Affordable housing in California remains elusive

Although California lawmakers in 2017 passed several bills to ease housing construction across the state, affordable rental units remain out of reach for many low-income residents. In a new report by the California Housing Partnership, about two-thirds of the more than two million very low-income renters in the state spend more than half their income on rent.

Agricultural run-off taints water in historic California San Joaquin Valley town

Allensworth in California’s San Joaquin Valley, now Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, was founded in 1908 by Colonel Allen Allensworth, a former slave and American Civil War Union officer. At the time, artesian wells produced clear water and crops flourished; Allensworth dreamed of creating a black utopia.

RCAC Loan Fund lends nearly $8 million to rural communities

West Sacramento, Calif. — In the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2018, Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) closed 22 loans totaling nearly $8 million to support rural communities in Alaska, California, Idaho, New Mexico and Washington.

California’s new housing goals face many hurdles, according to academic report

California’s new governor, Gavin Newsom, has made housing one of the cornerstones of his agenda, but an academic report says that limited zoned land will make that goal hard to achieve.

Californians see various culprits in state’s affordable housing shortage

While many Californians think that their state could solve the affordable housing crisis by just ramping up construction, others blame a lack of rent control, not enough funding for affordable homes and too strict environmental controls.