KQED Public Radio’s “Forum” hit the airwaves this morning with a conversation with Robert Okin, the former chief of psychiatry at San Francisco General Hospital, who recently published a new book on homelessness and mental illness. He said the common belief that the homeless choose to reside on the streets, from his experience profiling them, is false.
Category: City Hall
Posted inCity Hall, Housing Solutions, Land use, Neighborhoods
Housing Solution: Increase Density in Western Neighborhoods and Fix Transit
New housing construction is blazing through the city’s eastern side, but not the west. Why? Residents say existing public transit is too poor to accommodate denser housing, which might also disrupt the neighborhood’s character. But minor tweaks to zoning regulations could add thousands of new apartments, and many would be priced below the market rate.
Posted inCity Hall, Housing, Housing Solutions, Land use
Housing Solutions: Affordable Tenant Co-ops Could Protect Buildings From Speculative Market
Cooperative housing managed by nonprofit organizations could substantially increase the availability of affordable housing in San Francisco, but progress has been stimied for years by lack of capital to buy buildings. Now policymakers in the city and at the state capital are devising ways to help them grow. Part of a special report on solutions for housing affordability.
Posted inBay Area, California, City Hall, Elections, Government & Politics, Labor, News
Following S.F.’s Lead, Cities Leapfrog State in Race to Raise Minimum Wage
The momentum to increase the minimum wage that is building in San Francisco and other localities across California has not caught on for similar statewide efforts. Part of the summer edition of the San Francisco Public Press. Get yours today.
Posted inCity Hall, Housing, Housing Solutions
Housing Solution: Activate S.F. Ballot Box Again to Fund Affordable Housing
Nonprofit housing developers across the city say they have been waiting for years to begin building more than 800 planned, permanently affordable homes. A housing bond could get those projects off the ground, but politicians have other priorities. Part of a special report on solutions for housing affordability.
Posted inCity Hall, Housing, Housing Solutions, Politics
San Francisco and New York Affordable Housing Plans Compared
San Francisco is not the only city in a housing crisis. The multi-year plan proposed by Mayor Ed Lee bears some similarities to those proposed by Bill de Blasio, the new mayor of New York, where even last week a major initiative advanced to fix older affordable buildings. Part of a special report on solutions for housing affordability.
Posted inCity Hall, Health, News
‘Laura’s Law’ No Quick Fix for Strained San Francisco Mental Health System
The challenge of preserving civil rights while providing mental health care dominated debate about “Laura’s Law,” a controversial measure adopted this week that gives family members and law enforcement a legal means to compel treatment. Proponents say the law will help families frustrated by their loved ones’ refusal to seek treatment, but service providers and activists say it is not a panacea for San Francisco’s overstretched mental health system.
Posted inCity Hall, Education, Government & Politics, Social Justice
Education Reformers Say Students Need a Voice in State Funding for Equity
With California public schools set to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding in the coming school year, education reform groups say Bay Area school districts have not done enough to bring students — not just parents and other district residents — into the decision-making process.
Posted inCity Hall, Housing, Housing Solutions
S.F. Mayor Counts Existing Homes to Hit Affordable Housing Goal
Nearly 40% of subsidized units cited already exist
In his plan calling for 30,000 units of “new and rehabilitated” housing over six years, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee left many news organizations with the incorrect impression that one-third of those apartments would be additional units that most city residents could afford. Details of the plan actually show that a large fraction of the total consists of already-occupied public housing units that would be repaired, but add little the city’s overall affordable housing stock. Part of a special report on solutions for housing affordability.
Posted inCity Hall, Housing Solutions, Media, Transportation
Linking the Google Bus With the Housing Crisis
While San Francisco’s 350 private corporate buses take thousands of well-off tech employees to work in Silicon Valley every morning, and home to their urban apartments and flats every evening, the service gap in late-night public transportation leaves many of the city’s service workers without a ride to their homes far out of town. Part of a special report on solutions for housing affordability.