California has a severe lack of affordable homes and apartments for middle-class families,
The New York Times reports. The median cost of a home in the state has surged to $500,000—double the national cost.
A booming economy, home construction, and apartments that haven’t kept up with demand have all fueled a housing crisis throughout the state,
The New York Times reports. Home prices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, and San Diego have surged as much as 75 percent over the past five years alone.
Homelessness in California is also on the rise. In Silicon Valley, lines of parked recreational vehicles can be found with people living inside them. In Los Angeles, some local residents are reportedly installing makeshift kitchens and living in vans within quiet neighborhoods.
“The extreme rise in housing costs has emerged as a threat to the state’s future economy and its quality of life,”
The New York Times reports. “It has pushed the debate over housing to the center of state and local politics, fueling a resurgent rent control movement and the growth of neighborhood ‘Yes in My Back Yard’ organizations, battling long-established neighborhood groups and local elected officials as they demand an end to strict zoning and planning regulations.”
The state has introduced 130 housing measures this year. Among one of the most recent actions, the Senate approved a bill to crack down on communities that have delayed or derailed housing construction proposals.
The bill would restrict the ability to use zoning, environmental, and procedural laws to kill projects that may be considered “out of character” with the neighborhood. The bill is expected to be voted on again later this summer.
“The explosive costs of housing have spread like wildfire around the state,” said Scott Wiener, a Democratic senator from San Francisco who sponsored the bill. “This is no longer a coastal, elite housing problem. This is a problem in big swaths of the state. It is damaging the economy. It is damaging the environment, as people get pushed into longer commutes.”
Source: “The Cost of a Hot Economy: A Severe Housing Crisis,” The New York Times (July 17, 2017)
