Hard costs like labor and materials combined with ‘soft’ costs such as permitting make building in the San Francisco Bay Area almost three times as costly as in Texas cities.

A new report from the RAND Corporation highlights the differences in the cost of building housing in the Bay Area as compared to Texas.
According to an article by Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle, just two Texas metropolitan areas, Dallas and Houston, approved more new housing permits in 2024 than the entire state of California, and this largely comes down to the difference in cost. California’s production cost per rentable square foot is 2.3 times higher than Texas’. In the Bay Area, construction costs are three times those in Texas.
A combination of factors, including stricter zoning rules, higher permitting fees, higher labor wages, and earthquake and energy efficiency requirements, all contribute to California’s higher costs. “It takes an average of nearly two years longer to finish a multifamily project in California than it does in Texas, the report found, adding to borrowing and rental costs.”
Among the report’s recommendations to reduce costs in California: requiring cities to approve or deny permits within 30 days to eliminate costly delays; promoting large-scale upzoning and reducing development fees for infrastructure; and adjusting requirements for affordable housing to make them less onerous. However, some experts warn that some costs are necessary and help address issues such as homelessness and climate change that California lawmakers tend to prioritize.
FULL STORY: Here’s how much it costs to build an apartment in the Bay vs Texas

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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