About

About this site

Independent learning portal about California SB 79, focused on Palo Alto. Phase one is the explainer and FAQ. Phase two will be ongoing coverage as the law actually plays out.

Who runs this

A Palo Alto resident, YIMBY-leaning, who wanted to actually understand SB 79 and help neighbors do the same. Framing is sourced and fair; positions where I have one are stated directly.

What this site is, and isn't

• Is: an explainer of the law, a local-impact summary, an FAQ, and (in progress) ongoing coverage of how it lands.
• Isn't: legal advice, a lobbying organization, or an official source. For binding interpretations, consult the bill text or a land-use attorney.

How "tier" claims on this site work

Per the HCD MPO advisory (March 20, 2026), Caltrain is classified as commuter rail. Each station is Tier 1 if it gets ≥72 trains per weekday averaged across both directions; otherwise Tier 2.

We pulled Caltrain's GTFS feed and computed the per-station counts: University Ave 104, Cal Ave 90, San Antonio 90. All three Tier 1. The full methodology and raw data are on the tier analysis page. The official map still comes from ABAG/MTC in mid-2026 with a rebuttable presumption of validity.

Sources

• Bill text — leginfo (Gov. Code §§65912.155–65912.162)
• HCD — SB 79 TOD page
• HCD MPO advisory (PDF, March 20, 2026)
• California YIMBY — SB 79 overview
• Sen. Wiener — Newsom signs SB 79
• Holland & Knight — legal analysis
• Allen Matkins — legal alert
• Palo Alto Daily Post — 7-story buildings near Caltrain
• Palo Alto Online — housing bill jolts downtown plans
• Palo Alto Online — downtown plan paused (Nov 2025)
• Palo Alto Online — rezoning to limit SB 79 impacts
• The full machine-readable list lives at assets/data/sources.json

License & reuse

Content is free to reuse with attribution. The site is plain HTML/CSS/JS — fork it for your own city.