Nov 12, 2026 · 22 min
San Diego turns permitting speed into a housing strategy
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria on driving housing development at a local level
The episode shows how local leaders can use deadlines, measurement, and administrative discipline to expand housing while confronting affordability and opposition.
- 1San Diego cut average permit processing to about nine days by pairing firm deadlines with staffing, tracking, and accountability.
- 2Todd Gloria argues mayors should judge housing policies by measurable outcomes, including affordability, production, and reduced homelessness.
- 3Predictable approvals can attract development, but cities still need more affordable, middle-income, rental, condo, and entry-level ownership housing.
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Gloria explains that San Diego’s average permit processing time fell to about nine days after the city imposed a 30-day review requirement for affordable housing projects.
The brief
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria makes housing a whole-of-government priority, linking faster production to affordability, homelessness, and the city’s long-term ability to retain working- and middle-class residents.
The city required affordable housing projects to receive decisions within 30 days, then expanded the approach to transit-oriented development; average processing time fell to about nine days.
Gloria credits electronic submissions, but says staffing, clear expectations, bottleneck tracking, and accountability mattered more than technology alone in changing permitting performance.
He frames opposition around public outcomes rather than neighborhood resistance, arguing that elected officials should measure whether policies lower rents, reduce homelessness, and produce needed homes.
San Diego’s state-assigned goal is 108,000 homes over roughly eight years, while Gloria’s personal benchmark is returning to about 15,000 homes annually across a broader mix of housing.
His advice to mayors is operational: know the numbers, resource the work, publish progress, and give developers enough certainty to treat a city as a viable place to invest.
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