Quartet of Housing Measures Will Preserve, Improve, and Increase SF Housing

In the past six months, four housing ordinances championed by Livable City were passed into law. Together, these ordinances will preserve tens of thousands of existing housing units, permitting improvements while strengthening tenant protections, and will permit new units in the Castro neighborhoods. Two ordinances went into effect last week – one creating a path to legalization…

In-law Legislation Gets Signed into Law

On April 17, Mayor Ed Lee signed two ordinances legalizing in-law units in San Francisco – Supervisor Chiu’s ordinance that legalizes  existing units built without permits (aka illegal in-laws), and Supervisor Wiener’s ordinance permitting new in-law units in the Castro neighborhood. These ordinances are important elements of Livable City’s Action Plan for Housing.

Preserve Existing Rental Housing

This post appeared in the SF Bay Guardian in January 14. San Francisco’s housing affordability crisis has become the main threat to the livability of the city for hundreds of thousands of residents. One glimmer of hope came last month, as the Board of Supervisors reformed decades-old laws that permit, and often encourage, the loss…

SF Supervisors Approve Ordinances Protecting Residential Units

A pair of ordinances, one strengthening the Planning Code’s provisions for conversion, demolition, and merger of residential units, and the other permitting improvement and enlargement of some existing units, were unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors in December. The ordinances, were based on Livable City proposals, were sponsored by Supervisor John Avalos. The Housing Element…

Livable City’s Action Plan for Housing

Housing affordability is a crisis in San Francisco. Livable City’s Action Plan for Housing includes strategies for making San Francisco a more livable, sustainable, and affordable city. Livable City has made progress on these housing strategies over the past decade, and has a number of legislative and policy initiatives currently underway. Five ordinances based on Livable…

Livable City Joins Broad-based Effort to Legalize Existing In-Law Units

On November 26, Livable City joined Supervisor David Chiu and a broad coalition of advocates to announce new legislation to legalize existing in-law units across San Francisco. In-law units house thousands of San Franciscans, and are an important housing resource in an increasingly expensive city. Certain decades-old Planning Code requirements, chiefly the code’s arbitrary residential density…

Excelsior-Outer Mission is the Latest San Francisco Neighborhood to Embrace Car-Free Living

On November 27, Mayor Lee signed an ordinance creating San Francisco’s newest Neighborhood Commercial zoning district – and the latest to drop minimum parking requirements. The Outer Mission – Excelsior Neighborhood Commercial District includes the commercial area along Mission Street from Silver Avenue to the Daly City line. The district was previously zoned NC-2 and…

Get in Touch

Staff Directory

Darin Ow-Wing, Executive Director
darin@livablecity.org

Jessica Tovar, Program Director
jessica@livablecity.org

Sally Chen, Deputy Director
sally@livablecity.org

Tom Radulovich, Senior Policy Fellow
tom@livablecity.org

Isaac Santiago, Sunday Streets Program Manager isaac@livablecity.org

Reina Terry, Program & Development Associate, reina@livablecity.org