Berkeley is directed by State of California law to build
8,934 new housing units between January, 2023, and January, 2031.  

We're mapping our progress.

And building a  Berkeley Civic Data  class

Using this Jupyter computational notebook as part of a set 
for public access

And this

And this

Here are the steps in the Berkeley building process

Berkeley now has 55,031 housing units for our 124,000 population.  We've permitted almost 1,654 units in the past two years, leaving roughly 7,280 units to over the next 5 years. Dorms don't count.
Developers do.

As of December 31, 2025, almost 6,000 new housing units are in the Berkeley pipeline.  How can we analyze our progress in affordability, in our retail economy, in our neighborhood quality of life for all of us that live or work in Berkeley?

Look at these daily updates to Berkeley permits showing the most recent permits issued, where they are, and what the architect's design looks like. Look at the new candidate for Berkeley's tallest building...34 stories at 2190 Shattuck.

We're building new data tools to understand our city housing, our shops, and neighborhoods

Actual new housing built impacts our neighborhoods and the businesses in our shopping districts.  What is built depends on the ever-changing interaction of new State housing laws and new Berkeley City zoning regulations, but depends more on building costs, interest rates, rent and lease terms, and the decisions of property owners and developers.

 Developers, those that build new housing, can use new State laws that streamline City zoning requirements. They may apply for city permits to build that must be granted if they satisfy simple requirements, and, by State law, they must receive those permits in 90 days.

Read about the San Francisco Marina Safeway project: Dec 9, 2025

On Thursday, November 20, 2025, the California State Assembly created a new initiative to measure what actual effect new  laws, specifically a California Middle Class Housing Act, AB2011, actually have on housing

How  we can use Berkeley data science to understand and measure Berkeley housing, neighborhoods, and shops. using our groundbreaking Middle Housing Initiative

 
Middle Housing Zoning changes go into effect November 1, 2025.

Berkeley's state-mandated goal requires the city to pass city ordinances -- the Housing Element (2023–2031) -- to establish goals, policies, programs and incentives to meet existing and future housing needs while increasing affordable and equitable housing opportunities.

Ordinances and laws do not build housing.  A mixture of incentives, financial support, and decreased regulation might lead developers to invest.

We can measure our progress in Berkeley's housing, economy, and quality of life