Sacramento plans village of tiny homes for homeless
As Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a flurry of pro-housing bills fast-tracking residential development across California last week, plans for a new village of tiny homes in a vacant Sacramento park were already underway.
Sacramento is one of nine locations where state housing officials are placing tiny homes as part of a program to boost free housing for homeless Californians by the end of the year, the governor’s office announced in a statement.
As part of the initiative, Sacramento will host two sites for tiny homes, according to Newsom’s office: Cal Expo, near the site of the California State Fair, and a vacant office park on Stockton Boulevard.
At least 175 tiny homes for homeless people will be available at the south Sacramento office park, near a boarded-up building in the city’s Little Saigon neighborhood, the Sacramento Bee reported.
With 5,000 people living on its streets, Sacramento has a larger unsheltered homeless population than does San Francisco.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg applauded the creation of the tiny home village, calling it a “model for the rest of the state.”
“Residents will be embedded in a community wellness campus specializing in substance abuse disorder treatment and mental health care,” Steinberg said in a statement announcing the village. “This combination of housing and assertive treatment is the recipe for helping our unhoused neighbors and providing relief to our neighborhoods.”
The tiny home village is one of nine developments intended to house homeless populations across the state, the governor’s office said. The state has committed to buying at least 1,200 homes for the developments, which are also planned for Fresno, Los Angeles, Modesto, San Buenaventura (Ventura County), San Diego and Visalia (Tulare County), with multiple villages in some cities.
The announcement follows the conclusion of the 2023 legislative session in which Newsom signed a series of far-reaching laws intended to speed up housing construction.
Among the YIMBY-approved laws Newsom signed is state Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB423, allowing housing projects with at least 50% affordable units to bypass the typical environmental review and planning approval process. The governor also signed a bill making it easier for churches to build affordable housing and approved a funding mechanism for replacing San Francisco homes destroyed during urban renewal.