California is in a housing crisis. For a sense of its scale:

In 2017, California added roughly one home for every four people who came to the state, and this pattern has held for decades.

54% of renter households and 39% of mortgage holders paid over 30% of their income toward housing in 2015.

We're lucky that people want to move here. Newcomers want to participate in the opportunities available in our state, but a shortage of places to live makes it hard for them to make those contributions.

This is not a new problem, but for the first time there's a proposal facing the state legislature that could make a dent: Senate Bill 827 (SB 827 ). The bill would change zoning around transit to allow for mid-rise housing.

I've seen countless scary-sounding headlines like "Housing bill could result in 85-foot tall buildings on El Camino ". I totally understand where these fears come from—I grew up around there, and it's frightening to think about how the places I love might change.

However, when I dug into the numbers, not only were my fears alleviated but I actually got really excited. Rather than the community-destroying godzilla it's been made out to be, SB 827 will make neighborhoods far more vibrant, eco-friendly, and equitable.

To get an intuitive sense of what SB 827 would make possible, some friends and I created renderings to illustrate its potential. We picked a few vacant but promising lots located near transit throughout the state. In a few years they could be a new home for some friendly new neighbors. Use the sliders below to see what they could become!