What is California?
What is California?
Episode 9: Sonja Trauss
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Episode 9: Sonja Trauss

"NIMBYism is something that arises instinctively in response to a proposed change. That’s what we’re going against: How do we help people feel OK with change?"

The housing shortage in California is just one of the many crises the state faces, but it may be the only crisis with a connection to all the others. Climate change (whether wildfires or drought), homelessness, COVID-19, income inequality… you name it, there is a housing connection. In this way, it is the primary California crisis of our era.

That’s the argument set forth in this week’s episode by Sonja Trauss, the founder and executive director of YIMBY (Yes in my Back Yard). Using tactics ranging from letters to lawsuits, Trauss and her peers in the YIMBY movement have targeted California towns and cities that they say misuse state housing law to prevent the construction of high-density housing in their borders.

In combating the more diffuse NIMBY (Not in my Back Yard) presence in these communities, YIMBY has built a sturdy if polarizing political presence in the Bay Area and beyond. That presence was felt over the last week amid the fallout of a 495-unit building proposal rejected by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The case drew the attention of state lawmakers and underscored the often flimsy and politically motivated defenses used by leaders to keep housing from being built not just in San Francisco, but statewide. It also spotlighted the inertia against which Trauss and a growing legion of housing advocates continue to battle in their war on NIMBYism.

In this episode, Trauss discusses the strange case of 469 Stevenson St. and how it epitomizes the struggle to build housing in California. We also talked about her irreverent but unmistakably serious efforts to identify, challenge and eradicate the NIMBY spirit wherever it pops up. She also weighs in her favorite Californian—a What is California? tradition that will no doubt surprise you. (At least it surprised me.) It’s a fun, enlightening chat about the most pressing issue California faces, and I’m grateful for Sonja appearing.

Meanwhile, thank you for your ongoing listenership and readership! Please continue to share and refer folks to the show, and if you feel like chipping in a few shekels to help keep the lights on and the cat fed at What is California? HQ, you can become a supporter at Patreon. I’d be terrifically grateful.

Enjoy the show, and remember: Keep your eye on the bear! 🐻


Episode Notes

Sonja Trauss is the founder and executive director of YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard).

“NIMBYism is something that arises instinctively in response to a proposed change. People just do it. They want it. They have the feeling. They trust their feelings: ‘This feels bad; it IS bad.’ [...] That’s what we’re going against: How do we help people feel OK with change? How do we help people process it?”

Notes and references from this episode: 

@sonjatrauss, Twitter

YIMBYLaw.org - Yimby Law home page  

Golden Gates, by Conor Dougherty

”SB 9 ruin your neighborhood” - Google search

Sept. 28 statement on California housing legislation, Office of the Governor 

“Why did S.F. supervisors vote against a project to turn a parking lot into 500 housing units?”, by J.K. Dineen, San Francisco Chronicle

“Why state lawmakers are fired up over a derailed S.F. housing project,” by Alexei Koseff, San Francisco Chronicle

”The Last Days Inside Trailer 83,” by Hannah Dreier, The Washington Post

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Conversations with notable Californians in a quest to understand the Golden State.
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