David Shere
@davidshere.net
Berkeley Yimby Jew Dad
On the Housing Advisory Commission trying to make more and better affordable housing.
Berkeley Civic Library: https://www.civic-library.com
Blog: https://davidshere.github.io
On the Housing Advisory Commission trying to make more and better affordable housing.
Berkeley Civic Library: https://www.civic-library.com
Blog: https://davidshere.github.io
Also the renderings look pretty great!
December 9, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Also the renderings look pretty great!
Need two rooms at the meetings - one for people to have polite conversations with staff, one for people who want to yell at a councilmember.
December 8, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Need two rooms at the meetings - one for people to have polite conversations with staff, one for people who want to yell at a councilmember.
I just don’t understand, if that’s your agenda, why are you running for DA? Like…there are other jobs that are a little more directly related to your policy agenda.
December 5, 2025 at 2:46 AM
I just don’t understand, if that’s your agenda, why are you running for DA? Like…there are other jobs that are a little more directly related to your policy agenda.
Wellllll now we have extended far beyond my non-Lawyer knowledge, but those things sound good as words!
December 5, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Wellllll now we have extended far beyond my non-Lawyer knowledge, but those things sound good as words!
My version is - 18 year limit as voting judge, after that you still get to hang out, have clerks, hear cases, etc. you just can’t vote on a case.
December 5, 2025 at 1:37 AM
My version is - 18 year limit as voting judge, after that you still get to hang out, have clerks, hear cases, etc. you just can’t vote on a case.
Would be interesting to look at the Form 700 financial disclosures, every commissioners needs to do them on the way in and out and every year
December 3, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Would be interesting to look at the Form 700 financial disclosures, every commissioners needs to do them on the way in and out and every year
Also how on earth is it not some kind of a conflict of interest for LPC commissioners to be bringing these applications? It’s a quasi-judicial commission!
Do they at least have to recuse from voting on their own proposals?
Do they at least have to recuse from voting on their own proposals?
December 3, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Also how on earth is it not some kind of a conflict of interest for LPC commissioners to be bringing these applications? It’s a quasi-judicial commission!
Do they at least have to recuse from voting on their own proposals?
Do they at least have to recuse from voting on their own proposals?
Two more vacancies and the commission goes defunct for lack of quorum.
December 3, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Two more vacancies and the commission goes defunct for lack of quorum.
Strong “we can fix traffic violence with more police” energy
December 1, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Strong “we can fix traffic violence with more police” energy
The "more supply -> lower prices" thesis is dependent on increasing vacancy rates, that is the *mechanism* by which this works, and a company that coordinates the length of leases in order to suppress short-run vacancy rates is bad and should be stopped*.
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The "more supply -> lower prices" thesis is dependent on increasing vacancy rates, that is the *mechanism* by which this works, and a company that coordinates the length of leases in order to suppress short-run vacancy rates is bad and should be stopped*.
We YIMBYs do this thing where we get let ourselves get negatively polarized against anything in the same solar system as vacancy trutherism.
But just because our opponents are wrong about how something works or how much it matters doesn't mean it doesn't work, or doesn't matter.
But just because our opponents are wrong about how something works or how much it matters doesn't mean it doesn't work, or doesn't matter.
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 PM
We YIMBYs do this thing where we get let ourselves get negatively polarized against anything in the same solar system as vacancy trutherism.
But just because our opponents are wrong about how something works or how much it matters doesn't mean it doesn't work, or doesn't matter.
But just because our opponents are wrong about how something works or how much it matters doesn't mean it doesn't work, or doesn't matter.
That said I don't think it's terribly fair to say the fact that SF's rents rose faster than the national average after the RP ban is evidence it didn't work - we don't know the counterfactual. We don't need data to infer that a weak ordinance with questionable enforcement wouldn't have much impact.
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 PM
That said I don't think it's terribly fair to say the fact that SF's rents rose faster than the national average after the RP ban is evidence it didn't work - we don't know the counterfactual. We don't need data to infer that a weak ordinance with questionable enforcement wouldn't have much impact.
Add on top of that the fact that they sued Berkeley - whose ordinance was initially a copy/paste of San Francisco's but was greatly strengthened as it worked its way through the legislative process - but not San Francisco or any other jurisdiction that passed a similar ban.
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Add on top of that the fact that they sued Berkeley - whose ordinance was initially a copy/paste of San Francisco's but was greatly strengthened as it worked its way through the legislative process - but not San Francisco or any other jurisdiction that passed a similar ban.
One way you can know that this prohibition was meaningless to RealPage is that two days after SF's ordinance passed the company basically came out and said "yeah, this has no impact on our business, we don't care." www.realpage.com/news/realpag...
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 PM
One way you can know that this prohibition was meaningless to RealPage is that two days after SF's ordinance passed the company basically came out and said "yeah, this has no impact on our business, we don't care." www.realpage.com/news/realpag...
First it's important to understand that most ordinances, including San Francisco's did not ban RealPage in any meaningful way.
They prohibited the use of "nonpublic competitive data" in RP's models, but that has no impact on their ability to coordinate recommendations in a local market.
They prohibited the use of "nonpublic competitive data" in RP's models, but that has no impact on their ability to coordinate recommendations in a local market.
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 PM
First it's important to understand that most ordinances, including San Francisco's did not ban RealPage in any meaningful way.
They prohibited the use of "nonpublic competitive data" in RP's models, but that has no impact on their ability to coordinate recommendations in a local market.
They prohibited the use of "nonpublic competitive data" in RP's models, but that has no impact on their ability to coordinate recommendations in a local market.
No shade to the authors though, forgetting that San Diego exits is a time honored tradition of basically all Californians north of Laguna Niguel.
November 27, 2025 at 7:28 AM
No shade to the authors though, forgetting that San Diego exits is a time honored tradition of basically all Californians north of Laguna Niguel.
I’m thinking about the waivers and concessions, which I think do get you to a pretty different place in terms of rules. I mean if it holds up in court you’ll be able to use SDB to set aside HARD HATS which could be a really big deal.
November 23, 2025 at 10:55 PM
I’m thinking about the waivers and concessions, which I think do get you to a pretty different place in terms of rules. I mean if it holds up in court you’ll be able to use SDB to set aside HARD HATS which could be a really big deal.
I’m still in kind of a state of disbelief about it. I’ve actually been trying to dig deeper lately because Berkeley tried to do something similar but it went nowhere.
To your original point, I see some of these things as wedges we start with affordable and then just make it the rules for everyone.
To your original point, I see some of these things as wedges we start with affordable and then just make it the rules for everyone.
November 23, 2025 at 10:46 PM
I’m still in kind of a state of disbelief about it. I’ve actually been trying to dig deeper lately because Berkeley tried to do something similar but it went nowhere.
To your original point, I see some of these things as wedges we start with affordable and then just make it the rules for everyone.
To your original point, I see some of these things as wedges we start with affordable and then just make it the rules for everyone.