2018 data shows most California cities got a failing grade in permitting new homes
/Photo by Jeff Collins, Orange County Register/SCNG
By Jeff Collins and Nikie Johnson | Orange County Register
Neighborhood leaders gathered in Long Beach in the spring of 2017 to discuss a City Hall plan to address the city’s housing shortage. What they learned sparked a revolt.
To increase the housing supply and stem skyrocketing residential costs, planners proposed multi-story apartment buildings line major streets and boulevards throughout the city, including its affluent, mainly suburban east side.
To the planners, it was an equitable solution to the housing crisis. To neighborhood associations, it was armageddon.
“There was a passionate, angry plea … demanding the city halt the plans for ruining neighborhoods,” said activist Corliss Lee. “With increased building heights comes lots of people and cars.”
In the ensuing outcry, residents mobbed town hall meetings and ultimately forced the city to compromise, concentrating new housing mostly in downtown Long Beach.
