Here’s a summary of this week’s coverage of California’s affordable housing crisis.
Featuring stories from the Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, East Bay Times, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Mercury News, Los Angeles Daily News, San Francisco Chronicle, and Washington Post.
He thought his housing voucher would get him off the streets. He was wrong
Sacramento Bee
Henry Butler, homeless and desperate, thought he had won the housing lottery when he learned this spring that he would be getting a voucher that would cover most of his rent in the apartment or home of his choice. But after more than four months of scouring Sacramento County for a place to live, Butler has come up empty. “I’ve applied to more than 60 places, and no one will rent to me,” he said. “What good is a housing voucher when everyone tells you no?” https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/homeless/article217887805.html
If you’re a renter, odds are you’re paying more. See just how much more
Fresno Bee
Apartment rent prices were on the rise in Fresno compared to a year ago, with the average monthly cost in August more than 5 percent higher than last summer. A recent analysis by RENTCafe.com surveyed market-rate rents for apartment complexes with more than 50 units in 252 large- and medium-sized cities across the U.S., including 62 in California. The analysis did not cover apartment properties with fewer than 50 units, nor did it include affordable housing for low-income families or single-family homes that are rented to tenants.https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article217889795.html
Local procedures hamper housing development, Bay Area legislator says
East Bay Times
California cities and counties need to give up some control of the housing approval process if the state is going to solve its housing shortage, state Sen. Scott Wiener said Thursday, Sept. 6, at a Realtor housing conference in Los Angeles. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates California has a shortfall of at least 2 million homes, leading to less affordable housing and increased homelessness, the San Francisco Democrat said at a California Association of Realtors housing summit in Century City. https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/09/07/local-procedures-hamper-housing-development-legislator-says/
The financial crisis cost Sonoma County a decade of new housing
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Ten years ago this week, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., one of the world’s largest investment banks, sought protection from its creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Lower Manhattan, just four blocks from the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street. That moment is generally viewed as the shock that inflamed the worst financial crisis in the United States since the bank panics of the early 1900s and the Great Depression.https://www.pressdemocrat.com/business/8617695-181/the-financial-crisis-cost-sonoma
In the Bay Area’s housing shortage, even Stanford University struggles to provide shelter
Mercury News
The Stanford campus before the start of the fall quarter is a maze of orange cones, chain link fences and heavy equipment raising new high-rise apartments. The housing will add 2,400 new beds for graduate students in 10-story towers on the east side of campus. In a neighborhood adjacent to campus, faculty and their families are moving into University Terrace, a new, amenity-packed community of 180 single-family homes and condominiums. The additions will expand housing options for the existing university population and enable Stanford to house about 75 percent of its graduate students. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/09/08/in-housing-shortage-even-a-heavyweight-struggles-to-provide-shelter/
Opinion: A generation plans an exodus from California
Los Angeles Daily News
California is the great role model for America, particularly if you read the Eastern press. Yet few boosters have yet to confront the fact that the state is continuing to hemorrhage people at a higher rate, with particular losses among the family-formation age demographic critical to California’s future. Since the recovery began in 2010, California’s net domestic out-migration, according to the American community survey, has almost tripled to 140,000 annually. Over that time, the state has lost half a million net migrants with the bulk of that coming from the Los Angeles-Orange County area. https://www.dailynews.com/2018/09/08/a-generation-plans-an-exodus-from-california/
Gov. Brown Signs Bill Creating OC Homeless Housing Agency
Voice of OC
Orange County is on track to form a regional agency to build housing units aimed at helping curb the growing homeless crisis after Gov. Jerry Brown signed key legislation Tuesday. “I think what’s important are the next steps. Mainly, how many cities will participate in the new venture and can they effectively coordinate with the county government. So, that remains to be seen — I am hopeful. There have been expressions of support from many cities already, including most of the larger cities,” said Assemblyman Tom Daly (D-Anaheim) in a Tuesday phone interview. Daly, along with Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton), introduced the legislation in May, nearly three months after the county cleared the Santa Ana Riverbed homeless camp. https://voiceofoc.org/2018/09/gov-brown-signs-bill-creating-oc-homeless-housing-agency/
Teachers getting help to buy homes in California’s hot housing market
EdSource
The school year has gotten off to an exciting start for Kennedy High Digital Arts teacher Mitzi Perez, who with her fiancé recently moved into their first home in the district where she teaches during the same week she welcomed new students into her classroom. They bought the $510,000 house in Richmond in the East Bay with down payment money lent to them through a state program for school employees.https://edsource.org/2018/teachers-are-buying-houses-in-their-districts-with-help-from-california-and-local-programs/602153
Stores keep closing. Bay Area retailers still can’t find workers
San Francisco Chronicle
With brick-and-mortar stores closing at an alarming pace, you’d think there would be a glut of workers with retail skills pounding the pavement. But a national surplus of such workers has almost dissipated since the beginning of this year, and a shortage has developed in some markets, most notably the Bay Area, according to a LinkedIn report released Tuesday. “Hiring in the retail industry may only be up 0.5 percent from last August, but employer demand for retail workers is surging, belying the ‘retail apocalypse’ narrative that’s dominated in recent years,” the report said. https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Stores-keep-closing-Bay-Area-retailers-still-13222075.php#photo-16151801
One answer to the lack of affordable apartments might begin at home
Washington Post
For Megan Klepp, the small, two-bedroom unit she and her husband built in their back yard behind their 2,000-square-foot cottage-style house in Portland, Ore., represents a much-needed source of income now — and financial security well into the future. They currently rent out the 800-square-foot unit to a friend to live in, with a long-term goal of occupying it themselves and renting out their main house to help finance their retirement. In doing so, Klepp is taking advantage of efforts by states and municipalities across the nation to ease long-standing restrictions on so-called accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, allowing homeowners to earn extra cash and renters to find housing in communities where the shortage of affordable apartments has reached crisis levels. https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/one-answer-to-the-lack-of-affordable-apartments-might-begin-at-home/2018/09/12/ef02e682-9025-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html?utm_term=.5a141446f1a8
Affordable housing a growing problem in San Joaquin County
Stockton Record
For about five years, Toni McNeil shared a home with her grown daughter near University of the Pacific with rent set at a tolerable $1,195 a month. It was a comfortable arrangement in a nice neighborhood with a landlord happy to have reliable tenants. But early in 2017, McNeil’s daughter moved to be closer to her job in Galt. So with her fragile rental arrangement upended, McNeil found herself looking for a new home where she could afford the rent by herself. McNeil ended up sharing a north Stockton apartment with a woman who was looking for a roommate who would pay a portion of the $1,750 rent.https://www.recordnet.com/news/20180912/affordable-housing-growing-problem-in-san-joaquin-county
If California doesn’t address housing crisis, businesses and residents will flee
Sacramento Bee
As I head into my second month as president and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, one of my top priorities has been to meet with a wide variety of stakeholders, not just our business members, but educational institutions, nonprofits and strategic partners who all want a robust Los Angeles region. In seeking to understand their goals and challenges, a common theme has emerged – the heavy burden that our state’s lack of affordable housing is placing upon their future. https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article218348455.html
Concerned about California’s housing crisis? In November, you can make a difference
Sacramento Bee
Tonight, more than 130,000 Californians will go to sleep homeless. That’s enough to fill Dodger Stadium, AT&T Park and Petco Park. The figure alone is a tragedy, but it’s just the tip of a much larger housing crisis facing our state. For every one of our neighbors living on the street, 10 more are one missed paycheck, accident or illness away from homelessness. The biggest culprit is rising housing costs. From 2000 to 2014, median rent in California increased by more than one-third, while real incomes for renters fell by 7 percent. https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article218260875.html
