So, how big is the shortage of homes in California anyway?


A number of colored plaster houses in San Francisco with garage doors at a street level, closely lined in even architectural style. A house in the foreground is painted with a rear with a suitable garage door, while others are in shades of olive green, blue, tan and beige. The trimmed boxing shrubs sit in front of some houses and the cars are parked in the narrow alleys. The above -ground useful lines extend through the scene under a gray, cloudy sky.
Houses in Sunset County of San Francisco on July 12, 2023. Photo by Semanha Norris, Calmatters

In the state capitol this year, legislators, policy experts, home defenders and others said the term “shortage of housing” at least 30 times in the hearing of committees and speeches on the floors – emphasizing how the crisis of housing in California remains one of the main problems of the state.

But what exactly is the shortage of housing and how bad is it in California? Thehe The answer depends on who you askHe writes Ben Christopher on Calmatters.

An analyst told Ben that the shortage of housing is “the difference between the dwellings you have and the dwellings you need.” But the calculation of the “home you need” is based on various factors that not all agree to.

This led to a California housing crisis rating ranging between a simple 56,000 units to so much 8.2 millionS

A decade ago, in one of the first attempts to put a solid number of the state housing problem, the non -party legislative analyzer estimated that California will have to build 2.7 million additional units in the previous 30 years to preserve the residential inflation of the state with the rest of the United States

A year later, the consulting firm McCinsey & Company announced that 3.5 million homes would be needed to close the California-Figure housing gap then. Governor Gavin Newo Used when it is a campaign For the governor, promising to build so many units until 2025 (a spoiler signal: that didn’t happen.)

Despite the imperfect science, Daniel McKu of Harvard University said it was worth noting that the common consensus surrounding the California residential crisis was that it was huge.

  • MccueA researcher at Harvard’s Joint Housing Center: “Whether it’s a million or a half million or a half and a half, these are big numbers … There are so many things.

Read more hereS


Calletatters events: CalMatters, California Forward and Alliance in the 21st century host a forum for a candidate -enrollor on October 23 at a hundredth of the Economic Summit in California. The best candidates for the governor will cope with the urgent economic challenges and opportunities that California face, and in the field of why they are most suitable to lead the fourth largest economy in the world. Sign up hereS



How effective were these resentment policies?

A man wearing a blue shirt with the words
A prisoner at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center on March 17, 2023. Photo from Martin to Nasimento, Calmatters

The analysis of recidivism regarding California resentment policies applied over the last decade has sheds a new light on the efficiency of the state’s efforts to redefires its criminal justice system and reduces the prison populationKayla Mihalovich writes to Kaylaters.

The report, published on Wednesday, details of recidivism about five remarkable resentment policies that were implemented in Govs. Jerry Brown and Newsom from 2012 and 2022. At all five policies, about 12,000 people were released and 9,500 were released, with black and Latin American people making up the bigger part of the released.

It is important to note that the report includes one -year recidivism results. The standard schedule for determining recidivism is three years, which only two of the five policies are old enough to measure.

The State Agency’s legal director says the report shows how policies are successful in reducing prisons, without increasing the risks to the public. But some district lawyers, critical of the agency, claim that policies are harming victims, law enforcement and public safety.

Read more hereS

And finally: dry, burning conditions of CA

Air views of the Boulder pool between the city of Boulder, Nevada and the metropolitan area in Las Vegas on July 3, 2025. Photo by Daniel Slim, AFP via Getty Images

The two largest tanks in the country are about 31% full – intensifying tensions among the United States in the Colorado River, which must agree to the river management standards. Rachel Becker Director and CalMatters Video Strategy Robert Meix have a video segment What does this mean for the water supply in California As part of our partnership with PBS Socal. Watch it hereS

And check out another video from Deborah Brennan and Robert non -profit internal empire This helps locals to manage exceptional heat in the hottest parts of the desert. Watch it hereS

SocalMatters broadcast at 5:58 pm weekdays Of PBS socalS



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Lyn La is a writer of a CalMatters newsletter, focusing on the best political, political and Capitol stories in California every weekday. It produces and treats Whatmatters, the flagship daily newsletter of Salmatters …

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