Today, the 2024-2025 Marin County Civil Grand Jury (Grand Jury) released a report titled “The Worrisome Future of Marin Housing — NIMBY Resistance Takes a Backseat to Economic Reality.”
California’s high cost of living, particularly housing expenses, is a major concern for its residents. In 2023, a significant 40% of Californians considered leaving the state due to these costs. Marin County stands out with the third-highest median home price across all California counties, making it a focal point for the state’s housing crisis.
The Grand Jury investigated how Marin’s housing jurisdictions (its cities, towns, and the County of Marin) are addressing the housing crunch by developing new housing as mandated by the California Regional Housing Needs Allocation program. It’s widely understood that increasing the housing supply, even market-rate units, helps alleviate housing costs across all income levels.
While the Grand Jury acknowledges that most Marin jurisdictions are making good faith efforts to implement their housing plans, the Grand Jury concludes that most, if not all of Marin’s jurisdictions, will fall short of achieving the state-mandated new housing goals for the current planning cycle of 14,405 building permits across Marin’s 12 housing jurisdictions.
The report is available on the Grand Jury website:
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