Housing Policy

Taking the W

Developers rush to use California's new apartments-near-transit law, North Carolina eliminates parking requirements, and the federal housing bill finally becomes law.

Christian Britschgi | 7.14.2026 12:55 PM

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(Adani Samat/Envato)

Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. 

In keeping with the hot, sunny weather afflicting the D.C. region this week, this week's newsletter focuses on a few sunny cases of housing reform making their way onto the books. That includes: 

Developers Rush To Use California's New Transit-Oriented Development Law

It's been two weeks since the California law allowing apartments near transit stops across most of the state went into effect, and the applications are flooding in, at least in Palo Alto. 

Six projects making use of Senate Bill (S.B.) 79's more generous density limits have been submitted to the Silicon Valley city, reports Palo Alto Online. 

Rent Free Newsletter by Christian Britschgi. Get more of Christian's urban regulation, development, and zoning coverage.

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The latest S.B. 79 application is for a 75-foot-tall, 17-unit apartment building that will replace a nonprofit school, located just a few blocks from a Caltrain station.

The project's close proximity to a commuter rail station entitles it to claim the maximum density allowances under S.B. 79. The law allows smaller buildings to be constructed farther from major rail stops and next to light rail and bus stops. 

The proposed development's sponsors are also making use of the state's density bonus law to reduce the amount of parking they're required to build. 

S.B. 79, which passed last year, represents the culmination of the state YIMBY ("yes in my backyard") movement's decade-long effort to adopt a state law allowing new apartment buildings near transit stops. 

By some estimates, the law will allow for the construction of one million apartments across urbanized areas of the state. 

The question now is whether S.B. 79 will actually build anywhere close to its potential. 

The case of Palo Alto gives cause for both optimism and pessimism. 

On the optimistic side of the ledger, Palo Alto developers' rush to submit projects using the law's zoning standards suggests that those standards provide significant relief from the local zoning standards the law overrides. Projects can actually "pencil" under the state's new rules. 

On the more pessimistic side, the flood of applications is also driven by developers' desire to lock projects under S.B. 79's zoning........

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