This document analyzes the causes of San Francisco's housing crisis, including high income inequality, lack of developable land due to zoning restrictions, and poor transportation. It proposes a two-part solution of increasing city revenues through taxes and fees, and spending that money on building more housing, especially affordable units, and improving public transit. Key strategies include a progressive income tax, auctioning air rights, increasing development fees, and using city-owned land to build affordable rental housing through upzoning.

1. “This one trick will make
housing affordable for
everyone”
housing isn’t going to build itself

2. CAUSES OF THE HOUSING CRISIS

3. CAUSES:
● There is a huge level of income inequality in
San Francisco. The Gini Coefficient is higher
than the U.S. average and close to that of
Rwanda.

4. CAUSES:
● Very little developable land is left to build on,
and restrictions are on most of it. A huge
portion of the city is zoned for one or two
family homes, and/or with low height limits.
This makes developable land very
expensive, and the scarce amount of new
housing is therefore very expensive.

5. CAUSES:
● Poor transportation networks in the Bay Area
make it hard and/or expensive for people to
live in areas where housing is more
affordable.

6. A TWO-PART SOLUTION:
I. INCREASE CITY REVENUES
II. SPEND THE MONEY ON HOUSING
AND TRANSIT

7. San Francisco has been gaining population
since the 1970s. Regulations to try to control
growth have backfired many times and we now
have the most expensive housing in the
country. We need to embrace growth and figure
out how to accommodate it.

8. PART I: INCREASE CITY REVENUES

9. MORE REVENUE
● A cItywide progressive income tax. New
York City is one of the only large cities that
does this currently. It would only kick in for
earnings over the median income. This
would provide more stability for the city
budget.

10. MORE REVENUE
● Auction air rights for development over
existing height limits to developers in
selected areas and ensure all of this money
is split between affordable housing and
transit improvements. This also opens up
more of the city to dense development,
increasing supply.

11. MORE REVENUE
● Abolish inclusionary BMR for-sale housing
while increasing the current in-lieu fees
(although they would no longer be “in-lieu”).
Put mandates on this funding to ensure it is
spent on housing programs.

12. MORE REVENUE
● No more free parking on Sundays and
implement a Vehicle License Fee as soon as
possible. Devote this money into
transportation improvements.

13. PART II: BUILD MORE HOUSING
AND IMPROVE PUBLIC TRANSIT

14. BUILD MORE HOUSING
● Use city-owned land to develop permanently
affordable rental projects with the additional
funding identified in Part I. Allow for easier
upzoning of city property to get the most
value out of this land.

15. BUILD MORE HOUSING
● SUPER DENSITY BONUS (progressive
inclusionary zoning): for rental projects,
allow increased height in exchange for
additional affordable units. Each increment
over existing height limits requires a higher
% of affordable. Combine with expedited
permitting.

16. BUILD MORE HOUSING
● While additional housing is being built, use
some of the increased funding from Part I to
provide housing vouchers to existing at-risk
residents.

17. IMPROVE TRANSIT
● Use a portion of these new funding streams
to improve Muni. Stop deferring
maintenance and diverting money to other
city departments. Hire additional employees
and reduce overtime. Implement the TEP.

18. There are no easy solutions, but increasing
supply and addressing inequality with a
combination of measures is the only thing that
will work over the long term. Neither stopping
market rate development or ignoring the need
for affordable housing will solve our current
problems.