Universities trying to build more housing have run into pushback from residents and environmentalists concerned about the impact on surrounding communities.Ronald Reagan and requires state agencies to analyze the environmental impact of proposed projects and mitigate potential damage.development, which would include four academic buildings and at least 200 beds, would bring gentrification throughout Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood.
But advocacy groups opposing the measure call it a blow to vital environmental regulation that fails to address the fundamental causes of the student housing crisis — poor planning by universities and insufficient investment. “The party harmed here will be the general public,” Schoellhamer said. “Over time, the result of that will be greater public animosity toward the university.”
Senate Bill 886 is co-sponsored by the student governments of UC and the California Community Colleges, California YIMBY, the California Faculty Association and the State Building and Construction Trades Council. The Student Housing Coalition, a new organization that sprung up at UC Santa Cruz in 2021 in the hopes of finding solutions to the campus’s housing crisis, is also a co-sponsor.
“I remember my first day of class, one kid was talking about how he wasn’t able to sign a lease on time. And he was a junior, so he couldn’t get housing on campus, and that meant he had to commute over two hours each way just to come to this one discussion session because he was living with his parents in Redwood City,” Ulyate-Crow recalled.