Dear Friends --

Last week, YIMBYs from across California flooded the halls of the State Capitol in Sacramento for our annual YIMBY Lobby Day. Your efforts helped push SB 79 through the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday!

SB 79, which will legalize more homes near major transit stations, is a huge part of our legislative package to help tackle our state’s housing shortage and make housing more affordable.

And now, SB 79 is about to come up for a floor vote in the State Senate. We know this vote will be close. But we also know that your emails, phone calls, and in-person meetings with your state legislators have played a major role in getting the bill this far. Now we need every State Senator to hear that Californians want to make it legal to build more homes near transit!

California YIMBY is co-sponsoring SB 79 by Sen. Scott Wiener because we need to make it easier and faster to build multifamily homes near transit stops – especially since those stops are funded by all Californians. This is a crucial part of our work to tackle the housing shortage that has made California unaffordable.

Many cities still make it difficult or impossible for more Californians to live near transit – even though our transit systems were funded by everyone. Much of the land near many BART stations, LA Metro Rail stops, San Diego Trolley stops, rapid bus lines, and other transit services still only allows one home per property, and prohibits most forms of multi-family housing.

In many places, the only Californians who can live within walking distance of a high quality transit stop are those who can afford to spend millions of dollars on a single-family home.

This not only prevents more riders from using the transit systems we all paid for, it drives up housing costs while increasing climate pollution from cars.

SB 79 will make it legal to build multi-family housing near transit, including in areas currently zoned only for single-family homes, by allowing for streamlined upzoning near rail stations and bus lines. It will help address housing affordability by increasing the supply of homes in these areas, while also bolstering transit use – and the funding stability of public transportation systems.

That’s why we’re joining Sen. Wiener and transit, business, and environmental advocates like Streets for All, SPUR, the Bay Area Council, and Greenbelt Alliance to support SB 79.

This is a major bill – and the same forces who always oppose more housing and climate action have been working hard to kill this bill. This is a crucial vote. Will you take action to support more homes near transit stops?

Click here to send a message to your State Senator: Vote YES on SB 79!

Thank you so much for stepping up in this critical moment.

Emily

Emily Jones
Campaign and Coordination Manager
California YIMBY