Thread by @cafedujord

Happy Saturday, folks! It's been a minute, but I'm back once again to bring you the (best?) of statewide NIMBY group Livable California.

Today's discussion will feature updates on new state housing legislation that they're mad about.

As always, grab some🍿, 🧵starts here!

I tuned in a little late, and hopped in during the middle of some complaining about courts upholding housing laws, as well as the Washington State Supreme Court upholding a new tax on capital gains.

Lol, lmao, etc.

Per LCA President Rick Hall, the org has supported 10 bills, opposing 8.

A while ago, the org figured out they needed to start supporting stuff so as to not be written off completely. Hasn't really worked though.

Here's a link to their letters.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/…

Stu Flashman, an attorney from affluent Oakland neighborhood Rockridge, best known for suing high speed rail on behalf of Atherton, is talking about a good meeting they had with a Republican assemblymember, Mike Fong.

Lol.

Stu Flashman is now talking about #AB68, a new bill sponsored by California YIMBY & The Nature Conservancy that would upzone/streamline new housing in high resource urban areas, while making it harder to build exurban sprawl.

To the surprise of no one, Stu is *very* concerned!

Flashman: “What’s disturbing to me is a group that I’ve never seen getting involved in this, the Nature Conservancy, is a co-sponsor."

"This bill would enact a lot of the provisions of #SB50, that Senator Wiener tried years ago."

Author's note: we absolutely love to hear it!

Flasman: further, disturbingly, there would be no CEQA review. The assumption is that allowing housing in urban areas near transit doesn’t have environmental harms, which I think is a huge mistake.

Author's note: this is actually what experts in the field refer to as "based"

Livable's key messages for meetings with legislators seems...muddled, at best.

Not surprising that they're not having much success here!

One of today's new members is the guy who apparently led the (failed) recall attempt of LA Councilmember Mike Bonin.

Oakland resident Tom Rubin and a couple other members are now complaining about Assemblymember Alex Lee's legislation to study a land-value tax, which they believe to be unconstitutional.

Some bills Livable California is opposing: unbundling parking, allowing riding a bicycle on the sidewalk when unsafe to do so in the street, and the renewal of SB35 (now #SB423), one of the most impactful production mechanisms ever of affordable housing in California.

The more angry Livable Californians are about a bill the better it is, which means that #AB68 is a truly fantastic piece of legislation

sickos_yes.jpeg

Livable California's suggestions for housing affordability: co-ops, giving more money to cities, and making people work remotely from Ohio

We're back to complaining about #AB68!

Rick Hall: can you imagine how difficult it would be for city planners?

Stu Flashman: I think it's every bit as bad as Wiener's #SB50. This bill is absolute insanity.

Ringing endorsements if I've ever heard them!

More on AB68: people are suggesting that Sierra Club will join in to support the bill (I hope so!).

Livable Member John Eldon says "Sierra Club is so YIMBY these days it's sickening."

LCA President Rick Hall: there's a new alliance between enviro groups and YIMBY. The YIMBYs get more housing, environmentalists get less places to build, like fire zones and farmlands. It further concentrates the areas where you can put your housing.

Author's note: based!

Isaiah Madison, Livable California boardmember, describes Asm. Alex Lee's bill to study single stair reform, #AB835, as "pro letting people burn, pro arson."

Says "they want to remove the dual staircase requirement. They're getting real desperate."

Next, Jeff Heller, an architect, says that the single stair reform bill (AB835) is "criminal thinking."

Folks in the chat aren't pleased either, saying it would create "slums."

Boardmember Isaiah Madison brings up #AB825 by Asm. Bryan, which he describes as "decriminalizing riding your bike on the sidewalk." Says it irks him, and is dangerous.

He called in to the most recent committee hearing to oppose, but it passed 11-4, all Dems supporting.

NIMBYs in the chat once again threatening us with a good time!

Someone named "Ludwing Dinkinbaus" is calling out anti-bike nonsense in the chat.

Boardmember Isaiah Madison has decided it is me. It is not, for the record.

Most accurate description of Livable California I've ever seen, from one of their own boardmembers

The Livable California answer to why we can't have nice things, like multifamily housing near transit and protected bike lanes

A woman named Kelly asks: is YIMBY more than anything a front for developers?

Stu Flashman: the core of YIMBY is a bunch of yuppies that can't find housing that's affordable. But there's other people.

Isaiah Madison: I'd say tech is more to blame than real estate developers.

Libby, a NIMBY from affluent Lafayette, is here with a long rant. Says she has talked to YIMBYs and has never met one who isn't comfortably housed.

Says she wants to know what's progressive about destroying the cities and towns of California. Says she's the real progressive.

Mari Eliza from San Francisco says the city doesn't need housing. "We need no more housing, what we need is to put people in empty housing. 10% vacancy rate, it's ridiculous. People are leaving."

Mari says "the number 1 problem is not lack of housing, it's lack of police. Claims the city is overrun with crime, and that no one wants more housing right now."

Author's note: gonna be a "y i k e s" from me, Mari.

Shoutout to this absolute queen, who is clearly attempting to restore my faith in city planners

Alright, folks, I'm on technically on vacation at the moment so I'm gonna go enjoy my day now. If any other YIMBYs on the call see fun comments in the chat/hear anything particularly hilarious, let me know.

As always, thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!