Many families cannot afford to live in San Francisco, where housing prices are high and houses fit for families raising children are hard to come by.

One side effect of the high cost of housing in San Francisco is that it’s pushing families out of the city. "San Francisco notoriously has the smallest percentage of kids — 13.4 percent — of any city in the nation. But while San Francisco officials sweat and bicker over affordable housing, they rarely talk about family housing," reports Heather Knight for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Supervisor Norman Yee commissioned the city's planning department to come up with a report on the issue, and the results paint a grim picture for families. "Of all the homes across San Francisco with three or more bedrooms, just 30 percent of them are occupied by families with children. Many of them are inhabited by unrelated roommates, couples whose kids are grown or single people," writes Knight. The kind of demand that has families competing with singles that would break them up points to an extraordinary demand for housing of many kinds, Yee feels the problem is caused, in part, by what developers wish to build. "Yee said he’s tired of seeing plans for high-rises filled with studios and one-bedroom apartments and open spaces that are clearly designed for adults," Knight writes. It's also the case that there's simply a great deal of demand, some of which may be due to Yee and others opposing dense low-income developments.
FULL STORY: SF housing shortage leaves little room for families

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?

Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.

Updating LA’s Tree Rules Could Bring More Shade to Underserved Neighborhoods
A new USC study finds that relaxing Los Angeles’ outdated tree planting guidelines could significantly expand urban tree canopy and reduce shade disparities in lower-income neighborhoods, though infrastructure investments are also needed.

California's Canal Solar Projects Aim to Conserve Resources and Expand Clean Energy
California’s Project Nexus has begun generating electricity from solar panels installed over irrigation canals, with researchers and state agencies exploring statewide expansion to conserve water and boost clean energy production.

HHS Staff Cuts Gut Energy Assistance Program
The full staff of a federal program that distributes heating and cooling assistance for low-income families was laid off, jeopardizing the program’s operations.
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