Dear Friends --

2025 was our most successful year ever in the legislature. We exempted infill housing from CEQA, and finally passed a bill legalizing transit-oriented housing in our stat's major metro areas.

So what's next?

We still have a lot of work to do to support new housing in California. That includes improving our building codes so more families can afford homes in our cities. Click here to help!

Right now, state building code regulators are considering changes to our building codes that would enhance fire safety while also making it cheaper to build family-sized apartments in our cities.

Building codes are one of those nerdy-but-crucial elements of how we regulate housing: In addition to making sure our homes are safe and structurally sound, building codes play a huge role in determining the size, shape, cost, and even location of our homes.

If we get building codes wrong, we may inadvertently undermine our goals of making housing more abundant, affordable, and sustainable. So, we have to get them right.

One of the more important reforms in this category: Legalizing multi-family homes with a "single stairway." Making it easier to build these types of homes would make a huge difference in reducing the cost of housing, but also, would greatly expand the types and sizes of homes we can build.

These "single-stair" rules have been used in cities like Seattle and New York for many years, and are common around the world. Single-stair buildings have proven to be just as safe as buildings with two or more stairwells. It's time to legalize them across California.

The State Fire Marshal is currently finishing up a draft report that looks at the viability of allowing single-stair buildings in California. We need this report to reflect the best available evidence from around the world – that single stair buildings are safe, that they are less costly to build, and that they allow more families to live in dense, walkable neighborhoods.

You know we wouldn't be reaching out to you so soon after our massive victories on CEQA and SB 79 if it weren’t important – building codes are important. Together, we can make them stronger while addressing our housing shortage and affordability crisis.

Will you send a message to the State Fire Marshal urging them to legalize single-stair housing in California?

SEND A MESSAGE >>

Single-stair housing is just one of the reforms that we still need to achieve to help bring down the cost of building, renting, and buying homes in California. You, along with the rest of the YIMBY movement, have helped win some of the most important, pro-housing battles this year. With your help, we can win these next fights too.

Thank you so much for everything you've done. It's an honor to have your passionate support and engagement as we fight to make California affordable for everyone.

-Matthew

Matthew Lewis
Communications Director
California YIMBY

California YIMBY is a movement dedicated to ending our state’s housing crisis and building a more inclusive, affordable, and accessible state for ALL Californians. If you were forwarded this email, you can join our movement here. DONATE NOW » Want to keep track of housing issues and the YIMBY movement? Sign up for the HomeWork, our newsletter here.

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