Ben Christopher

Reporter for @CalMatters where I cover housing. Occasional dad tweets. He/him. Tell me things: [email protected]

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

Annnnnd that's my cue to exist.

I'll leave this account live for now to check DMs every so often, but I don't plan to post here anymore.

You can find me on Meta's Twitter at benc_cm.

Appreciate you all!

[CalMatters @CalMatters]

Breaking: The California Supreme Court gave the greenlight for UC Berkeley to build student and homeless housing at People’s Park, ending a years-long legal debate over whether student noise is an environmental pollutant. https://t.co/X3icWaKm48

📝 @FromBenC
📸 Semantha Norris

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

@mottsmith @mnolangray @CSElmendorf @CalMatters When I spoke to Terry & Andrew, they said they are hoping for voucher holders, but that the projects pencil w/o any. Others, like Steven Scheibe, said he isn't counting on them at all and that it would be hard to get a bank to underwrite based on that assumption. But we'll see!

[CalMatters @CalMatters]

If you’ve thought about buying a house, perused your local listings and then deleted the Zillow app from your phone while quietly weeping — you’ve probably noted that interest rates are high these days. https://t.co/kNF5jBoDml

📝 @FromBenC

[Foon Rhee @foonrhee]

Today's @CalMatters newsletter @FromBenC
-- @CAREALTORS on home prices
-- @carolynjones100 + @ericayee_ on @CADeptEd test scores
-- @AlejandroLazo on @AirResources on #methane from cows
-- @JeanneKuang on #tinyhomes
https://t.co/gLuEAtJOVF

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

@mattunrath Both parents were in the room, otherwise I would not have trusted I'd heard that right!

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

After deeming Toddler healthy and physically average, Doctor tells us to limit our two year old's meals to TWO TABLESPOONS.

Fixating on a demonstrably low risk of obesity while ignoring the health consequences of a lifetime of body image issues.

Docs: get your shit together.

[CalMatters @CalMatters]

Breaking: California’s COVID-era $5.2 billion rent relief program is at risk of running out of money. That could leave the more than 100K renters who had applied and are still awaiting a decision officially out of luck. https://t.co/XkPC7SBwOr

📝 @frombenc

[POLITICO @politico]

Caltrans official says she was demoted for objecting to highway expansion https://t.co/AOteHi4D4o

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

...can it, though?

Good write up here from my new colleague @bystellayu

https://t.co/1OOBIFOBPp

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

To everyone who hasn't yet realized I'm now on the housing beat and is still emailing me about election stuff, please kindly re-direct those emails to Stella and say hello!

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

Just weeks ago, Newsom dismissed the prospect of appointing Sen. Feinstein's replacement as "a hypothetical on top of a hypothetical."

From @akoseff: "That hypothetical is now real."

https://t.co/HUseVtAlWj

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

@VivaLaPanda_ 😐

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

The uber exclusive Bay Area burb of Atherton is having a tough time finding room for all the new houses the state is forcing them to plan for.

One reason why: City council won't consider anything with more than 10 units per acre.

https://t.co/lIC0I38vxA

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

@SteierMisha Great question. I don't know.

But here's a wild stat from one of the appendices: The tax bill on an SF home owned for the avg duration is higher than the tax bills on NEW homes in most of the cities in the sample.

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

@catrionastew That does not make me feel better.

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

I dunno, I feel like ADHD might not be the main culprit here.

https://t.co/c0AHpJHTmB

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

@landpolicy Reminds me of this stellar 2018 story by CalMatters' former housing reporter that profiles a two homeowners on a single block in Oakland. One was paying $13k per year in property taxes. The other, $7k.

https://t.co/KF9aYJd8ex

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

A study by @landpolicy on how much property taxes vary within cities. Here's a chart showing the diff btw taxes paid on newly purchased homes and homes owned the median length of time in that city. Thanks to Prop 13 and soaring real estate values, CA cities dominate the top 10.

[Ben Christopher @FromBenC]

@landpolicy A link to the study: https://t.co/WIuFPcbq0c