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As California home builders, public and private, look back on this debilitating recessionary time, what lessons will they carry forward into a recovering economy? The Real Story asked Liz Snow, CEO of the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) about any silver linings on her horizon.

She thinks that builders a year from now will be more optimistic, responding to new market realities of consumers who might well be looking for smaller, greener, closer-in homes. As California’s demographic profile changes, so will the consumers’ wants and needs. With the Boomers working longer, and their Millennial offspring entering the home market in growing numbers, what is the California home going to look like? And where, in the land-constrained Bay Area, are they going to build?

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It’s been a year since the announcement of stimulus money to be directed at getting construction and housing projects started in California. Last year’s hopefulness has turned to this year’s understanding that such programs are slow in building momentum, slow to reflect change.

Liz Snow, CEO of the Building Industry Association (CBIA), has a statewide perspective on the recovery of the major markets, and sees some activity starting back up in San Diego, one of the first-hurt and most deeply depressed areas in the state.  Other rays of hope are visible in Orange County and the Bay Area.

BREAKING NEWS
As The Real Story is getting ready to post, a story came in, announcing that Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said today that government-backed mortgage institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “are likely to be abolished… and replaced with a new system for housing finance”.  These entities are currently being run by federal regulators in response to mounting losses on loans nation-wide. Stay tuned for more news on proposed reforms and commentary on their potential to reshape the mortgage side of the real estate equation.

Always on the hunt for free, fun family fare, The Real Story happened upon Happy Zoo Year 2010, a month-long event that ends on Sunday at the San Francisco Zoo <sfzoo.org>. One child (ages 4-14) is admitted free with one paid adult admission. There IS a requirement for entry: the child must bring a “color the penguin” sheet, available through the zoo’s web site, or a hand-colored picture of their favorite animal. Fun!

Located on The Great Highway at Sloat Blvd., the zoo is home to 250 species of animals—including Hasani (pictured above), the adorable baby gorilla. Born in December of 2008, Hasani was rejected by his birth mother and hand-raised for months by staff until a surrogate was found. Since their introduction last April, Hasani’s surrogate mother has helped him integrate back into the zoo’s gorilla colony in the Jones Family Gorilla Preserve. It’s fun to see Hasani thriving and interacting well with his entire group.

Nearby is the three-acre Africa Savanna exhibit, home to many species of African birds, mammals and plants. The zoo also features Grizzly Gulch, Penguin Island, Koala Crossing and other popular habitat exhibits. In all—a fascinating outing.

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This week, Liz Snow of the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) is talking to The Real Story about some of the challenges facing new home builders across the state. With the adoption of new green building standards, California will take center stage as home builders demonstrate their commitment to innovation and energy conservation—as Liz puts it, the equivalent of having the entire auto industry moving toward producing hybrids.

But what about all of those energy-guzzling existing homes, especially those built before dual-paned windows and serious insulation became standard with the passage of Title 24 pack in the late 1970’s? Liz comments that there are “inappropriate expectations” that new home construction will somehow make up for the 12 – 15 million existing homes that do not offer the basics in energy efficiency. To complicate the matter, the state Public Utilities Commission oversees the upgrading of the existing housing stock and the State Energy Commission is in charge of standards for new homes— opening the metaphorical door for conflicts in the regulatory environment.

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California’s legislators have been talking about water for years. . . who has it, who wants it, where we store it, how we treat it. But only now does it look like a proposal for a landmark piece of legislation is ready for public viewing. Today, Liz Snow, CEO of the California Building Industry Association (CBIA), talks about the long road toward creating new statewide standards for one of the state’s long-unresolved issues.

The idea of being less weather-dependent for regional planning, for starters, sounds great.  Ditto on having a comprehensive approach toward ground water cleanup. Storage? It’s in the plan. So is a strong movement toward more regional decision-making. Could it be that our governor and state legislators are willing to admit that we’re all in this together?

Anyone who’s tried to make a 6:30 dinner date in the City from Contra Costa knows it well: the reverse-commute backup at the Caldecott Tunnel. Inching along as thousands of vehicles merge into two lanes has been part of the Highway 24 experience for decades. But, with the groundbreaking for a long-awaited fourth bore last week, the days of delays may be numbered.

The Caldecott’s first two bores—and a total of four lanes of traffic—opened in 1937. A third bore was added to ease congestion in 1964, and the traffic used four lanes in the commute direction, two to accommodate the counter-commute. The direction of the middle bore was switched from westbound in the morning to eastbound in the afternoon. Back-ups in the off-peak direction began in the 1970’s.

With some 160,000 vehicles per day currently using the Caldecott and significant increases projected in the coming decades, a more permanent solution was clearly needed. According to a fact sheet by the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, the fourth bore will improve mobility for motorists and emergency crews, reduce delays and improve travel times, and eliminate the need for daily tunnel reversals and lane mergers.

The $420 million project, which is expected to create 5,000 to 6,000 jobs, is currently the nation’s largest recipient of federal stimulus money for construction of infrastructure. The new bore is expected to be 3,389 feet long with completion scheduled for 2014.

So the next time the back-up is past the Orinda crossroads, take heart: there’s relief at the end of the tunnel. To follow the project’s progress, bookmark www.caldecott-tunnel.org

Resources:
www.caldecott-tunnel.org
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/23/BAE81BMB3N.DTL
cbs5.com/local/caldecott.tunnel.fourth.2.1338454.html

Photo courtesy of Pegship