All the terms you need to know to understand the housing crisis

The Painted Ladies in San Francisco. Check out the slideshow ahead to find out all the terms you need to know to understand the Bay Area's housing crisis. The Painted Ladies in San Francisco. Check out the slideshow ahead to find out all the terms you need to know to understand the Bay Area's housing crisis. Photo: Katie Wood / SFGATE Photo: Katie Wood / SFGATE Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close All the terms you need to know to understand the housing crisis 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

Stop me if you've heard this one before: The regional housing crisis is the biggest story in the Bay Area today. You know this, I know this, we all know this. If only it were simple enough to end there.

I came across a tweet a couple of days ago from Annie Fryman, an aide to state Sen. Scott Wiener , D-San Francisco, a starring character in the legislative drama playing out in Sacramento. It reads:

"My point yesterday was that how big/small your RHNA number is calculated to be is separate (and sort of irrelevant) to how HCD considers ADUs while reviewing housing elements post-RHNA determination," she wrote.

This tweet contains meaningful information. It also makes absolutely no sense to 99 percent of the population. Frustratingly, to understand the conversation around the defining issue of our region, you need to be capable of decoding dozens of acronyms.

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That's where I can hopefully help. After taking my obsession with Housing Twitter a little too far and working as a legislative aide in municipal government for a year, I gained enough of a handle on the basics to compile a small dictionary of the common acronyms and terms one encounters in the housing world. Mind you, this is far from comprehensive, and before any legislative nerds come after me on the particulars, I intend for this as basic as possible. Please do not interpret this as an end-all, be-all set of definitions.

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Think of it, instead, as a housing crisis starter kit. Check out the slideshow above for your entry into a world that, once you join, you will never escape.

Michael Rosen writes for SFGATE. You can email him at michael.rosen@sfchronicle.com.