July 2023 Newsletter

Written By Janine Roeth

😎 It's summertime - we ask you to take a few minutes for some easy housing actions,
a bit of news, and then back to the sunshine!  😎

July Housing Actions -
take a few minutes now!

Support Housing at 190 West Cliff in Santa Cruz

The project at 190 West Cliff will be a great addition to Santa Cruz, but it needs your support! Originally approved by the City Council in 2019, this project has been held up for four years in an appeal to the Coastal Commission. The Commission will hear and decide if they should consider this appeal on July 12th. Tell the Commission to accept the staff finding of no substantial issue so this project can move forward.

SB 423 just passed the Assembly Housing Committee, thanks in part to your calls and emails. That's great news. But we still have a lot of work ahead to pass this important legislation. Sen. Scott Wiener's SB 423 extends and expands the provisions of SB 35 to 2036. This landmark housing bill, passed in 2017, has produced thousands of new subsidized affordable homes across California. That includes 2,000 homes in San Francisco alone. The vote is expected within the next week.

Featured Event

Affordable Housing in America: A Conversation with Congressman Maxwell Frost   Friday, July 21st, at 11 - 11:30am PT

Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost is the first Gen Z candidate to get elected to Congress! Before being elected, he helped lead YIMBY's Orlando Chapter, Orlando YIMBY.

Sign up to hear the latest insights from Rep. Frost on what’s happening in Congress to help spur the production and availability of affordable housing.

 Housing Element Updates

There are 6 months left until the December deadline for Santa Cruz Housing Element updates.  Here's where things stand:

Find links to the Housing Element information for all the cities and county are consolidated here.

 Other Housing News

  • Santa Cruz is the worst. Our area is now the Most Expensive Jurisdiction in the country, with a housing wage of $63.33 to afford a 2 bedroom house at fair market rent.  Read about it in the Out of Reach 2023 report (mini report or full report) from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

  • Monterey Bay Economic Partnership has a new whitepaper: Practical Housing Policy, Increasing Supply and Affordability. It includes their policy priorities, especially for the 6th cycle Housing Element that  both Santa Cruz and Monterey are developing right now.”

  • Housing Matters completes Santa Cruz’s 7-unit ‘Casa Azul’ apartments | Santa Cruz Sentinel

  • Affordable 3 Bedroom Measure J Townhomes for Sale

    The County of Santa Cruz Community Development and Infrastructure (CDI) Department will hold a random drawing on July 11th or thereabouts to select two prospective Measure J homebuyers and several back-up buyers for two newly built 3-bedroom Measure J townhomes in Soquel (“The Dwellings at Soquel”). The maximum sales price for each of these new Measure J townhomes is $499,800. All Measure J homes are subject to permanent deed restrictions which impose ongoing resale price limits and affordability restrictions on current and future owners. 

Photo credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

The Santa Cruz bike-share has launched! Look for these 400 e-bikes all around Santa Cruz. BCycle is offering a free month of rides as part of the launch. Use the promo code “BCYCLE831.”

Janine Roeth
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Santa Cruz YIMBY comments on the City of Scotts Valley May 2023 Draft Housing Element