Op-Ed: Sacramento Drags Feet on Housing

Dan Walters has some harsh words for California state leaders. He says their approach to the housing shortage has been "tepid" and "lackadaisical."

1 minute read

May 10, 2017, 9:00 AM PDT

By Philip Rojc @PhilipRojc

Bryan Brazil / Shutterstock

According to Dan Walters, California's housing crisis is Sacramento's elephant in the room. State politicians, he says, "take a lackadaisical attitude on a crisis that's infinitely more serious than rough roads and congestion – an ever-worsening shortage of housing."

Decades in the making, the housing shortage has been the topic of heated debate here and elsewhere. Walters writes, "The virtually unanimous conclusion of housing experts is that the reluctance of local governments, particularly cities, to approve new housing projects due to backlash from self-proclaimed environmentalists and not-in-my-backyard activists is a major factor."

"Democrats who dominate the Capitol, from Gov. Jerry Brown down, have proposed – but not enacted – only tepid, marginal approaches that would do little to close the gap." Perhaps, Walters suggests, California leaders simply want credit for trying.

FULL STORY: Politicians fiddle as state’s housing crisis gets worse

Monday, May 1, 2017 in The Sacramento Bee

Government / Politics Housing California Sacramento California Housing Shortage Housing Crisis Affordable Housing Affordability Governor Jerry Brown View More

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