Brandon Yung
@brandonyung.bsky.social
Housing policy wonk in Berkeley, CA
Another day, another opportunity to post the miraculous housing story unfolding in Berkeley charted out by @jwbee.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Another day, another opportunity to post the miraculous housing story unfolding in Berkeley charted out by @jwbee.bsky.social
Berkeley 👀
Thrilled El Cerrito City Council unanimously voted to lower fees to kickstart these 4 multi-family housing developments.
Housing development has stalled in El Cerrito so we took action.
100% of zero is zero, so reducing fees will actually bring in more funds for affordable housing and open space.
Housing development has stalled in El Cerrito so we took action.
100% of zero is zero, so reducing fees will actually bring in more funds for affordable housing and open space.
September 17, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Berkeley 👀
Reposted by Brandon Yung
“when can my city get a Zohran”
we already have our in Berkeley, that’s @cecilialunaparra.bsky.social, she makes housing vision charts with rose logos on them
we already have our in Berkeley, that’s @cecilialunaparra.bsky.social, she makes housing vision charts with rose logos on them
June 27, 2025 at 6:26 AM
“when can my city get a Zohran”
we already have our in Berkeley, that’s @cecilialunaparra.bsky.social, she makes housing vision charts with rose logos on them
we already have our in Berkeley, that’s @cecilialunaparra.bsky.social, she makes housing vision charts with rose logos on them
Reposted by Brandon Yung
My oped on why Berkeley should pass Middle Housing and why you must comment on Thursday either in person or on Zoom. Its the final vote!
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
Is Berkeley finally ready to atone for its single-family housing sins?
OPINION: “Berkeley can show America that beautiful density for non-rich families ... is better than the suburban sprawl that the city popularized over a century ago,” Darrell Owens writes.
www.sfchronicle.com
June 25, 2025 at 2:45 PM
My oped on why Berkeley should pass Middle Housing and why you must comment on Thursday either in person or on Zoom. Its the final vote!
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
Reposted by Brandon Yung
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientists urge support of Berkeley’s middle housing ordinance.
June 23, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientists urge support of Berkeley’s middle housing ordinance.
Reposted by Brandon Yung
Also, we shouldn't be building "moderate income" units, period. If people with moderate incomes can't afford decent market-rate housing in your city, you need to do something about the market rate itself. www.mercurynews.com/2025/05/18/m...
The Bay Area has hundreds of below-market rate apartments sitting vacant
Some new moderate-income units offer little discount to market-rate rents. Some question whether we should prioritize building them at all.
www.mercurynews.com
May 18, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Also, we shouldn't be building "moderate income" units, period. If people with moderate incomes can't afford decent market-rate housing in your city, you need to do something about the market rate itself. www.mercurynews.com/2025/05/18/m...
Reposted by Brandon Yung
crazy that an influx of dense infill housing can lower prices and make homeownership more attainable
"In 2020, [Portland, OR] approved building [middle housing] on lots zoned for single family homes... A new report from the City says, it's working. 1,400 new units built in just a few years and each one is $300,000 less expensive than a typical single family home." @nbcnews.com
May 3, 2025 at 12:04 AM
crazy that an influx of dense infill housing can lower prices and make homeownership more attainable
Oregon is lapping CA when it comes to housing reforms. Even in Portland (which would have similar politics to Berkeley), missing middle is producing units affordable below AMI without subsidy www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nbcn...
How Portland, OR made housing more affordable
In a word: density. New zoning rules in Portland, OR led to an increase in duplexes, tri-plexes, and quad-plexes on lots previously designated for single family homes. The new units typically sell for...
www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org
May 3, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Oregon is lapping CA when it comes to housing reforms. Even in Portland (which would have similar politics to Berkeley), missing middle is producing units affordable below AMI without subsidy www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nbcn...
Keep them doggies rollin’
April 30, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Keep them doggies rollin’
Reposted by Brandon Yung
"Make landlords poor" is the only thing YIMBY has ever offered, and it works. www.mercurynews.com/2025/04/28/b...
Berkeley apartments near university flop into loan default
A big Berkeley apartment complex has tumbled into a real estate loan default.
www.mercurynews.com
April 29, 2025 at 1:32 AM
"Make landlords poor" is the only thing YIMBY has ever offered, and it works. www.mercurynews.com/2025/04/28/b...
Reposted by Brandon Yung
Related rent trend updated with Q1 2025 data.
April 4, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Related rent trend updated with Q1 2025 data.
Getting ready for the recession, already consuming few durable goods as a coastal, carless, thrift-shopping resist lib with a non-federal public sector job.
April 4, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Getting ready for the recession, already consuming few durable goods as a coastal, carless, thrift-shopping resist lib with a non-federal public sector job.
Institutional renewal is a generational task. It is also necessarily adversarial. In order to inherit and improve institutions, us young people are forced to fight for reform. We are forced to articulate a new vision for a social order in the public square. Lest we succumb to sclerosis and entropy.
April 2, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Institutional renewal is a generational task. It is also necessarily adversarial. In order to inherit and improve institutions, us young people are forced to fight for reform. We are forced to articulate a new vision for a social order in the public square. Lest we succumb to sclerosis and entropy.
Don’t let where you sit determine where you stand
April 1, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Don’t let where you sit determine where you stand
Reposted by Brandon Yung
Our letter to Mayor @adenaishii.bsky.social and Berkeley City Council urging them to ensure the Middle Housing Ordinance is a success.
Small lot construction is essential for tackling the housing crisis in Berkeley.
eastbayforeveryone.org/wp-content/u...
Small lot construction is essential for tackling the housing crisis in Berkeley.
eastbayforeveryone.org/wp-content/u...
March 28, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Our letter to Mayor @adenaishii.bsky.social and Berkeley City Council urging them to ensure the Middle Housing Ordinance is a success.
Small lot construction is essential for tackling the housing crisis in Berkeley.
eastbayforeveryone.org/wp-content/u...
Small lot construction is essential for tackling the housing crisis in Berkeley.
eastbayforeveryone.org/wp-content/u...
It’s time to stress test the question. What will win in California— a new elite policy consensus and body of research, or the gravitational pull of CA’s political economy, rife with clientelism and policy capture?
[BILL ALERT] AB 609 by @BuffyWicks exempts infill housing from additional review under the California Environmental Quality Act, while preserving CEQA review for planning and other processes that cities use to ensure new development complies with environmental laws. More:
AB 609: Environmentally-Beneficial Housing Exemption
AB 609 will create a streamlined permitting process for multi-family housing in already-developed urban areas by exempting these projects from the California Environmental Quality Act. The bill…
cayimby.org
March 27, 2025 at 3:27 PM
It’s time to stress test the question. What will win in California— a new elite policy consensus and body of research, or the gravitational pull of CA’s political economy, rife with clientelism and policy capture?
Reposted by Brandon Yung
We’re announcing new legislation (SB 63) to provide long-term stable funding to Bay Area transit systems, authorizing a multi-county revenue measure for 2026.
If we do nothing, major systems (BART, Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain) will be forced into massive service cuts.
We must not let that happen.🧵
If we do nothing, major systems (BART, Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain) will be forced into massive service cuts.
We must not let that happen.🧵
‘There is a real problem’: Bay Area legislators seek to prevent BART and Muni from unraveling
Bay Area legislators seek to prevent BART and Muni from unraveling with a bill proposal for a regional transit sales tax
www.sfchronicle.com
March 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
We’re announcing new legislation (SB 63) to provide long-term stable funding to Bay Area transit systems, authorizing a multi-county revenue measure for 2026.
If we do nothing, major systems (BART, Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain) will be forced into massive service cuts.
We must not let that happen.🧵
If we do nothing, major systems (BART, Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain) will be forced into massive service cuts.
We must not let that happen.🧵
Thinking about buying a house in Berkeley. Just gotta go buy some lotto tickets 😂
March 22, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Thinking about buying a house in Berkeley. Just gotta go buy some lotto tickets 😂
It’s always astonishing how people fail to see how reality serves as a check on misguided policy. The answer is to battle fiction with a more enticing, unifying fiction.
March 22, 2025 at 12:52 AM
It’s always astonishing how people fail to see how reality serves as a check on misguided policy. The answer is to battle fiction with a more enticing, unifying fiction.
We’re going to have to start building tons of new assisted care facilities in California, ASAP.
March 21, 2025 at 5:46 PM
We’re going to have to start building tons of new assisted care facilities in California, ASAP.
A great Berkeley missing middle policy idea: refund the transfer tax for properties that get developed into missing middle projects. This will greatly reduce the land acquisition costs. The City already does this for 1/3 of the transfer tax for seismic retrofits.
March 20, 2025 at 5:40 AM
A great Berkeley missing middle policy idea: refund the transfer tax for properties that get developed into missing middle projects. This will greatly reduce the land acquisition costs. The City already does this for 1/3 of the transfer tax for seismic retrofits.
I had a fantastic time presenting about bike advocacy in Berkeley to the Sonoma County Bike Coalition. There’s a lot of amazing safe streets momentum in Santa Rosa and Petaluma!!
March 16, 2025 at 8:38 PM
I had a fantastic time presenting about bike advocacy in Berkeley to the Sonoma County Bike Coalition. There’s a lot of amazing safe streets momentum in Santa Rosa and Petaluma!!
I am very proud to have approved a 97-unit, mixed use project at 2555 Shattuck Ave. last night at the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board meeting. Thanks to strengthed state laws, the board has been entitling many projects over the past two years. Now, the challenge is to get shovels in the ground 🏡
March 14, 2025 at 6:26 PM
I am very proud to have approved a 97-unit, mixed use project at 2555 Shattuck Ave. last night at the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board meeting. Thanks to strengthed state laws, the board has been entitling many projects over the past two years. Now, the challenge is to get shovels in the ground 🏡