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Articles by Sarah Karlinsky
The Cost of Fragmentation: A Comparison of State Affordable Housing Finance Governance Systems
To finance and build affordable housing, developers across the United States need to assemble multiple funding sources at the federal, state, and local levels. Public funding sources can be administered by separate agencies or departments, each with its own requirements and timelines. This fragmentation can result in increased development costs, project delays, and added uncertainty for projects—all critical barriers to building affordable housing in high-cost, high-demand housing environments.
Construction Defect Liability in California: How Reform Could Increase Affordable Homeownership Opportunities
This policy brief examines one particular challenge facing new condominium development in California: the state’s construction defect liability laws. Construction defect liability laws are intended to protect home buyers from bearing the cost of fixing defects in newly built homes. However, the scope of California’s construction defect liability laws pose a significant disincentive for developers and contractors to build new condominiums.
Letter to the Editor | Magazine ad recalls Piedmont’s redlining past
We read with concern a recent advertisement placed by a Piedmont realtor in the November 2021 edition of the Nob Hill Gazette. Although apparently much of the language came from the Gazette and not the realtor and both have issued apologies, the ad reinforced outdated, ugly stereotypes that do not reflect the contemporary values of our community: [Piedmont] is surrounded by Oakland but is worlds apart.
Greetings from 2070. The Bay Area is thriving. Here's how we staved off dystopia
Remember the summer of 2021? Everyone was thrilled that COVID was largely contained and that California was reopening. But that sense of relief didn’t last long. Housing was too expensive. It was obvious that only the wealthiest would soon able to afford to live anywhere near the coast. More people were falling into homelessness. Workers moved further and further away from job centers to find affordable housing, only to spend four hours a day in traffic getting to and from work.
Prevent the next wildfire catastrophe: Allow housing to be built in Bay Area cities
Opinion // Open Forum California is on fire. More than 3.2 million acres of land in our state have burned and the entire West Coast has been engulfed in smoke earlier this week. The air quality was so bad we were being told not to go outside. Over 4,000 buildings have been destroyed and at least 24 people have died. The scale of devastation is overwhelming. There are things we have done to create these conditions and there are things we can do to prevent them in the future.
Four Tools for Stimulating Economic Recovery Through New Homebuilding
Photo of Modera the Alameda apartments in San Jose by Sergio Ruiz High housing prices threaten California’s future. Today, over three million California renters spend more than 30% of their income on rent, with an additional 1.7 million paying more than 50%. These cost burdens continue to push people, particularly people of color, out of neighborhoods, cities and, in many cases, out of California entirely. COVID-19 will make this situation even worse.
One Idea for Economic Recovery: Treat Housing as Infrastructure
SPUR believes it is essential that every person have a place to live, just as it is essential to have food to eat, clean water to drink and power to provide heat in the winter. To consider housing as fundamental a human right as water and food, California needs to treat housing as infrastructure. If we treat housing as infrastructure, the same way we treat roads and water delivery, our housing delivery system will need to change.
We Are Physically Distant, But Still In This Together
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was first published by SPUR, an urban planning policy group in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pandemics are scary things. Thanks to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, life in the Bay Area is very different than it was only a week ago. We were all still taking a crash course in “social distancing” when seven Bay Area counties were ordered to “shelter in place.” Those who are lucky enough to work from home are doing so.
Physically Distant but Still Together: How Cities in the Bay Area and Beyond Will Survive the Coronavirus
Physically Distant but Still Together: How Cities in the Bay Area and Beyond Will Survive the Coronavirus By Sarah Karlinsky, Senior Advisor, and Benjamin Grant, Urban Design Policy Director Powell Street in San Francisco on the first day of the Bay Area's shelter-in-place order. Photo by Sergio Ruiz This article also appears on NextCity.org. Pandemics are scary things.
The Urbanist
Selected articles from our magazine Issue 575 Spring 2020 Issue 574 Winter 2020 Issue 573 October 2019 to November 2019
What’s the Best Use for Oakland’s Publicly Owned Land?
Over the past several years, Oakland has been working on a new policy for how it approves the use and development of its publicly owned land. Considering the housing shortage that has pushed Oakland’s housing prices to among the highest in the nation, many have asked how public land might be put to use to create affordable housing. In 2016 this debate came to a head as the city sought proposals for a one-acre parcel near Lake Merritt known as the East 12th Street site.
How to Make San Francisco Affordable Again
This article is excerpted from the SPUR policy proposal 8 Ways to Make San Francisco More Affordable. Read the complete proposal >> San Francisco is in the midst of an affordability crisis. We are all feeling the impact as the rising cost of housing threatens to drive away the diversity that makes this city so special.
Make Alameda County More Affordable: Support Measure A1
In November, residents of Alameda County will have the opportunity to make their cities more affordable by supporting Measure A1. This $580 million bond would fund the creation of permanently affordable rental housing, help moderate-income households afford home ownership and make existing housing for low-income seniors and the disabled safe and accessible. $460 million of the funding would create rental housing, and $120 million would go to support homeownership programs.
Oakland’s Plan for Facing the Housing Crisis Head On
Oakland’s Plan for Facing the Housing Crisis Head On Oakland is experiencing a housing crisis that threatens to irrevocably change the city. The numbers are stark. According to analysis by Strategic Economics, asking rents increased more than 68 percent between 2007 and 2015. Oakland is the fourth most expensive housing market in the country, trailing only Boston, New York and San Francisco. Meanwhile, incomes in Oakland have not risen fast enough to cover the cost of these rising rents.
Terner Center Blog: No Limits
Four Tools for Stimulating Economic Recovery Through New Homebuilding By: Ben Metcalf and David Garcia, the Terner Center for Housing Innovation | Sarah Karlinsky, SPUR High housing prices threaten California’s future. Today, over three million California renters spend more than 30% of their income on rent, with an additional 1.7 million paying more than 50%.
How to Make San Francisco Affordable Again
This article is excerpted from the SPUR policy proposal 8 Ways to Make San Francisco More Affordable. Read the complete proposal >> San Francisco is in the midst of an affordability crisis. We are all feeling the impact as the rising cost of housing threatens to drive away the diversity that makes this city so special.
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