California Didn't Used to be Expensive!

California’s housing crisis is our state’s number one issue. The lack of housing is smothering the California dream, lowering everyone’s quality of life and forcing the working class to flee the state.

It wasn’t always this way, and it doesn’t have to stay this way. Look at the chart below. The housing crisis is a new phenomenon due to broken policies and an unwillingness to build.

The good news is that bad policies can be changed!

That’s why this week, I spoke to Nolan Gray from CalYIMBY, the leading housing advocacy group fighting for more homes in California. We talk about:

• how the YIMBY movement has evolved

• what’s happening in Sacramento in 2025

• CEQA, permitting bottlenecks, and what actually needs to change to make building easier, and

• how the "California dream" has shifted, and what it’ll take to bring it back.

If you’re curious about housing policy, want to understand how we got here, or are looking for ways to get involved, you’re going to love this episode!