What We Accomplished in 2022

A year in review and a 2023 preview

We dove deep into California housing policy

I launched this Substack a year ago to get deeper on California Housing. I set out last December with a relatively ambitious list of 12 things I wanted to see for California Housing in 2022, and promised to write longer pieces on each. What did I manage to cover?

1. It’s Time to Repeal California’s Article 34: The racist stain on California’s Constitution needs to go

2. Embracing the California Dream for All: Seeing the greater possibilities of a bold idea

3. Protecting the Vulnerable in California Housing: We’re all more vulnerable than we think

4. Social Housing in California: Mixed-tenure! Mixed-income! Going big on a big idea.

5. A Homeownership Strategy for California: Eight principles and three pillars for a paradigm shift in who owns California 

6. Construction Defect Rules Are a Metaphor for California Housing: Exploring the quiet fight for the right to repair with SPURs Michael Lane

7. What would I like to see more of in California Housing Elements? Notes from Housing Element season

8. Valuing Inland California: A well-housed, climate-friendly state can’t just happen on the coasts

9. Planning Larger Projects in California: We’ve made progress in small scale development. We need the same energy for bigger projects

For those keeping score at home, that’s 9 out of 12. Not bad, eh? I didn’t get to civic data infrastructure, a fiscal new deal or implementation, but I promise they are coming in early 2023! (See below for more on what’s coming)

As for my hopes and dreams, Social Housing gets the award for making it farther than most thought, and appears primed to come back stronger and smarter in 2023-24. Article 34 repeal is going to be on the 2024 ballot, and it is a historic opportunity for coalition building. The California Dream for All program got funded and is being built by the California Housing Finance Agency. And perhaps construction defect rules are moving up some priority lists?

So if you could read just one piece, what should it be? Try my Homeownership Strategy. It pulls a lot of things together.

A Homeownership Strategy for California

We Talked About Bigger Ideas

I started this Substack with practical pieces that directly relate to current debates and discussions in California Housing. We got wonkish. We got in the weeds. But there was something missing, for not all of our problems are about policy. I launched the Bigger Ideas section of Where We Go From Here to dig deeper into other parts of housing - how we own homes, how we build them, how we think about them. It is a place for me (and us!) to explore larger issues important to housing, beyond California and beyond policy and even beyond politics. This section also included a collaboration with Shelterforce, my favorite housing journal. So far we’ve covered:

1. Ownership Matters: Resident-Controlled Housing and California’s Missing Coalition

2. Temporary Housing is Permanent: Let’s make peace between permanent and temporary housing. We need both. 

3. A new social contract for housing in California: How do we fix California housing politics?

4. How to retrofit the housing economy: changing a trillion dollar system is about more than better policy

5. Housing justice on a small lot? Can you build equity on a small single-family lot? Three folks in San Jose try to make small scale development work for people and community 

6. Dreaming of a Complete Housing Organization: No housing group can really advocate for everything we need to change the system. But can we dream?

I’ve gotten some nice feedback on these from colleagues and friends, including some who gave me the highest praise - that I pushed them to reconsider something, or to think about something in a new way for the first time. I hope to keep it up.

As for my favorite? Well, I hope you read Ownership Matters alongside my Homeownership Strategy. But if you want to think about something a bit different, try Temporary Housing is Permanent. That was one of the most meaningful for me all year.

Temporary Housing is Permanent

What’s Next?

Stay tuned for the 2023 California Housing priorities list.

This list will be similar to the 2022 list but more expansive, and include some previews of Bigger Ideas pieces. Some of these are leftover from my 2022 priorities list (analytical infrastructure, fiscal new deal, implementation), but there will be plenty of new stuff (moving beyond the market-rate/affordable divide, housing across the lifecycle). Have ideas for what I should cover? Have a really great idea that you want to collaborate on? Drop a comment down below or message me.

(More) Interviews are coming!

We interviewed SPUR’s Michael Lane as part of the Construction Defects piece, and Charmaine Curtis as part of the Shelterforce collaboration on retrofitting the housing economy. They were so much fun that it became clear the Substack needs to start featuring other voices in the housing space - in California and beyond. Stay tuned for both audio and text versions of conversations with wicked smart housers - including some from inland California. More to come on this. Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it. 

More content at a hopefully more regular schedule.

We managed 16 pieces last year, and 2023 is scheduled for 26 - one every two weeks. Some of it will be my regular California Housing or Bigger Ideas posts, some interviews, and perhaps some surprises for the new year.

Stay in Touch

Do you have housing thoughts for 2023? Want to weigh in on things I focus on during 2023? Want me to dive deeper into some part of California housing? Maybe there are certain elements of my Substack you like and want to see more of (like more recommendations on what else to read)? Whatever your ideas are. Send them to me! 

One last favor - if you like what I’m doing, please encourage others to read and subscribe via social media, email or plain old word of mouth. And if you can, choose a paid subscription, which right now is basically a donation to keep the Substack flowing, and to help us take it to the next level.