Infrastructure for Housing Access - California Climate and Energy Collaborative

Barrier 5: Infrastructure for Housing Access

Barrier Statement

New developments must provide for access to schools, parks, utilities, and transportation infrastructure, which can exacerbate tensions between green space conservation and density and require lengthy approval processes creating costs and delays.

Filterable Database

How communities are experiencing this barrier

View the details on what communities have shared with SLECC from across the state.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, San Joaquin Valley

In rural and unincorporated areas, the absence of essential services (including schools, utilities, transit, and food access) complicates housing approvals, increases development costs, and leaves farmworker communities traveling 30 or more miles for basic needs, with food access treated as a nonprofit responsibility rather than a public investment priority.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, San Joaquin Valley

Infrastructure requirements tied to new housing often create long delays and add costs that can make projects financially unviable. Local governments must secure approvals for utilities, schools, and transit access, and these processes can stretch for years.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley

Existing community infrastructure (parks, recreation, health facilities) in dense or working-class neighborhoods is already “in failure,” and new housing adds strain without matching investments.

Key challenge discussed in - San Joaquin Valley, Inland Deserts

Aging and capacity-constrained utility infrastructure limits housing development across the region, with the burden falling disproportionately on disadvantaged communities already facing high energy costs and limited grid access.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles

Transit and housing misalignment: Housing development often moves forward without corresponding transit investment, leaving new residents car-dependent and undermining climate and equity goals. Regional transportation funding and planning are not aligned with where new housing is being sited, resulting in persistent transit mismatches in growing areas.

Local Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by local leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

Local Solution

Integrate housing growth with climate-aligned transportation planning:
Coordinate regional transit investments with planned housing intensification—ensuring new development is paired with high-quality transit access, capturing mode-shift and climate benefits.

Existing Examples of Progress:

City of Glendale tied upzoning and density increases to Metro and rail upgrades rather than allowing housing to outpace transit.

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles

Local Solution

Integrate housing with parks, transit, and public services: Plan infill around parks, mobility, and civic infrastructure needs—mapping gaps before upzoning and investing in community services alongside new housing to build trust and reduce opposition.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles

Local Solution

Local park and green space coordination instead of project-by-project requirements: Participants directly criticize siloed park requirements and advocate coordinated citywide planning.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area

State Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by state leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

State Solution

The state should align housing, transportation, and infrastructure funding programs and streamline permitting and interconnection for energy and utility upgrades, enabling jurisdictions to pursue integrated development packages rather than navigating siloed programs with inconsistent timelines.

Existing Examples of Progress:

The Go-Biz TED Task Force (Tracking Energy Development) was cited as a state-level best practice for identifying infrastructure bottlenecks and coordinating permitting solutions for large-scale energy and housing-related projects

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Inland Deserts

State Solution

Expand investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure to accommodate population and housing growth.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Joaquin Valley, Inland Deserts

State Solution

The state should scale up energy infrastructure investment aligned with housing growth by ensuring CPUC, CEC, and LCI collaborate on regional energy forecasts and housing-ready infrastructure siting, reducing utility costs for residents and preventing grid capacity from becoming a barrier to housing development.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Joaquin Valley, Inland Deserts

Solution Spotlight

SCAG’s “Compass Blueprint” (historic regional pilot)

What: Framed as a 3% strategy: only 3% of the land base needed to densify to meet housing needs regionally. It waspraised as one of SCAG’s few plans to gain broad regional buy-in, thanks to its clarity and marketing (“easy to understand, sexy framing”). Eventually it fell out of use but remembered as a rare regional consensus-builder.

Why it matters: Early, widely understood regional framing that aligned jurisdictions around focusing growth in complete, connected places. (Not current, but frequently cited as an effective model.

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Additional Resources

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