California's Latest Plan to Build Denser Housing Is Failing

California has an economics problem, not a housing a problem. Insufficient housing is a symptom of something deeper. There is still plenty of space in CA to build new housing, but that isn't the point when pricing is absurd and people only want housing in choice geographies. You can always create new housing, but you cannot create new land or make undesirable land suddenly desirable.

I know CA people hate it when comparisons are made to Texas, but yet its one of those moments. I live in a Texas city that recently became the 12th largest city in the US (about to also become the 11th largest) and about to become the 4th largest in the state. Single family homes continue to dominate here. Over 5000 new single family homes were built here in the past decade and there are projected to be far more than 6000 new homes built here in the next decade. The new houses fill with owners within 3 months, and sometimes within a month of completion. This means housing is continually being built where none existed before ever creeping into the wilderness with longer and longer commutes. But since jobs continue to grow here and housing prices continue to remain low compared to CA people don't care.