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YIMBY: Yes In My Back Yard
We live and work in Santa Cruz County and want to see our community grow equitably and prosper sustainably, with all our neighbors housed. We promote stronger connections between homes, jobs, schools, and public transit. We advocate for our cities, the county, and the state to build more homes.
Our Mission and Platform
Mission
We envision a community where our neighbors of all ages, cultures, abilities, and incomes, can make Santa Cruz County their home. In response to the ever-increasing cost of living, we advocate for more affordable housing to meet the needs of our growing population.
Platform
Produce abundant housing now. We want homes people of all income levels can afford. We support walkable, bikeable communities by closely connecting where we live with where we work and play and go to school.
Protect renters and ensure that new developments occur without displacement and gentrification.
Respond to the climate crisis now by creating housing opportunities for Santa Cruz County's workforce near their jobs and schools.
Promote sustainable growth by increased density near transit, easier access to robust public transit, bicycle lanes, and protected pedestrian areas.
Advance policies that reduce permit processing times from months or years to weeks to build affordable homes now.
Promote equity through building affordable housing in all neighborhoods
Partners and Resources
YIMBY Action is a a 501(c)(4) organization. It is a network of pro-housing advocates fighting for more inclusive housing policies. Chapters like Santa Cruz YIMBY drive policy change to increase the supply of housing at all levels and bring down the cost of living in opportunity-rich cities and towns.
Santa Cruz YIMBY is chapter of YIMBY Action.
Santa Cruz YIMBY and YIMBY Action share a single membership platform, so you only need one membership. Membership contributions to YIMBY Action are unrestricted to use and location, but member locations like Santa Cruz YIMBY inform budgeting.
Since their founding in 2017 California YIMBY has been at the forefront of major legislative victories that will help end the housing shortage and make California a more equitable, affordable, and livable state. California YIMBY focused on education and advocacy for legislation in the State Capitol and engaging in local RHNA processes.
Housing Santa Cruz County (HSCC) is made up of individuals, nonprofit and for-profit businesses, service providers, homelessness organizations and advocates, agriculture leaders, faith-based organizations, labor leaders, financial institutions, housing professionals (architects, contractors) sustainable community leaders (transportation, environment, health, education and energy professionals) nonprofit and for-profit housing developers, local government staff and elected officials, and community leaders.
The Campaign for Fair Housing Elements is a statewide coalition of housing organizations. Pulling together resources and activists from across the state, our members are leveraging legal expertise and passionate volunteers to track cities as they adopt their Housing Elements to ensure the values of equity, inclusion, diversity, and opportunity are advanced through local housing policies.
Founder’s Statement - A Note From Evan Siroky
Santa Cruz County is in the midst of the worst housing crisis it has ever experienced. Our county is ranked among the least affordable places in the world. Santa Cruz County has gained many more people, but has failed to produce enough housing for everyone. Our housing crisis is the result of a severe housing shortage that has caused prices and rents to rise to unacceptable levels.
The amount of housing construction has fallen significantly short of where it should be to keep up with increasing population growth. Between 2007-2014 Santa Cruz County gained 21,678 more people but built only 1,690 housing units. All of Santa Cruz County jurisdictions have repeatedly failed to meet their Regional Housing Needs Allocation targets.
Housing scarcity causes all kinds of problems such as high prices and landlords being able to rent out undesirable units. If housing were more abundant, people would have more options and more affordable options while landlords would be forced to lower prices and provide better rental terms in order to compete for tenants.
The housing crisis in Santa Cruz County is part of a larger crisis throughout California. Santa Cruz YIMBY seeks to partner with other YIMBY organizations across the state to make sure every urban area is doing its part to build enough housing for everyone.