5 ms·

One of the things the article addresses is the fact that other communities need to build affordable housing, not just SF. I for one am going to speak to some l

One of the things the article addresses is the fact that other communities need to build affordable housing, not just SF. I for one am going to speak to some local political figures. If you live in any city in the SF bay area, you may as well do the same. Write a letter. Express your interest in the creation of apartments in the city. Because if you build housing in the area, people will live there.

spikels 13y ago
Almost every city in the Bay Area has a range of affordable housing programs - from public housing to income restricted rentals and ownership opportunities to rental and purchase assistance programs. Some are federal, some state, some local and many are operated by non-profits. Just search for the city and "affordable housing".
- lsiebert 13y ago
  And yet rents continued to climb, even between the dotcom bubble and the recent boom, when there was a downturn. plus many programs have a gap between abject poverty and the working poor/lower middle class americans. Lower rents and increased availability benefit almost everybody.
orky56 13y ago
Just to play devil's advocate here, what if affordable housing diminished? Would the higher rent prices put pressure on employers to raise incomes and salaries? It seems right now affordable housing is for employees who receive minimum wage. These employers are paying artificially low wages for the luxury of having their business in the Bay Area. If these employees had such a living wage, then they could find market rents that they could afford. They might have to commute longer than they currently do, but so do the infamous tech workers. More than enough of tech workers who are making 6 figures are commuting more than an hour. It might be in air-conditioned buses with wi-fi and door-to-door but once again this puts pressure on the transportation agencies to step up their games to support more travelers.

spikels 13y ago

Almost every city in the Bay Area has a range of affordable housing programs - from public housing to income restricted rentals and ownership opportunities to rental and purchase assistance programs. Some are federal, some state, some local and many are operated by non-profits. Just search for the city and "affordable housing".

lsiebert 13y ago
And yet rents continued to climb, even between the dotcom bubble and the recent boom, when there was a downturn. plus many programs have a gap between abject poverty and the working poor/lower middle class americans. Lower rents and increased availability benefit almost everybody.

orky56 13y ago

Just to play devil's advocate here, what if affordable housing diminished? Would the higher rent prices put pressure on employers to raise incomes and salaries? It seems right now affordable housing is for employees who receive minimum wage. These employers are paying artificially low wages for the luxury of having their business in the Bay Area. If these employees had such a living wage, then they could find market rents that they could afford. They might have to commute longer than they currently do, but so do the infamous tech workers. More than enough of tech workers who are making 6 figures are commuting more than an hour. It might be in air-conditioned buses with wi-fi and door-to-door but once again this puts pressure on the transportation agencies to step up their games to support more travelers.