San Diego’s Housing Crisis Hurting the Middle Class

• Neighborhoods and News
• August 10, 2016

It is common knowledge that San Diego is dealing with a little bit of a housing crisis. KPBS recently did a story on the effect this has had on the middle class in San Diego County. They interviewed experts on the matter and those who wish to fix the issue in any way they can.

The story starts with Guy Chandler’s presentation at the recent San Diego County Board of Supervisors’ meeting. He described the difficulty of his daughter moving away with her family including his grandchildren because they could no longer afford to live in the area. Chandler went on to assert that “droves of young families are leaving the state of California because they can’t afford to live here.”

In an interview, Stephen Russel, the executive director of the San Diego Housing Federation, explained that even though rents have increased by 32% wages have actually decreased by 2%. Pricing is such an issue because of lack of availability of housing. According to the those interviewed in the story any housing that is available is much too expensive for middle income families let alone lower income families.

What can be done about this? It is a comfort that there are people such as Russel who are fighting for solutions to this housing issue. I have trust that those in control in San Diego County will up incentives to build more environmentally friendly and affordable housing so that our families can stay in the area and more families can call this wonderful place home.

Check out the full story, including the video clip and transcription, here:

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/aug/08/housing-crisis-squeezes-middle-class/