What's being done about California's housing crisis?

KCBS Radio In Depth

A recent report from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies found that over 650,000 people reported experiencing homelessness in America in January of 2023, up nearly 50% from 2015…

Even if the numbers are staggering, hearing this probably isn’t a huge shock… Here in California, the housing crisis has long been an issue… with rents going higher and higher… and not enough affordable options to go around… there’s even been an exodus of people leaving the state, hoping to find solid ground on which to have a place to call home…

So, what’s being done about this crisis? Where do we stand on a state level - and on a local one?

We're going to turn first to Chris Martin… policy director for Housing California, a statewide advocacy nonprofit focused on the production and preservation of affordable housing and addressing homelessness…

To see how the state works with local governments… and vice versa… we turn to Sarah Karlinsky, Research Director at SPUR… the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, a nonprofit public policy organization…