Housing, Homelessness Crises Are ‘Of Our Own Making,’ Says David Chiu

Assemblyman David Chiu

Sharon Wickham/San Francisco Public Press

Assemblyman David Chiu

David Chiu, the state assembly member representing California’s District 17, the Eastern side of San Francisco, is running unopposed for re-election this year. He spoke with “Civic” about his recent legislative work, including his rent increase cap policy, a proposal to audit California’s spending on homelessness and a bill that would take steps toward making connections across Bay Area transit lines seamless.

“Homelessness, housing, these are the moral questions of the day…This crisis is a crisis of our own making. We certainly have enough land in California to build the housing that we need. We can do it, and the reason we haven’t is we have made choices, some active choices and many passive choices, over the years to simply not build enough housing. And that’s gotta change.” — David Chiu

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A segment from our radio show, “Civic.” Listen daily at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on 102.5 FM in San Francisco.