Perspective Newsletters
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The Call Marin Home Coalition Gathers
On January 29th, Call Marin Home gathered more than 60 community leaders to discuss housing and the priorities of a new and exciting coalition to support the 3 Ps of housing — Production, Preservation and Protection, our guiding lights moving forward. All of the coalition members agreed that the ‘“3 P” approach is needed to…
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Call Marin Home: building on MEHC’s legacy
Marin is changing. For many years, MEHC (Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative) was one of the few organizational supporters of affordable housing. Now, many Marin organizations, leaders and residents recognize that we are in a housing crisis. Marin’s average home price is $1.7 million — unaffordable to the vast majority of residents. We are experiencing the…
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MEHC is now Call Marin Home
It’s OFFICIAL! Call Marin Home, Marin’s new housing coalition, is launched! Our annual Friendraiser on October 30th opened the next chapter for the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative. We announced that MEHC is now Call Marin Home, the coordinating force behind a new Marin housing coalition. For the last 18 years, MEHC has been going alone in our housing advocacy….
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Digging into the new CEQA reforms: New California laws are intended to reduce obstacles to housing production
Entrenched opposition continues to hamper new housing development in Marin. Marin has a serious housing shortage. This housing shortage is not due to a shortage of land. Eighty-five per cent of our land is excluded from development due to open space designations or agricultural easements. But the remaining 15% provides plenty of land for increased housing development, by…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective
“Affordable” Housing in Marin: What’s the “Affordability Gap” and how can we address it?
Everyone knows that housing is very expensive in Marin and many Marinites want more affordable housing. But how do we accomplish this? When we speak up for housing, we hear concerns about whether proposed projects have enough affordable housing or whether they are affordable enough. In this month’s Perspective, we look at the various programs that address housing…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective
Seas are rising around us. Where should we build housing?
SHOULD WE BUILD HOUSING ON UNDERUTILIZED, LOW-LYING SITES NEAR THE COAST The issue, potential solutions, what we can do now. — Written by MEHC Board Members Diana Benitez and Gail Napell. THE ISSUE: Sea level is rising It’s undeniable: the sea is rising around us. Every property near and on the shoreline — private…
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Featured | Housing Element | Learn | Perspective | Policy | Projects
June 2025: Mid-Year Housing Progress Update
MANY PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE…Still a long way to go Halfway through the year, Marin has a large increase in the number of housing units in process, but we’re still very far from resolving our housing crisis. MEHC thanks everyone who has attended a meeting, sent an email, supported a project, or passed along housing news. Your advocacy…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective | Policy | Tenant Protections
Rooted in Marin: A Collaborative Effort Toward Anti-Displacement Policies
by Chris Logan, Partnership for Bay Future Fellow , County of Marin Community Development Agency Before we lose diversity, workers, and quality of life… we must act now. Rooted in Marin: Strategies for Anti-Displacement is a collaboration between the Cities, Towns, and County of Marin. Read or download the report here. Low-income and rent-burdened households are at…
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Featured | Housing Element | Learn | Perspective | Policy
Marin Housing Elements Annual Progress Report Update
We are woefully behind on progress toward our housing goals Marin’s sixth 8-year Housing Element Cycle officially kicked off January 31, 2024. Every April, the county and each local city and town must publish an Annual Progress Report (APR) documenting progress toward achieving assigned housing goals (“RHNA,” or Regional Housing Needs Allocation). Marin, as a whole,…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective
Housing needs to be more accessible
Housing needs to be more accessible. Our communities deserve it. – Carmela Davis, Housing Specialist, MEHC The housing crisis is dire for everyone, but especially so for people with a disability Disability is the largest and most intersectional minority in the world. Did you know that an estimated 10% of Marin residents have a disability?…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective | Policy | West Marin
West Marin faces major housing need
The Pt. Reyes Seashore settlement will cause loss of housing and employment for many farmworker families. – Agnes Cho, consultant and project manager,Community Land Trust of West Marin (CLAM) A West Marin community leader recently shared this comment with me: “In West Marin, finding housing is like winning a golden ticket.” Her offhand statement stuck with me, because…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective | Policy | State Legislation
Legal Update! New California Housing Laws in 2025
Written by Lucie Hollingsworth and Ethan Strull. Welcome back, all of you Marin housing policy wonks! While you were all paying more attention to the presidential race, state propositions, and our local tenant protections, our state legislators were dutifully busy pushing laws through to chip away at making California a more affordable and just place….
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Featured | Learn | Perspective
MEHC’s most impactful year ever!
We give thanks to all who’ve advocated for more affordable, environmentally-sound and socially-just housing. MEHC’s capacity expanded this year, and we’ve been working hard for housing. Marin approved more housing this year than it has in decades! MEHC’s support helped advance projects Many projects we support have moved closer to development, including: MEHC’s advocacy connected with the…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective | Policy | Prop 5 | Tenant Protections
Election results and Friendraiser recap
THE ELECTION RESULTS MAKE FIXING OUR HOUSING CRISIS MORE DIFFICULT, BUT THAT WON’T STOP US. A word from Jenny Silva, MEHC’s Board Chair I, like many of my friends and family, am grappling with the implications of the election. The impact is extremely broad, but today, I’ll focus on the election’s impact on housing. This was a…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective | Policy | Prop 5
Quality schools need affordable housing options for teachers and staff
The cost of housing is turning away both teachers and students. While many people may think that “affordable housing” only applies to those with extremely low incomes, Marin housing prices are so high that many college graduates, even with advanced degrees, cannot afford even a studio apartment. This includes many of our teachers and…
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Featured | Perspective | Policy | Prop 5
Prop 5 Is Needed in Marin — Vote YES
VOTE YES ON PROP 5 TO HELP MARIN BUILD AFFORDABLE HOMES The housing crisis has left California in dire straits. Due to decades of chronic underbuilding, sky-high rents now leave us with the unsavory distinction of holding the single highest functional poverty rate of the 50 states. That means even many working families – though lucky enough to keep…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective | Policy | Tenant Protections
Tenant Protection Measures in Marin
Marin’s housing shortage continues to inflict severe hardships on families and local workers struggling to maintain their access to schools, jobs, and other important resources. Behind statistics describing the long-standing housing crisis for Bay Area renters are their stories about painful damage inflicted by our regional shortage of affordable housing: Despite some signs the rental market…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective
Housing and Environment: It’s not either/or
Marin’s history of environmental protection is our defining pride. Yet our development practices are fundamentally anti-environmental. Our history of environmental protection is Marin County’s defining pride. Outside narrow strips along Highways 1 and 101, rolling green hills rise and fall, mostly undisturbed by development, before meeting the brooding beauty of miles of untouched coastline. Compare this image with…
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Featured | Learn | Perspective
Community Land Trusts
Community Land TrustsTaking the cost of land out of the cost of housing, by Tom McCafferty, MEHC board member; Community Land Trust Association of West Marin (CLAM) Project Manager Marin can ensure long-term affordability and enhance communities by utilizing the Community Land Trust model. In an era of escalating home prices and stagnant wages, finding affordable housing…
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Featured | Housing Element | Learn | Perspective | Policy
Housing Elements Update
RHNA Tracking and Housing Element ImplementationJurisdictions will need significant resources to meet commitments Marin’s 6th Housing Element Cycle officially kicked off Jan 31, 2024. Although several Marin cities and towns are still finalizing their housing elements, all jurisdictions must still take action to meet their state housing goals (RHNA, the Regional Housing Needs Allocation). Every April, each jurisdiction…
