If I could turn back time, I would return to 2012, a time when nine jurisdictions in the Sacramento region had ordinances, commonly called an inclusionary housing ordinance, that required affordable housing to be built as part of new developments in Sacramento City and County, Folsom, Isleton, Sutter County, Yolo County, Davis, West Sacramento, and Winters. At the time, more than one-quarter of all inclusionary units constructed in the state were built in the Sacramento region, but several county boards and city councils changed their programs while updating their 2013–2021 state required planning document, known as a housing element.

Read the full essay by Ethan J. Evans here.