California's Supreme Court dealt a victory on Monday for the city of San Jose's quest for more affordable housing.
In 2008, San Jose passed a law requiring developers to price 15 percent of units in new multifamily buildings for low- and moderate-income families.
Builders challenged the law saying it passed the cost of building affordable units squarely onto their industry.
But the court disagreed, with Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye writing that cities have the "general broad discretion to regulate the use of real property to serve the legitimate interests of the general public and the community at large."
Southern California Public Radio's Josie Huang recapped the ruling, and Stuart Gabriel, director of UCLA's Ziman Center for Real Estate, explained whether laws like these could have a real impact on the state's housing crisis.