In a Substack essay from earlier in the year, urban planner and housing expert M. Nolan Gray takes aim at one of the most iconic and misunderstood policies in California history: Proposition 13. Originally passed in 1978 as a way to protect homeowners from soaring property taxes, the measure has since warped the state’s housing market, widened inequality and weakened local public services.
Gray’s piece, How Proposition 13 Broke California, explores how this well-intentioned reform locked in low property tax rates for longtime owners, discouraged housing turnover and helped create the affordability crisis Californians face today. By kneecapping municipal budgets, it also forced cities to chase revenue through development fees and commercial projects—often at the expense of housing.
This is a must-read for anyone trying to understand why California, despite its wealth and innovation, remains so deeply challenged when it comes to building enough homes.
