California cities like Sausalito, in Marin County, are struggling to hit their housing construction goals.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergGovernment
The Tech That Tries to Tackle NIMBYs
City officials are using digital simulations and other online tools to ease contentious public debates over new development and street changes.
It’s not easy to get new housing built in Marin County, the California enclave that’s infamous as a NIMBY stronghold.
But the town of Fairfax didn’t have a choice: As part of the state’s housing element law, which requires municipalities to periodically update their general plans and change planning and zoning to accommodate more housing to meet the state’s severe supply crunch, the small city of roughly 7,600 people needed to add 490 housing units.