Building Our Future

Gov. Gavin Newsom calls high housing costs “the original sin in the state of California.” Now we’re finally getting serious about redemption.

A flurry of public policy activity has housing advocates hopeful that real progress is underway. Even Congress, which tends to stay out of the housing debate, has acted.

Other than the Federal Reserve periodically lowering interest rates, there hasn’t been much done nationally to make housing more attainable. Most housing policies are set at state and local levels.

In June, President Donald Trump put his stamp of sorts on the issue by abruptly canceling his signing ceremony for a rare piece of bipartisan housing legislation that could move the needle in favor of consumers.

After his death in 1912, Daniel Burnham, the legendary Chicago architect, was celebrated as much for his famous quote as for his high-profile planning projects.

“Make no little plans,” Burnham said. “They have no magic to stir men’s blood, and probably will not themselves be realized.”

When I think of what U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui recently pulled off for her local congressional district, the more Burnham’s quote resonates.

Mark Friedman and Julie Young, two developers known for stylish urban apartments, found a formula to provide affordable housing that’s truly affordable.

Using a strategy Friedman says can be replicated when economic conditions are right with low interest rates and reasonably priced materials, he and Young built 350 “attainable” apartments in Sacramento and West Sac for about $77 million, or $220,000 per unit. Monthly rents start at below $1,500.

“Public buildings often accurately reflect the beliefs, priorities, and aspirations of a people.” —former Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell

If Justice Powell was right, the Gordon D. Schaber courthouse on Ninth Street should have been put out of its misery long ago. Now on the market for $13.6 million, its days hosting trials are over.

Not long ago, I read a Washington Post commentary on how to get more housing built. The author was Howard Husock, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C.

Husock has written several books on housing and is one of the country’s leading thinkers on the issue. I wondered how his ideas could apply to Sacramento. He was happy to talk.

My first question was, what’s right and wrong about California’s approach to solving its affordable housing crisis?

This year’s State of Downtown Breakfast was a modest affair. With no high-profile project or plan to unveil, the event featured mostly small steps unlikely to generate much excitement.

But there’s no shortage of cool stuff happening to shake the central city out of the doldrums.

Let’s start with safety. Downtown Partnership Executive Director Michael Ault says nothing’s more important than keeping people safe. That’s why the partnership is hiring private security patrols to augment police.

“Safety is the foundation that our city needs to be built on and without it nothing else will succeed,” Ault told the breakfast audience.