"One April night eight years ago, two tech leaders sat down with a former Forest Service employee at Terroir, a natural wine bar in San Francisco. Then they started sketching out a plan that would eventually reshape California's housing policy. Landmark housing reforms that passed in the state in 2025, one that allows more housing to be built near transit stops, and another curbing the use of environmental law to block new housing -and which many believed would never succeed-can be traced back to that night, five bottles of wine, and crucial backing from Silicon Valley executives."
"'Even then, I was like, 'It's not landlord greed.' There aren't enough homes. Landlords are just as greedy in Houston, Texas, or wherever else,' he says."
"When he first arrived in the area, apartments were still relatively affordable. Within a year, he saw demand spike: every open house he visited had 20 to 30 people competing for the same apartment."
A small meeting in San Francisco led to a plan that helped reshape California housing policy. Landmark 2025 reforms allowed more housing near transit and curtailed use of environmental law to block new housing. The effort drew crucial backing from Silicon Valley executives and grew out of frustration with restrictive policies that limited housing supply. Brian Hanlon, a former Forest Service employee who saw rapid rent increases after moving to the Bay Area, concluded that a shortage of homes — not landlord greed — drove prices and began organizing with YIMBY advocates.
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