You don't need us to tell you that the Bay Area is experiencing a housing crisis. In Oakland, the median rent is now over $3,000 — a 71% increase in just three and a half years. In Berkeley, rent has risen 59% over three years, to over $3,800 per unit. And in San Francisco, the median rent is now over $4,400 — second only to Manhattan in the ranking of highest rents in the country.
Skyrocketing rent creates displacement — a phenomenon that disproportionately impacts communities of color. Between 1990 and 2011, the proportion of African Americans in all Oakland neighborhoods decreased by nearly 40 percent. Over that same time period, San Francisco’s Black population was cut in half, from about 10% to only 5% of the population.
Displacement take a huge toll on Bay Area communities, tearing apart families and uprooting lives. And displacement is also bad for the environment. Rising housing costs push lower-income residents out into the suburbs, creating sprawl that puts pressure on our open spaces and increases reliance on fossil-fuel-guzzling vehicles. A 2014 study by TransForm showed that low-income households displaced to the suburbs more than double their vehicle miles traveled, and that the replacement of these households by high-income households in dense, transit-rich city neighborhoods results in a net increase in emissions. That's why the Sierra Club supports policies that protect renters' rights and prevent evictions; preserve and increase affordable housing, particularly in transit-rich urban areas; and increase the minimum wage so that people can afford to live near where they work.
This election year, these principles have led us to endorse a number of affordable-housing and anti-displacement ballot measures in our chapter area. We hope you will consider these endorsements as you vote. These are just some of the many endorsements the Sierra Club has made for candidates and ballot measures here in the Bay Area, state elections, and federal elections. Find them all here.
YES on Alameda County Measure A1
Increases affordable housing for seniors, the homeless, and working families.
YES on Oakland Measure JJ
Protects Oakland renters against evictions, caps rent increases, and creates a more accountable, transparent Rent Board.
YES on Oakland Measure KK
$600 million general obligation bond to invest in Oakland infrastructure and affordable housing.
Owner move-in relocation funds and protections for renters with children.
NO on Berkeley Measure DD
Deceptive big-landlord-funded measure would save Berkeley’s largest landlords millions by defeating U1.
YES on Berkeley Measure U1
Funds affordable housing in Berkeley with a windfall profits tax on high rents.
YES on Berkeley Measure Z1
Reaffirms Berkeley’s commitment to diversity and social equity by allowing 500 new affordable housing units.
The CALI Slate for Berkeley Rent Board
The only candidates committed to creating affordable housing and strengthening Berkeley's anti-displacement policies:
- Christina Murphy
- Alejandro Soto-Vigil
- Leah Simon-Weisberg
- Igor Tregub
YES on San Francisco Measure C
Housing preservation bond to keep housing affordable and safe.
YES on San Francisco Measure M
Smart, strategic planning for housing and development.
NO on San Francisco Measure P
Benefits for for-profit developers at the expense of affordable housing.
NO on San Francisco Measure U
A developer giveaway that takes away low-income housing.
YES on San Francisco Measure X
Stop the displacement of neighborhood community services, arts and small businesses.