The Bay Area has a real shot at cutting greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by switching home energy use from natural gas to electricity. One of the challenges is ensuring that transition costs don’t unduly raise rents or spur evictions. Cities are now considering how to build affordability and tenant protections into their electrification policies in order to safeguard affordability while protecting the interests of both renters and building owners.

California’s persistent housing crisis has prompted a significant increase in legislative action, with more than 200 housing-related laws passed between 2017 and 2025. The volume of new laws has made it increasingly challenging for housing developers, planners, and community advocates to navigate the legal landscape effectively. Our new guide to California housing laws details nearly 100 laws in four key areas: project approval, affordability, density, and design standards. We spoke with the author, Erika McLitus, to explore how the guide can facilitate a more accessible housing development process in California.

San Francisco’s inclusionary housing policies are not producing more affordable housing and mixed-income communities because they don’t reflect current economic realities. Recent recommendations to realize those goals include capping affordable-unit requirements and reducing fees intended to support the production of affordable housing and other public amenities elsewhere in the city. SPUR explains why the recommendations make sense.

Connect Bay Area, a proposed 14-year sales tax measure to fund transit, has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the November 2026 ballot. In three of the five counties covered by the measure, most funds would alleviate looming operating budget deficits for regional transit — but in Santa Clara and San Mateo, significant funds would be available to support local transit improvements. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and SamTrans boards have outlined investment frameworks for the potential new resources.