Without changes in public attitudes toward homebuilding, it will be difficult for California to pull itself from its housing crisis. That’s the takeaway message from a new report from California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office titled, “Do Communities Adequately Plan for Housing?”

The report, which assesses local barriers to development, makes clear that local community plans and zoning laws are often outdated, restrictive and difficult to change, both procedurally and politically.

“Although we offer a few changes the Legislature could consider, real improvement can come only with a major shift in how communities and their residents think about and value new housing,” the LAO says. “Unless Californians are convinced of the benefits of significantly more home building — targeted at meeting housing demand at every income level — no state intervention is likely to make significant progress on addressing the state’s housing challenges.”

The scale and depth of the housing crisis has been quantified a number of ways. According to a draft Statewide Housing Assessment produced through the California Department of Housing and Community Development in January, over the past decade production averaged less than 80,000 new homes annually, short of the 180,000 new homes needed annually. The sharp drop-off in housing production since the period from 1955 to 1989, when California produced an average of 200,000 new homes a year, has contributed to rising rents and longer commutes for people looking for affordable homes.

The LAO notes residents often disfavor updates to plans and zoning to accommodate more housing because many see the changes new housing would bring to communities as a “threat to their well-being.” This mindset cannot be legislated away — it must be understood and engaged.

There are signs people are beginning to realize that few are served by making California an unaffordable place to live. On March 7, Los Angeles voters rejected the anti-development Measure S, the “Neighborhood Integrity Initiative,” by more than 2 to 1.

To solve our housing crisis, and make California an affordable place to live, we must remove excessive and duplicative barriers to homebuilding and allow the market to work.