What's the difference between California zoning bills #AB1279 and #SB50? There are many similarities (no demolitions, affordable housing) but also big differences.
- Roads vs. Trains
- Parking
- Wealthy Single Family Zones
- Low Income areas
Details in image, and in thread! 1/

The biggest difference is Location, Location, Location. #AB1279's biggest upzoning are alongside arterial roads and inside central business districts, while #SB50's biggest upzoning are next to rail stations. California has a lot more arterial roads than rail lines. 2/

To be fair, most California arterial roads have at least some bus service. That said, #AB1279's upzoning has a big catch. While height limits and density are increased, parking requirements remain the same - and many cities require 2 spaces for apartments. 3/

#AB1279 does do something that #SB50 doesn't: it legalizes apartment buildings in wealthy commercial-only zones. Such zones are common in suburbs and currently are used for malls and office parks. 4/

Even with commercial-only zones included #AB1279's upzoning yields fewer units. In wealthy "high-resource" single family zones, #AB1279 only allows 2-story 4plexes, while #SB50 allows full-sized apartment buildings within the existing height limit. 5/

Speaking of 4plexes, #SB50 would allow them statewide (except on farms, wildfire zones, coastal zones, etc) while #AB1279 would only allow them in the high resource zones. 6/

Another big difference is how the bills approach low income communities. #AB1279 leaves them alone entirely, while #SB50 sets a timeline for a 5-year community process where existing residents provide input on how their neighborhood should be rezoned. 7/

Where are the bills as of today? Neither made it out of committee in 2019, but can still be passed in 2020. #SB50's sponsor, Scott Wiener, has said he will work on bringing SB50 to a vote in 2020. 8/

The #SB50 coalition is led by YIMBY organizations and has since been joined by the CA Labor Federation, AARP, League of Women Voters, Non Profit Housing Association of NorCal, League of Conservation Voters, and others. 9/

Meanwhile, #AB1279 endorsements include the California Democratic Party and Tenants Together. Some anti-gentrification activists who are skeptical of SB50 like AB1279 because it only affects wealthy areas. (The CA Dems have not taken a position on SB50 yet) 10/

As one might expect, a number of suburban cities oppose both SB50 and AB1279. As for Berkeley, back in July the city passed a resolution to support AB1279 and has not taken a position on SB50 yet. 11/

Note that these two bills are not mutually exclusive, the state could pass both.
For the current text of the bills:
AB1279: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1279
SB50: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB50
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