FRIDAY - vice in nice

- They survived California fires -- now crisis is finding housing
- Got housing? How you can help fire refugees in the North Bay
- Survey Finds Affordability Driving Demand for Rental Housing
- Google’s downtown San Jose village “main” construction to start in 2025
- California Pending Home Sales Stall in September
- Why the Bedroom Is the New Living Room
- Your Guide to Last-Minute Halloween Prep

Enjoy!

They survived California fires -- now crisis is finding housing - Santa Rosa, a mixed-income community is about 50 miles north of San Francisco. It was one of the last vestiges of affordable housing compared with the rest of the Bay Area. The value of a typical Santa Rosa home was around $600,000, compared with San Francisco's $1.2 million and Marin County's $1 million, according to 2017 data from the National Association of Realtors. Before the fires, the city had already been grappling with severe lack of housing and a 3 percent vacancy rate.

Got housing? How you can help fire refugees in the North Bay - If you have a home to offer for the short- or long-term to a family in displaced by the fires, or just want to know where to direct folks who do, here are some county-led efforts to connect property owners to people displaced by the fire

Survey Finds Affordability Driving Demand for Rental Housing - New research released by Freddie Mac indicates that affordability and changing attitudes towards renting are playing a significant role in the growing demand for rental housing. The study finds that an increasing number of America's renters are satisfied with their living situation and consider it the most affordable option for the foreseeable future. More renters believe this despite their view that housing prices -- both to purchase and rent -- continue to rise and supply continues to tighten.

Google’s downtown San Jose village “main” construction to start in 2025 - The time frame, outlined in a city memo, is the first public indication of how long it could be before construction starts on the tech giant’s expansion, which would bring up to 20,000 employees to downtown if the plan to reshape the core of San Jose moves forward. Major construction and the “ultimate transformation” of the Diridon Station area is expected to occur from 2025-2027, according to the memo, written for San Jose’s City Council by Kim Walesh, San Jose’s director of economic development.

California Pending Home Sales Stall in September - California pending home sales dwindled for the third consecutive month, suggesting that the housing market will slow as the end of the year winds down, C.A.R. reported this week. Based on signed contracts, year-over-year statewide pending home sales dropped in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, with the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) declining 6 percent from 127.7 in September 2016 to 120.0 in September 2017. California pending home sales increased on a monthly basis, rising 2.5 percent from the August index of 117.0.

Why the Bedroom Is the New Living Room - The bedroom represents our ultimate respite. It’s our place of rest and regeneration, safety and comfort, intimacy and solitude. While the bedroom may have once existed as a space dismissed until bedtime, it’s now more than ever getting its time in the spotlight — and for good reason. Here are three reasons the bedroom is the new living room.

Your Guide to Last-Minute Halloween Prep - Here are new uses for the stuff in your Halloween stash and a few things you can pick up at the store. Some of my faves: