Project Homekey grant, $38.8 million from the city, $4 million from Santa Clara County and $5 million from the Sobrato Foundation. The site was designed and built with the long-term possibility of conversion to permanent housing, according to the city’s Housing Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campos directed the city manager to update the status of the transition by Aug. 31.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The directive was folded into Mayor Matt Mahan’s annual March budget message, which sets city priorities for the coming fiscal year. Mahan said the process of finding a new operator is already underway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Interim housing sites exist to help vulnerable residents get back on a better path,” Mahan said Tuesday in an emailed statement. “Hearing allegations that someone entrusted with their care took advantage of them is an egregious violation of trust. We’ve already begun the process to transfer operations of this site to a provider capable of meeting the standards our residents and neighbors deserve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan added that he hopes to have a new operator in place before the end of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a> City Council voted Tuesday to explore converting the city’s largest interim housing community into permanent housing — just days after officials moved to terminate the city’s contract with the site’s operators, following a staff member’s arrest on drug charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Pamela Campos, whose district hosts the shelter, led the charge to pursue the conversion of the Branham Lane Emergency Interim Housing Community from a transitional shelter into permanent low-income housing. The transition would prioritize residents over age 55 and people with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move follows the March 9 arrest of LifeMoves caseworker Yasmin Wright, 46, outside the site for allegedly selling methamphetamine to residents, as first reported by \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-ends-homeless-shelter-contract-amid-worker-drug-charges/\">San José Spotlight\u003c/a>. LifeMoves, one of the most prominent shelter operators and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073006/once-a-last-stop-for-the-citys-homeless-sfo-ramps-up-outreach-and-support\">homelessness outreach nonprofits\u003c/a> in the Bay Area, has come under fire for its failure to investigate Wright, who faces felony charges for possession with intent to sell and for transporting drugs, as well as a misdemeanor for drug paraphernalia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vote came during a broader budget discussion that drew hundreds of residents to City Hall. The three-story modular site in South San José, which currently houses more than 200 people, has become a flashpoint for neighbors concerned about safety and site management.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042370/in-san-jose-a-controversial-choice-for-unhoused-shelter-or-arrest\">Issa Ajlouny\u003c/a>, who chairs the community advisory committee for the site, said nearly 100 community members submitted emails in support of the transition. Neighborhood resident Lisa Doyle echoed those concerns during public comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We sincerely appreciate an expedited change in operator and approval process so our quality of life, public safety and property values can be restored,” Doyle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076666\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12076666\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260316-SJ-SHELTER-FOLO-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260316-SJ-SHELTER-FOLO-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260316-SJ-SHELTER-FOLO-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260316-SJ-SHELTER-FOLO-MD-03-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The LifeMoves Branham Lane, the largest temporary housing site in San José, on March 16, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Margie, a former resident who gave only their first name, told the council the site had been mismanaged and called on the city to pull funding from the current program because of “unprofessional” conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s Housing Department said that while a formal notice ending the contract has not yet been issued to LifeMoves, the intent has been communicated directly to the nonprofit’s leadership. Current residents will continue to receive on-site services and support throughout the transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LifeMoves said in a statement it first learned of the city’s position during a meeting with neighbors — not from city officials directly — and has since requested a meeting with the Housing Department.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Our first priority remains the well-being and stability of the clients currently residing at the Branham Lane community and all of our 25 sites,” LifeMoves said. The nonprofit added that it is conducting an “organization-wide risk assessment” and a thorough review of internal processes following the arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The modular site at Branham Lane and Monterey Road opened in early 2025 and serves up to 216 people across 204 units, all of which include full bathrooms and kitchenettes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the \u003ca href=\"https://lifemoves.org/city-of-san-jose-and-lifemoves-unveil-citys-largest-interim-housing-community/\">LifeMoves website\u003c/a>, the project was funded through a $51.8 million state Project Homekey grant, $38.8 million from the city, $4 million from Santa Clara County and $5 million from the Sobrato Foundation. The site was designed and built with the long-term possibility of conversion to permanent housing, according to the city’s Housing Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campos directed the city manager to update the status of the transition by Aug. 31.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The directive was folded into Mayor Matt Mahan’s annual March budget message, which sets city priorities for the coming fiscal year. Mahan said the process of finding a new operator is already underway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Interim housing sites exist to help vulnerable residents get back on a better path,” Mahan said Tuesday in an emailed statement. “Hearing allegations that someone entrusted with their care took advantage of them is an egregious violation of trust. We’ve already begun the process to transfer operations of this site to a provider capable of meeting the standards our residents and neighbors deserve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan added that he hopes to have a new operator in place before the end of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"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. ",
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"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. ",
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"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.",
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"mindshift": {
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"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>",
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"order": 12
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"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.",
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"onourwatch": {
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"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?",
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"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.",
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"possible": {
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"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",
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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"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",
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},
"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.",
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},
"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/",
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
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"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
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