Op-Ed by zrants

Tents in an alley off Mission Street in SF, were the only sign of humanity on a Sunday drive through SOMA, where a stench filled the air coming from the area around the Transbay Terminal.
Sacramento Politicians roll out more density bills – Ignoring exodus of jobs and workers for greener pastures.
California residents may pick your side in the NIMBY YIMBY WIMBY wars, but you better think fast. As the California legislature reconvenes in 2021 during the second year of COVID they seem hell bent on ignoring the reality we are living in. Remind you of anyone?
California politicians are pushing the same tired excuses they used to densify communities before density lost its luster and the economy shifted to a work-at-home model that allows people to live however and wherever the prefer. They are ignoring the huge glut of abandoned offices, commercial, and residential units in the newly densified city neighborhoods, pressing for more of same.
Last year our pro-development senators pushed heights to the limit. This year they are pushing density on the horizontal plane, laying claim to any open space with a blade of grass or tree still standing.
First they are going after our private yards, claiming that all people living in single family homes are racist, greedy, evil people who should be forced to “share” their private yards with at least 8 or 9 other households. By some counts that is 70% of the state’s population. They want to split the lots and fill the yards with housing, even where there is no street access for construction or emergency access. Who needs a backyard when you can play in the streets after they remove street parking.
Next they will try to force communities to give up any public open space deemed “under-utilized” or “blight”. In their perfect world the state will determine which sites fall under that definition. Developers will not be happy until they have the right to cover every square foot of what is left of public open space, starting with parking lots and moving into areas connected to parks and other formerly sacrosanct spaces, like refuges, habitats and shorelines.
As communities face difficult budget decision, they will be encouraged to sell off their “under-utilized” open space, often for far less than it is worth.
Watch SB 9 and SB 10 as the media introduces them. Comments on Livable California:
• SB 9 (Atkins) Ends single-family zoning. Identical to SB 1120, the false “duplex” bill. The facts: where 1 house now sits, developers can buy it and build 6-units to 8 units. Impacts 21M homeowners. Strongly Oppose. The public must try to bring numerous inaccurate journalists up to speed.
• SB 10 (Wiener) This SB 902 lookalike bill lets cities ignore CEQA to allow 10-unit pricey market-rate apartments almost anywhere, Wiener’s obsession for three years. And it allows a City Council to override voter-approved initiatives, an attack on our 108-year-old right to initiative. Strongly Oppose.
This article was inspired by The Only Thing Worse Than A NIMBY Is A YIMBY, By Nathan J. Robinson posted on currentaffairs.comCurrent Affairs magazine comes out strongly opposing yimbyism/developer-controlled zoning— We understand the twittering yimbys are not happy with the article!
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