Julieta Aquino strolls proudly through her gleaming new home, a modest split-level condo on a busy thoroughfare in Fremont. With her 14-year-old daughter in tow, she scans the still-sparsely furnished, open floor plan living room-kitchen, pointing out the glistening, stainless steel fixtures and laminate countertops.
When the state Legislature returns to Sacramento this month after its summer vacation recess, it will have just four weeks to do something meaningful about California’s single most important issue – a housing shortage that takes a heavy economic and psychological toll on many Californians and is getting worse.
California is increasingly focused on promoting infill development to meet greenhouse gas targets and satisfy consumer demand for walkability and short commutes. Gov. Newsom’s budget adds to that focus with a $500 million deposit into a competitively awarded grant program for infill infrastructure.
When Toni Atkins, President Pro Tem of the California State Senate, sat down to talk with PPIC president Mark Baldassare last week, she brought along a list of pressing issues. Asked to name the top two issues facing the state, she led off with housing: “The growing crisis around the lack of housing supply for all levels of Californians is one of our most critical issues.” Next came climate change and its effects across California. And then she added a third issue: water sustainability. In reality, she said, “there is...
New data shows Santa Rosa received more applications to build “granny units” last year than it had in the entire preceding decade, evidence that the city’s efforts to spur housing just about any way it can is starting to yield results.
Habitat For Humanity built a bedroom in front of the State Capitol Wednesday as they prepared to speak with legislators about affordable housing in the state.
From March 16th to 23rd, 2018, a team of 28 volunteers from Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco traveled from the Bay Area to Vietnam to help build two homes through the Global Village program. Before the Build Week began, the group of volunteers first flew into Hanoi to experience all the rich cultural activities, famous landmarks, and delicious food that the capital city of Vietnam offers. The next day, the volunteers headed to their final destination: Hòa Bình. Just 55 miles south of Hanoi, Hòa Bình is a...
The morning our Orange County Habitat for Humanity team arrived to go to work in Nanyuki, Kenya, dancers met us as we entered the site where we would work for the next 5 days. Their joyful songs and big smiles assured us we were in a place where we would have a completely new and delightful experience. The orientation meeting held the day before in Nairobi prepared us for the work we would do and for interactions with our new friends helping us with the build. In no way did...
