The fact that California is facing one of the worst housing affordability crises in the history of the United States is, by now, well documented. The San Francisco Bay Area the birthplace of some of America’s greatest technological and social achievements – is widely regarded as the epicenter of the crisis, regularly breaking historical precedents in terms of home values, supply and rental growth. What is less clear is the far-reaching repercussions of the crisis on a local level, including on business confidence, talent acquisition and retention, social mobility, public health, diversity, social cohesion and political engagement. The Department of Housing and Community Development estimates that we need to build 180,000 new housing units a year, or 1.8 million by 2025, to keep prices stable. Over the past 10 years, California has averaged less than half of that. McKinsey’s 2016 report, A Tool Kit to Close California’s Housing Gap: 3.5 Million Homes by 2025 puts the estimated housing deficit even higher at as much as 3.5 million.