<a href="http://www.buttehomelesscoc.com/uploads/1/1/7/5/117500423/impacts_of_public_safety_approach_to_homelessness_community_report_2017.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Impacts of Chico's Public Safety Approach to Homelessness: Initial Analyses (2017</a>)
This is a 25 page pdf study conducted by an interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff at CSU Chico. There is an executive summary on page 24-25.
Municipalities around the country are increasingly concerned about a rise in homelessness. While there are various approaches to this issue, many cities are using public safety laws and resources to mitigate the effects of a growing homeless population. The analyses contained in this report examine the costs of these ordinances, as well as other implications, such as the geography of arrests.
The analyses contained in this report examine the costs of these ordinances, as well as other implications, such as the geography of arrests. In the analysis, we focus on the sit-lie ordinance and its implementation (December 19, 2013), mainly due to the high level of public and media attention surrounding the ordinance. We focus exclusively on the implications and costs borne by the City of Chico’s Police Department. Other agencies, such as the Butte County Sherriff’s Office also incur substantial costs entailed with policing the homeless population.
To understand the law enforcement implications, we employ a natural experiment comparing law enforcement data preceding and following enforcement of the sit-lie ordinance. Specifically, we explored arrests and citations data between Jan. 1, 2010 and June 30, 2016, with enforcement of sit-lie occurring on December 19, 2013. Over the specified period 26.5% of the arrests in the data are associated with individuals experiencing homelessness.
Jennifer Wilking
Department of Political Science
CSU
Susan Roll
School of Social Work
CSU
David Philhour
Department of Psychology
College of BSS
CSU
Chico
Peter Hansen
Department of Geography
Geographic Information Center
CSU
Chico
Holly Nevarez
Department of Health and Community Services
CSU, Chico
<a href="http://www.buttehomelesscoc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Butte Continuum of Care</a>
May 2017
PDF
English
City of Chico - California
<a href="https://medium.com/charis-research/some-facts-about-homelessness-in-the-oc-and-affordable-homes-in-irvine-babd10b4b019" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Some Facts About Homelessness in the OC and Affordable Housing in Irvine</a>
In March 2018 the Orange County Board of Supervisors, California, voted to use land that it owns in the City of Irvine near the Great Park, to erect temporary housing shelters for people vacated from the Santa Ana Riverbed (Santa Ana Skid River). The Irvine City Council held an emergency meeting on March 20, 2018. They listened to public comments and subsequently decided to go into litigation to stop the County from following its plan. Many stereotypes, mis-statements, and myths were casually thrown out by vociferous city residents on the social media NextDoor. There was “outrage” and protesting. They didn’t want the “homeless addicts housed near our homes,” people who “choose to be homeless,” “have refused services and continue to live a life of crime and drugs!” The original post on NextDoor was edited and blogged in an attempt to inspire Irvine residents to become informed, kind neighbors.
The 4-min blog post explains the economic reasons for homelessness and contains the definitive links to understand homeless and housing in the OC, including Irvine. The ground-breaking United Way/UCI/Jamboree Housing study, The Cost of Homelessness, and other important resources that explain the extreme housing shortages are all linked.
Anita Coleman
March 22, 2018
Orange County - California
<a href="https://legacy.cityofirvine.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=8842" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">City of Irvine Housing Strategy and Implementation Plan</a>
[This is a great report to understand Irvine's visionary housing development, and principles and implementations such as inclusionary zoning and the Irvine Community Land Trust].
From the Executive Summary: The cost of housing is very high in Orange County, and particularly so in desirable areas like the City of Irvine. The median price of a single-family home in Irvine is now $800,000, higher than the Orange County average ($707,000) and much higher than the overall average for California ($538,770).
Since its incorporation in 1971, the City of Irvine has been a leader in Orange County and in Southern California in the creation of a full spectrum of housing opportunities, including affordable housing. The City has provided inclusionary incentives locally and has also provided funding for various affordable housing projects over the years. As a result, the City now has 4,400 units of affordable housing, of which 3,155 were created through its inclusionary program and another 1,245 through HUD-assisted projects. Unfortunately, many of these affordable housing units are now at risk of losing their affordability due to expiring controls, restrictions and/or subsidies.
The recent annexation of the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station property, and the City’s subsequent creation of a Redevelopment Agency with El Toro as its project area, has created a new and significant opportunity for future affordable housing. The build out of the residential portion of this property, together with the continuing build out of the rest of the City, will provide the City with the ability to create a significant number of new affordable housing units.
To capitalize on this opportunity, the City of Irvine hired CivicStone, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in affordable housing, to develop a housing strategy for the City. This report represents the culmination of this work.
Civic Stone
City of Irvine
Adopted March 14, 2006
Amended June 24, 2014
Amended November 10, 2015
<a href="https://legacy.cityofirvine.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=8842" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://legacy.cityofirvine.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=8842</a>
A Regional Perspective, ACC-OC United to End Homelessness
Permanent Supportive Housing
The Association of California Cities–Orange County (ACC-OC) represents the interests of Orange County cities on regional public policy issues. The Association believes in education that empowers, policy development that is collaborative, and advocacy that is service orientated. Homeless is best solved regionally and the Association is working to hard build a regional coalition that can work collaboratively to solve it; finance and funding projects, and business planning for the development of 2700 permanent supportive units that will be built in the next three to five years; each city in the OC will have a different allocation of psh as per pre-agreed upon and established criteria.
Heather Stratman
<a href="http://accoc.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACC-OC</a>
April 26, 2018
PDF
United to End Homelessness: The Costs to Our Community
Permanent Supportive Housing
Presentation at the OC Clergy To End Homelessness, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Mission Viejo.
32 slides describing the methodology, findings, and recommendations from the UCI/United Way/Jamboree Housing Study. It includes the #unitedtoendhomelessness pledge.
David Snow
Rachel Goldberg
April 26, 2018
<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/omeka-net/39333/archive/files/616f2a835ba2ab1dde87bfdcca8eed5e.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI3ATG3OSQLO5HGKA&Expires=1528168453&Signature=pr1ZYDGBrCBERxaufCrE6rFw6Sk%3D" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Orange County Catholic Worker v. Orange County, Case 8:18-cv- 000155, Filed 01/29/18</a>
Emergency Shelters (aka Emergency Housing) (Type of Homeless Housing)
Lawsuit filed by the Elder Law and Disability Rights Center in the US District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division. 40 pages.
January 29, 2018
Orange County -- United States
<a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB448" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AB-448 Joint Powers Authority: Orange County Housing Trust (2017-2018)</a>
A housing trust fund will be created for OC if CA passes AB 448 (Daly) 2018.
Below is excerpt introduced in response to the OC Homelessness crisis. Thanks to the tireless work of activists and advocates such as Orange County Poverty Alleviation Coalition and its founder attorney Mohammed Aly.
Introduced by Assembly Member Members Daly and Quirk-Silva
(Coauthors: Senators Bates, Moorlach, and Nguyen):
An act to amend Section 54930 of add Section 6539.5 to the Government Code, relating to local government. joint powers.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 448, as amended, Daly. Local governments: parcel taxes: notice.
Joint powers authorities: Orange County Housing Trust.
Existing law authorizes 2 or more public agencies, by agreement, to form a joint powers authority to exercise any power common to the contracting parties, as specified. Existing law authorizes the agreement to set forth the manner by which the joint powers authority will be governed.
This bill would authorize the creation of the Orange County Housing Trust, a joint powers authority, for the purposes of funding housing specifically assisting the homeless population and persons and families of extremely low, very low, and low income within the County of Orange, as specified.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Orange.
Amended in Senate May 31, 2018
<a href="http://www.ocgov.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=74312" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Building the System of Care</a>
Emergency Shelters (aka Emergency Housing) (Type of Homeless Housing)
A set of three distinct presentations describe how the OC Continuum of Care is being built. The first, Assessment of Homeless Services of the County in 2016 and the progress made since then as well as future plans. The second is, Mental Health Services Integration: Responding to Homelessness which describes funding, legislation, locations and plans for permanent supportive housing; and the third is the County Budget Overview.
Susan Price
Director of Care Coordination
County Executive Office
Richard Sanchez
Director, Health Care Agency
Frank Kim
County Executive Officer
County of Orange
April 17, 2018
Orange County
Irvine For Everyone
1-page position statement of I4E. The mission of Irvine for Everyone is to form a group of Irvine residents supporting the creation of a full spectrum of housing in Irvine.
April 15, 2018
<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/omeka-net/39333/archive/files/93b253cc8d0090d7f32fbcd953677f20.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI3ATG3OSQLO5HGKA&Expires=1529929139&Signature=YrfEJv7Lm7JOvwvQyF9ga%2BIpCTw%3D" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Changing Household and Housing Characteristics of Irvine, 2000-2016</a>
A comprehensive project submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban and Regional Planning, UCLA. 60 page report with figures, tables, references, links, and footnotes. Advised by Melissa Fox, Irvine City Council Member and Professor Michael Lens, UCLA.
Provides an overview of changes to Irvine's households and housing characteristics during the 2000 to 2016 time period and use other neighboring cities, Orange County, and California as context. Proposes a series of recommendations for the City of Irvine to follow to address its shortage of affordable housing while maintaining a high quality of life for its residents.
Key findings include that Irvine grew its population and housing stock at about three times the rate that Orange County did at 81.3% and 79% and bucked County and State trends as a majority of the new housing stock was multi-family. Despite the healthy amount of housing construction though, in real terms, gross rents grew by 25.6% and home values increased by 81.3%. This had the effect of lowering homeownership rates in the city from 60% in 2000 to 48.7% in 2016 and increasing the share of households that are mortgage and rent burdened across almost all income categories.
When looking for reasons for the skyrocketing costs of housing in Irvine, ... household incomes weren’t driving costs higher as they increased at lower levels than inflation and lower than several of its neighboring cities, Orange County, and California at large during the 2000 to 2016 time period. Neither were vacancy rates as they actually increased and ended higher than the countywide vacancy rate in 2016. ... a potential answer [emerges] when looking at the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). While Irvine and most other cities are on track to meet their moderate and high-income housing goals, no city in Orange County, including Irvine, is currently on track to meet their extremely/ very low and low income (affordable housing) goals and other cities were given far lower allocations than Irvine across the board.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuabaum93" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joshua Baum</a>
5 June, 2018
PDF
Report
<a href="http://www.ca-ilg.org/sites/main/files/htf_homeless_3.8.18.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Homelessness Tools and Resources for Cities and Counties: Homelessness Task Force Report</a>
48 page report. California is home to 21 of the 30 most expensive rental markets in the nation and the state does not have enough affordable housing stock to meet the demand of low-income households. The state’s 2.2 million extremely low-income and very low-income renter households compete for 664,000 affordable rental homes.
As national and state programs fall short of fully addressing homelessness in California, local governments are coming together to find solutions for their communities. Collaboration, cooperation and support at the local level are key to addressing this crisis. That is why the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) formed the Joint Homelessness Task Force in late 2016 to examine these issues and discuss collaborative local solutions to address homelessness.
The task force met over the course of a year to better understand homelessness in California. The task force wanted to identify not only known best practices but also promising new practices that cities and counties are implementing to address homelessness, as well as the challenges, lessons and gaps communities are facing in the fight to end it. The culmination of the task force’s work is a report, developed in partnership with League and CSAC affiliate the Institute for Local Government, which provides practical tools for cities and counties in California to use in addressing homelessness in their communities.
<a href="http://www.ca-ilg.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Homelessness Task Force Report, Institute for Local Government</a>
8 March 2018
PDF
Report
California-- United States
<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/es_20180315_housing-as-a-hub_final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Housing as a Hub for Health, Community, and Upward Mobility</a>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">82 page report with 4 Key Recommendations. <br /><br />Excerpts from the report: <br /><br />Housing is increasingly understood to be an</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">important determinant of success in life, affecting</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">health, access to education, and the opportunity</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">for upward mobility. The condition and location of</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">a family’s home can affect such things as</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">respiratory health and "toxic stress" among</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">children, which can affect individuals throughout</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">their lives. Indeed, the availability or otherwise of</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">good social services, positive social networks,</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">and job opportunities can determine whether a</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">family achieves the American Dream.</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;"><br />Recognition of the importance of housing as a</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">“hub” for well-being has caused analysts,</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">policymakers, and community activists to explore</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">the potential for housing-based initiatives to foster</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">good health and economic mobility.<br /><br />There is a growing recognition that, for people
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">and neighborhoods to be healthy and successful,</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">different sectors must work together and that</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">investments in one sector can bring dividends in</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">others. In health care, for instance, the increasing</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">focus on “social determinants of health” stems</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">from the understanding that the trajectory of a</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">person’s health status is heavily influenced by such factors as housing, social conditions, and poverty.<br /><br /><div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">Successful collaboration across sectors requires</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">the existence of supportive policies and practices.</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">In most cases, if not all, it also requires an organization or anchor institution— often referred to as a “hub”—to serve as the focal point and facilitator of inter-sector collaboration and to bring</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">together a range of services, connecting them</div>
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">with the community’s population. Such hubs can be a familiar local institution—such as a church
<div style="font-size:16.6px;font-family:sans-serif;">school, or hospital, housing authority, or community organization—or even a larger institution such as a university. There may be several hubs in a neighborhood, with different functions and perhaps partnering with each other. Along with providing services, some hubs contribute significantly to economic stability and help build the social capital of the community</div>
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Stuart Butler
Marcello Cabello
March 2018
Report
<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/es_20180315_housing-as-a-hub_final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/es_20180315_housing-as-a-hub_final.pdf</a>
<a target="_blank" href="https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3994&context=clevstlrev" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Power to Exclude and the Power to Expel</a>
Article Abstract: Property laws have far-reaching implications for the way people live and for the opportunities they and their children will have. They also have important consequences for property developers and businesses, both large and small. It is not surprising, therefore, that modern developments in property law have been so strongly influenced by political pressures. Unfortunately, those with the most economic resources and political power have had the most telling influences on the development of property laws in the United States during the twentieth century. This Article introduces a simple game—the “Not-In-My-Backyard Game”—to illustrate the motivations of various parties with interests in the direction of American property law. As the analysis indicates, affluent residents and owners of upscale businesses have incentives to pressure suburban governments for zoning regulations that effectively exclude less affluent residents from their neighborhoods. Affluent residents and corporations who want to relocate into urban neighborhoods have incentives to pressure city governments to use eminent domain to facilitate urban redevelopment projects, and the takings that ensue often effectively expel many less affluent residents and smaller businesses from their neighborhoods. The analysis accords with the historical evidence. In the early twentieth century, suburban governments began to use zoning ordinances to exclude poor and less affluent residents from suburban neighborhoods. Around the middle of the twentieth century, city governments began to use takings to effectively expel less affluent residents and smaller businesses from urban neighborhoods. The United States Supreme Court upheld the powers of local governments to exclude and expel, and state courts acquiesced to them. The consequences are high and rising land prices, unaffordable housing, homelessness, and the perpetuation of the de facto segregation of the American people by income, wealth, race, ethnicity, religion, and national origin.
Donald J. Smythe
<a href="http://network.bepress.com/law/property-law-and-real-estate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Property Law and Real Estate Commons</a>
<a href="https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Engaged Scholarship at Cleveland State University</a> / <a href="https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevstlrev/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cleveland State Law Review</a>
June 2018
Law Review Article
<a href="https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3994&context=clevstlrev" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3994&context=clevstlrev</a>
United States of America
<a href="http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Harvard_JCHS_State_of_the_Nations_Housing_2018.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The State of the Nation's Housing 2018</a>
Since 1988, the JCHS annual State of the Nation’s Housing report has provided an overview of housing market conditions in the U.S. This year's report marks the 30th anniversary; this year’s report not only examines recent trends, but assesses whether and how key metrics have changed over the last three decades and serves as a yardstick to measure whether or not the nation has met its goal of producing decent and affordable homes for all. Some excerpts follow: <br /><br /><strong>Key findings:</strong> <br /><ul><li>More than 40 million units have been built over the past three decades, accommodating 27 million new households, replacing older homes, and improving the quality of the nation’s stock.</li>
<li>The typical home today is larger and more likely to have air conditioning, multiple bathrooms, and other amenities. Structurally inadequate housing was rare 30 years ago and even rarer now.</li>
<li>Nevertheless, several challenges highlighted in the Joint Center’s first report persist today. In the 1980s, high mortgage interest rates put the cost of homeownership out of reach for many. Homeownership rates among young adults today are even lower than in 1988, and the share of cost-burdened renters is significantly higher.</li>
<li>Soaring housing costs are largely to blame, with the national median rent rising 20 percent faster than overall inflation in 1990–2016 and the median home price 41 percent faster.</li>
<li>Soaring housing costs and weak income growth along lower and moderate income households have contributed to housing affordability pressures. Individual income growth has not kept pace with general economic gains; GDP grew 52 % between 1988 and 2018 but incomes in the bottom quartile grew only by 3%.</li>
<li>Immigration has been a key driver of US household growth and will continue to be so.</li>
<li>More broader policies are needed to help young millenials and non-white groups into homeownership (e.g. assistance with down payment). African Americans remains the group that has not shown increase in home ownership.</li>
<li>Home ownership. after years of decline, saw an uptick in 2017.</li>
<li>The number of renter households also decreased in 2017. In the 30 years, the number of very low-income families has soared by 6 million, to more than 19 million.</li>
<li>At the same time, federally sub-sidized rental housing has increased by only 950,000 units while the low-cost stock (with rents under $800 in real terms) has shrunk by some 2.5 million units.</li>
<li>The Low Income Housing Tax Credit program has become the largest source of subsidized housing.</li>
<li>After declining by 14 percent between 2010 and 2016, the number of people experiencing homelessness increased by 3,800 last year. HUD’s Annual Homeless Assessment Report shows that nearly 554,000 people were living in shelters or on the street on a given night in January 2017, while 1.4 million peopl—including 147,000 families with children—used a shelter at some point over the course of 2016. In addition, the US Department of Education estimates that nearly 1.0 million school children were living with people outside their families in 2015–2016 because of housing loss or economic hardship, and 42,000 were living primarily on the street during the school year.</li>
<li>More than half (56 percent) of the homeless population live in the nation’s highest-cost metros. Indeed, the average homelessness rate in metros with median rents in the top quintile is more than double that in all other metros. Moreover, the metros with the largest homeless populations—New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle—are the same high-cost markets where homelessness is increasing.</li>
</ul><br /><strong>Solutions:</strong> <br /><br />The reductions in homelessness over the past seven years largely result from targeting two populations in need of intensive support services—veterans and the chronically homeless. These initiatives emphasized additions to the supply of permanent supportive housing and the use of the “housing first” model, which houses people as quickly as possible with as few preconditions as possible.
<p>So far, this narrow focus has helped 62 communities across the country end veteran homele<span class="text_exposed_show">ssness. These limited successes do not, however, address the underlying issue of housing affordability. For low-income households, especially those spending a large share of their incomes on housing, an unexpected expense or job loss can lead to eviction. In fact, the vast majority (83 percent) of people experiencing homelessness are not chronically homeless, and many who enter shelters—especially families—come directly from more stable housing situations.</span></p>
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<p>Further progress in reducing homelessness may require new approaches. Some programs use the pay-for-success model to finance interventions, such as rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing where funding comes from investors. If the program is successful, investors receive a return and local governments save money on services. Another program that may help to prevent homelessness is the City of Stockton's plan to provide a basic income to low-income residents as an offset to rising housing costs.</p>
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Without greater federal leadership, reversing or even halting these long-term trends is unlikely. The best place to start is therefore to enhance and expand the housing choice voucher and LIHTC programs—the essential pillars of the federal subsidy system. The HOME and CDBG programs also need additional funding to adequately support the stepped-up efforts of state and local governments to increase the supply of affordable housing. <br /><br />For their part, state and local jurisdictions also have opportunities to reduce housing costs through regulatory reform. Allowing higher-density development and simpler housing designs, as well as streamlining approval processes, would enable and incentivize builders to supply homes affordable to a broader range of incomes. While current regulations are intended to protect the public interest, concerns for health, safety, and efficiency must be weighed against the need to reduce the costs of housing production. Striking this balance is essential if the nation is to meet its stated goal of a decent home and suitable living environment for all.
<a href="http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University</a>
June 19, 2018
The State of the Nation's Housing Webcast: <a href="http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/livestream-son-2018" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/livestream-son-2018 (1 hr. 30 minutes)</a>
<a href="http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Harvard_JCHS_State_of_the_Nations_Housing_2018.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Harvard_JCHS_State_of_the_Nations_Housing_2018.pdf</a>
United States of America
<a href="http://www.transformca.org/sites/default/files/Housing-Transit-Crossroads.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moving San Mateo County Forward: Housing and Transit at a Crossroads</a>
This is a report by by TransForm, a nonprofit supporting transit and smart growth, and the Housing Leadership Council; they are housing and transit advocates. The report was funded by the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, the Hewlett Foundation and several other regional community foundations. <br /><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden view-mode-full">
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<p><strong>Author Abstract:</strong> As Silicon Valley growth has soared, cities have failed to build the housing needed, leading to record traffic delays. From 2010 to 2015, San Mateo County added 72,800 new jobs, but just 3,844 homes: for each new home, that’s 19 jobs. The report also finds that half of San Mateo County’s workers make less than $50,000 per year, and most local homes are priced far out of reach for most local workers.</p>
<p>The report includes brief stories from local workers, who are unable to find housing nearby, are commuting long distances, or are planning to leave the county entirely. “A few years ago, after my husband and I split up, my children and I spent nearly a month in a homeless shelter,” said Myrna Trujillo, a Daly City resident. “Permanent affordable housing saved my life.”</p>
<p>While everyone feels the effects of the shortage, low-income renters and buyers are hit hardest. “Even in Silicon Valley, most jobs are not high-paying tech jobs,” says HLC's executive director, Evelyn Stivers. “Many people work in retail and restaurants or care for seniors and children. The people with the fewest resources and the least flexible jobs are being forced into the worst commutes.”</p>
<p>According to the report, almost half of all new jobs in San Mateo County in the years to come will pay less than $65,000 a year—and many jobs will pay far less than that. Without policy interventions to address housing and transportation in an integrated way, both problems are bound to get worse. The report offers solutions that transit agencies, cities, and the County can all take to move us forward.</p>
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<div class="field-item even">As Silicon Valley's economic growth has soared, cities have failed to build the housing needed, leading to record traffic delays. This report, published jointly by the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County and TransForm, shows how the housing crisis is inextricably linked to our traffic and transportation woes, with recommendations for how to address both.</div>
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<br /><strong>Notes from <a href="https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/06/21/study-lack-of-housing-means-more-traffic-not-less/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">East Bay Times</a>:</strong><br />The report finds that rejection of new housing developments in San Mateo County has led to more, not less, congestion as workers move farther away to find affordable housing. One new home was built in San Mateo County for every 19 jobs created between 2010 and 2015.<br /><br />Many cities and their residents have fought new development because they are “really concerned about traffic,” said Evelyn Stivers, executive director of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo; “not building housing [though] really causes traffic problems.”<br /><br />The report shows the difficulties expanding transit and housing in a county that hosts the headquarters of Facebook, Oracle, Genentech and other tech giants, and encompasses some of the wealthiest communities in the United States. The median sales price for a home in San Mateo County in April was $1.6 million. The area’s median annual income is $118,400 — less than one-third of the annual salary needed to purchase a home with a 10 percent down payment. The report comes as county leaders consider a proposal to add a half-cent to the sales tax to raise transportation funds. Many solutions are proposed for easing both housing affordability as well as traffic congestion. This is a research report of 24 pages with detailed statistics and figures.
Elizabeth Stampe
The Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo works with communities and their leaders to produce and preserve quality affordable homes. <a href="http://hlcsmc.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hlcsmc.org</a>
TransForm promotes walkable communities with excellent transportation choices to connect people of all incomes to opportunity, keep California affordable, and help solve our climate crisis. <a href="http://www.transformca.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">transformca.org</a>
June 2018
Study Report
<a href="http://www.transformca.org/sites/default/files/Housing-Transit-Crossroads.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://www.transformca.org/sites/default/files/Housing-Transit-Crossroads.pdf</a>
San Mateo County - California