California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law clearing the way for the construction of more multistory apartment buildings near high-traffic mass transit stops in several major metros, part of the state’s effort to ease its severe housing crisis.
The landmark legislation, known as Senate Bill (SB) 79, updates local zoning rules to allow developers to build five- and six-story buildings in communities currently dominated by single-family homes, provided the sites are located within a quarter-mile to a half-mile from rail, subway, and bus rapid transit stops.
“For too long, California has poured billions into transit without building the housing density needed for those systems to reach their potential,” Newsom said in a written statement released by his office. “SB 79 helps change that by focusing more homes near rail stations—boosting ridership, cutting traffic and pollution, lowering household costs, and expanding access to jobs, schools, and services.”
Los Angeles real estate agent Brock Harris, with the firm Brock & Lori, applauded the move.
“SB 79 puts density where it belongs—near transit infrastructure we’ve already paid for,” Harris tells Realtor.com®.
The legislation has been nearly eight years in the making. Originally introduced by San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, in 2018, the bill faced three failed attempts before its latest version finally cleared both the state Senate and Assembly earlier this year.
A new law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom will allow for more multifamily housing near major transit hubs. (Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It’s a huge step for housing in California,” Wiener wrote on X after Newsom signed the fourth version of his bill into law last week. “It’ll create more homes, strengthen our transit systems, and reduce traffic and carbon emissions.”
The law, which will go into effect July 1, 2026, will change zoning rules in eight major California cities—Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Santa Clara, Alameda, Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Mateo—but only in neighborhoods adjacent to specific transit stops.
“This law finally aligns California’s housing policy with urban planning 101: Build homes where people can actually walk to and use public transportation,” says Harris.
SB 79 also includes provisions allowing local governments to come up with their own alternative transit-oriented development plans, as long as they can still meet minimum overall density increases over the next two to three years.
Lower-income communities will have the option to defer the law’s implementation even further to allow for more planning.
A win for YIMBY
Newsom’s signing SB 79 into law, which has been the subject of an intense political debate—and even an online betting pool—appears to underscore his alignment with the “Yes In My Back Yard” (YIMBY) movement, which has been a strong advocate for the rezoning measure.
YIMBY first emerged about 10 years ago in the Bay Area as a response to the long-standing “Not In MY Back Yard” (NIMBY) movement, which describes residents who resist new construction in their communities.
Unlike their counterparts, YIMBY activists strongly support new housing developments, especially those that promote affordability and diversity.
The group California YIMBY has been lobbying for zoning changes to boost the Golden State’s scant housing supply for years and championed the earliest version of Wiener’s bill in 2018.
Brian Hanlon, CEO of California YIMBY, praised Newsom on Friday for embracing more homebuilding.
“With his signature on SB 79, Governor Newsom cements his legacy as one of the most transformative pro-housing leaders in California history,” Hanlon said in a statement. “Now we begin the work of making sure its provisions are fully and fairly implemented.”
Critics weigh in on the new law
SB 79’s push to increase housing density in California is far from universally embraced.
Critics have argued that state-mandated rezoning rule changes would take away control from local governments and irrevocably alter the character of neighborhoods.
In September, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass added her voice to a growing chorus of advocates and activists opposing SB 79, urging Newsom to veto the bill because she said it would “erode local control, diminish community input on planning and zoning, and disproportionately impact low-resource neighborhoods,” reported LAIST.
Danna Givot, vice chair for Neighbors for a Better San Diego, a NIMBY-aligned grassroots organization, sounded a similar note, expressing concern that Sacramento was muscling in on local zoning matters.
“They are not aware of what our priorities are, of our individual transit development plans, and what works in San Diego and what doesn’t work in San Diego,” Givot recently told NBC San Diego.
Givot added that the transit-oriented zoning changes, which she argued were unnecessary, could hurt property values.
“The homeowners will suffer, the neighborhoods will suffer, there will be no infrastructure provided to support that kind of density, up to a mile from transit, and transit will continue to be subsidized because it will not have increased ridership based on the way Senate Bill 79 has been written,” Givot said.
Harris dismissed this kind of talk as “the usual NIMBY arm-waving,” contending that what California needs is “more state and federal intervention on recalcitrant city and neighborhood councils.”
But fellow L.A.-area real estate agent Victor Currie, at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, says the arguments brought up by activists opposing the law are now without merit.
“Obviously, the greater Los Angeles region needs more housing, but this law threatens to ruin the character that drew people to certain neighborhoods in the first place,” Currie tells Realtor.com.
Newsom argued that the law will bolster local control, rather than limit it. In his statement, the Democratic governor said SB 79 would allow cities and counties to craft their own plans tailored to their needs, or build on existing local policies, as long as they meet the “baseline housing capacity” required by law.
“This gives local government the tool to take ownership of outcomes, with state law serving as a backdrop if they fail to act,” Newsom stated.
Currie, however, notes that many important questions concerning the implementation of SB 79 remain unanswered, including who will foot the bill for the additional power, sewer lines, water, and other necessities.
“This region has a lot of aging infrastructure, so I wonder if we can actually support the level of development that this bill calls for,” he says.
What the new law means for California housing
Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones says SB 79 aims to address some of California’s persistent housing affordability challenges, mainly caused by an insufficient housing supply and the high cost and complexity of adding new units due to restrictive zoning laws that have constrained construction.
“By increasing housing density in high-demand, transit-accessible areas, the law could expand supply in locations where people most want to live, potentially easing pressure on rent and home prices over time,” says Jones.
The analyst adds that at least in theory, boosting home supply, reducing regulatory barriers, and using well-located but underused land near transit should create more housing options at lower price points.
However, Jones says don’t expect a new crop of budget-friendly, conveniently located apartments to spring up overnight.
“Actual construction may be slow to materialize, given rising building costs, labor shortages, and financing constraints,” she warns. “Moreover, there is no guarantee that new housing will be affordable, raising concerns about the potential for displacement or exclusion of existing communities.”
Overall, Jones says the law “represents an important step in the right direction, but not a quick fix.” Its impact will depend on how quickly developers respond, how new units are priced, and how effectively the state removes barriers to housing construction.
Harris agrees, saying that while the law may not have a significant impact on the state’s dire housing shortage, it does remove a major hurdle.
“We’ve been banning housing precisely where it makes the most sense to build,” he says.
According to Harris, developers welcome the zoning flexibility, but he stresses that the Newsom-signed bill does not solve their bigger challenges: high financing costs, labor shortages, and permitting delays.
“Los Angeles, along with a number of other major cities in California, have made it nearly impossible to build apartment buildings and expensive and risky to be a landlord or investor,” he says. “Until those fundamental barriers are rectified, bills like SB 79 will help but not solve the housing crisis.”
Currie is similarly skeptical, saying that what Los Angeles needs most is more affordable housing, but the transit hubs at the core of the new law are located in expensive areas, and simply loosening height and density limitations won’t reduce the cost of development.
“Just because it would become theoretically easier to get projects approved doesn’t mean that it’s economically viable to build anything other than luxury projects in a lot of these areas,” says the agent.
