Kapuso at the Upper Yard near the Balboa BART Station has nearly double the units originally proposed because of community buy-in and a state streamlining laws. 

Neighbors advocated for more capacity at the 131-unit affordable housing development.

It has become one of the defining stories of San Francisco.

A housing project is proposed, neighbors object, the number of units is reduced — including affordable units — more parking is added, years pass and costs pile up. Sometimes the project dies altogether.

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There’s rarely a good reason behind any of this. Objections are mostly motivated by superficial protestations that a building is out of context or character. Time and money are wasted. Housing across the city becomes more unaffordable.

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Yet occasionally, something unexpected happens.

At a former commuter parking lot on San Jose Avenue, just across from the Balboa Park BART Station, Kapuso at the Upper Yard, a 131-unit affordable housing project, has risen. It was originally supposed to be 40% smaller until residents of this mostly low-density neighborhood begged the development team to go big.

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Think about how unusual that is.

About a mile from Kapuso, a proposed building on 24th and Capp streets in the Mission went from 35 units down to 20 — only two of which will be affordable — because neighborhood groups had a problem with the scale. In Bernal Heights, neighborhood opposition to low-income housing for seniors gutted a 120-unit development to 70 because it encroached on a mini-park next door.

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Kapuso, which means “one at heart” in Tagalog, was completed in 2023 after years of neighborhood advocacy and community engagement. It was the first project in San Francisco approved........

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