California's new governor calls for a "Marshall Plan for affordable housing" to increase housing supply by 25%, a total of 3.5 million new homes. Depending on how you frame it, that's 9 new San Franciscos... or a couple buildings on each block. Thread 1/ medium.com/@firstcultural… 
There are currently 14 million homes in California. Adding another 3.5 million is a 25% increase. Increasing California’s housing supply by 25% is like adding a bedroom to a 4-bedroom house. We can do this. 2/
CA currently has 14 million homes
- 60% single family houses
- 20% townhouses, duplexes, and small apartments up to 9 units
- 20% large buildings with 10 or more units.
If we shrink this down to a neighborhood of 1,400 homes (1/10,000th of the state) it would look like this.
3/
- 60% single family houses
- 20% townhouses, duplexes, and small apartments up to 9 units
- 20% large buildings with 10 or more units.
If we shrink this down to a neighborhood of 1,400 homes (1/10,000th of the state) it would look like this.
3/
There are a number of ways to add 25% more homes, most likely it'll be a combination of backyard houses, a few new buildings in city centers, and large apartment buildings replacing shopping centers and parking lots.
see the others at medium.com/@firstcultural… 4/
see the others at medium.com/@firstcultural… 4/
CA currently builds 100,000 homes a year. To do 3.5 million by 2025, we're talking an additional half million homes a year... over $300 billion of economic activity (not enough to make us the world's #4 economy, but still an 11% jump) 5/
It'd also require a few hundred thousand more construction workers. @IDoTheThinking and @daguilarcanabal point out how a counter-cyclical fund for affordable housing could work as a stimulus to get us out of the next recession. thebaycitybeacon.com/politics/when-… 6/
We're still going to need rent control and other anti-gouging legislation. The shortage is statewide, but housing demand is local, and tenant protections are needed especially in high-demand places such as downtowns and coastal areas. 7/
Let’s do this - we’ve done it before.
In the mid-80s, California built 200,000–300,000 new homes a year, back when the state population was about 2/3rds of what it is today. 3.5 million new homes in the next few years is an attainable goal, and one we ought to work towards. 8/
In the mid-80s, California built 200,000–300,000 new homes a year, back when the state population was about 2/3rds of what it is today. 3.5 million new homes in the next few years is an attainable goal, and one we ought to work towards. 8/
and sure, a few dozen of them can be #abartments, but most of it is going to be normal buildings. anyway, full writeup is at medium.com/@firstcultural… 9/end
finally, if you want to download the 3D sketchup model to make your own idea, it's available at dropbox.com/s/ky9lh9t1szcs…
If you're into games, there's a board game I designed about this - Bay Area Regional Planner, specific to the bay area and with a longer time frame californiarailmap.com/bay-area-regio…
