Taplin Pushes to Increase Inclusion
After ending exclusionary zoning and moving forward to legalize fourplexes, Berkeley is still pushing for a more inclusive city. In a huge step toward that goal, Councilmember Terry Taplin is sponsoring a 100% Affordable Housing Overlay modeled on Cambridge’s recent measure.
Taplin’s move is transformative. Berkeley and other cities can best advance economic and racial inclusion by facilitating the citywide expansion of 100% affordable housing.
I promoted Cambridge’s Housing Overlay as a national model in the paperback edition of Generation Priced Out, and wrote about its October 2020 passage. I have repeatedly encouraged other cities to enact such an Overlay. The strategy getting increased national attention. On March 11 Harvard’s acclaimed Joint Center for Housing Studies holds a free webinar on the Overlay’s importance; it’s a great chance for those in other cities (Denver? Los Angeles?) to learn of the policy’s advantages.