I recently learned (after belatedly reading an article about them in the Oct. 2 Examiner) that there's a new political group in town actually advocating sound housing policy -- i.e. address the affordability issue by allowing more housing to be built.
According to the article, the group's founder, Sonja Trauss, is a recent transplant who moved here 3 years ago from Philadelphia. She's quoted as saying, among other things:
"Let's do an experiment -- let's restrict growth, let's spend 30 years not building to match the incoming residents. What happened? We have a rent crisis."
Trauss is, fittingly, a math teacher.
The article notes the conventional wisdom is that any new housing "should be built for those who need it -- the middle and lower classes -- not the rich." But then it adds, "None of this makes a difference to Trauss. Her solution: Build as much housing as possible, as fast as possible, for all income levels and at heights and densities not currently allowed in many locations."
Music to the ears of anyone who cares about making living in SF more affordable and understands the law of supply and demand, and the historical fact that today's high income housing often becomes tomorrow's middle income or low income housing!
And SFBARF is apparently off to a heady start. They already have a website ( SFBARF.org ), Meetup group ( http://www.meetup.com/SF-Renters-Fed-Testify-for-density-at-Planning-Commission/ ), Facebook page ( San Francisco Bay Area Renters Federation | San Francisco CA ), and Google group ( sfbarentersfed <sfbarentersfed@googlegroups.com> ). Since last Spring they've been organizing people to attend city hearings and give public comments in favor of development!
Anyway, I contacted Sonja via email and invited her to come to the Libertarian Party of San Francisco and Golden Gate Liberty r3VOLution meetings in January, and she responded very positively:
I would love to come to your January 10th meeting, and the January 19th Golden Gate Liberty r3VOLution meeting! I'm really excited you found me. I have been meaning to find the Libertarians in the area, as I think this is a fundamentally anarcho-libertarian project.
So come to one or both of these meetings in January (LPSF, 1/10/15 at the 4th floor community meeting room in the main library from 3-5pm, GGLR at 7pm at Moksha Life Center, 405 Sansome Street at Sacramento) to learn more about this exciting new local activism.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))