The data in aggregate

By the numbers

Every case in this database is a specific building that didn't get built. Taken together, they reveal a pattern — the same mechanisms, the same outcomes, the same costs, repeating across California. Here is what the documented record adds up to.

95,011
homes proposed across documented projects
105
cumulative years of delay (1,265 months)
$487M
documented cost of delay, across 10 cases where measured
52
fully researched cases

Plus 14,876 geocoded permit records from California HCD data and 46 housing-law court cases tracked separately. California Forever, a speculative 173,913-unit new-city proposal, is tracked as a case but excluded from the homes-proposed total above.

How housing gets stopped

The mechanisms, by frequency

Across 52 researched projects, these are the legal and procedural tools invoked to block or delay them. A single project is often obstructed by several at once.

California Environmental Quality Act28 uses
Discretionary Review24 uses
Builder's Remedy21 uses
Height and Density Limits12 uses
Voter Approval Requirements (Measure J/R and similar)11 uses
Historic Preservation Designation5 uses
Downzoning4 uses
SB 35 Ministerial Streamlining3 uses
Design Review2 uses
Development Moratoriums2 uses
Parking Minimums1 uses

What happened to them

Outcomes

The status of each tracked project as of the last update.

Litigated12 projects
Withdrawn10 projects
Stalled9 projects
Approved7 projects
In Review6 projects
Denied3 projects
Under Construction3 projects
Disputed1 projects
On Ballot1 projects

Where the homes were lost

Homes proposed, by region

Total units across documented projects in each part of the state. Excludes California Forever, tracked separately.

Bay Area49,332 homes
SoCal42,767 homes
Sacramento2,327 homes
Central Coast585 homes

Number of cases by region

Bay Area29 cases
SoCal16 cases
Central Coast4 cases
Sacramento3 cases

When they were filed

Cases by year

The year each tracked project was filed or entered the public record.

20131 cases
20152 cases
20171 cases
20183 cases
20216 cases
202210 cases
20238 cases
20249 cases
20252 cases

These numbers grow as more cases are researched and verified. Each one began as a real proposal for real homes.

Explore the casesSubmit a project