Legislation passed by the state Senate last week promises to ease California’s housing crisis by the only means likely to succeed over the long run: preventing local governments from needlessly restricting residential construction. With more than 100 housing-related bills in Sacramento speaking to the depth of the crisis, legislators also advanced measures last week to ask voters to approve more borrowing for affordable housing, provide rental assistance for the homeless, and allow cities and counties to ease development in special districts. Local development restrictions that strangle the housing supply, particularly in urban areas where dense development makes sense, are at the root of the shortage.

Source: Right fix for California’s housing crisis – San Francisco Chronicle