SB 50 is a handout to developers and the real estate industry that turbocharges gentrification in our cities without solving our housing affordability crisis. SB 50 does little to address the housing affordability crisis, will fuel further speculation without building the kind of housing we need, and will put working- and middle-class communities (especially of color) at risk of displacement.
Why Do We Oppose SB 50?
The bill acknowledges concerns that it will fan gentrification in many California communities but only provides temporary exemptions from the bill's requirements. "Sensitive communities" that don't adopt local plans will default to SB 50 after a few years, which will likely affect many poorer communities that lack the resources to organize such a process. Additionally, there are concerns about how these "sensitive communities" are identified and whether currently-gentrifying communities will be protected.
SB 50's "protections" look strong on paper but, in practice, would be difficult to enforce. It would simply continue the same failed model, where the onus is placed on tenants and tenant activists to ensure the enforcement of rules that are meant to protect them.