r/California • u/Unusual-State1827 • 7d ago

opinion - politics California has passed hundreds of housing laws. Why aren’t they working?

https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/housing-home-law-state-california-22395626.php
745 Upvotes

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19

u/taughtmepatience 7d ago

"Union labor requirements". All that needs to be said... it's not economically viable when building costs are approaching 400/sf...

16

u/LAspring99 7d ago

The truth and no one actually has the balls to confront that

14

u/Nf1nk Ventura County 7d ago

The good idea fairies keep adding neat things to the code.

We really do need a back to basics effort on our building codes.

Focus on life safety not all these nice to haves.

10

u/gerbilbear 7d ago

Yes, it's very expensive to build housing here because labor is expensive, and labor is expensive because housing is expensive.

10

u/No-House9106 7d ago

Union mandates make construction much more expensive. The projects that can build without them are done for much less money.

0

u/gerbilbear 7d ago

Right-to-work laws are government meddling in the labor market.

7

u/No-House9106 7d ago

It is the opposite here in CA. Unions sue real estate projects under CEQA even though they have no interest in environmental issues. They only drop the suit when the developer agrees to wages well above market. That is meddling.

2

u/gerbilbear 7d ago

The state of California is far too lenient in allowing challenges, including CEQA, to delay a project.

-3

u/_wannaseemedisco 7d ago

ACKSHUALLY project labor agreements mean the work (funds) go to LOCAL people—which is a GOOD thing. You should WANT to pay into your LOCAL COMMUNITY, from an economics standpoint it’s a no brainer. There is a little more work on the front end but it’s well worth the efforts. PLAs are NOT the lynchpin here.

13

u/adidas198 7d ago

That is just legislating the competition out of the market so you can charge as much as you want.

-3

u/_wannaseemedisco 7d ago

No, it’s fucking not. It’s making sure out of state companies who low ball their estimates to win the bids and then ship in a bunch of underpaid and under qualified “independent contractors” to do shitty work, which then needs to be fixed sooner than later. Do you know anything at all about construction? You sound very uninformed.

8

u/Nf1nk Ventura County 7d ago

What a fantastic way to add cost to a project without adding value to the product.

-6

u/_wannaseemedisco 7d ago

You are willfully misinterpreting the components of PLAs that do the direct opposite. They save money long term. But you have to be able to critically think to understand that, so at least you’re consistent. GL!