Jan. 24, 2026 7 AM PT
To the editor: San Diego has indeed laid out the welcome mat for apartment builders and their investors (“San Diego shows what happens when a city actually lets builders build,” Jan. 20). But my city’s laissez-faire approach to development has failed to supply truly affordable housing while virtually ignoring the obvious need for additional parks, schools, fire and police stations and parking for car-dependent, working-class families.
Some of these new rental projects offer small studios for $2,500 per month and one-bedrooms for $3,000. Parking, when available, can cost $300 a month more. The so-called affordable units required by the city in some of those high-density buildings still cost more than $2,000 per month, well beyond the reach of our low- and very low-income residents.
Our mayor and his building-industry allies now claim their fast-track approval processes — which disregard neighborhood concerns about the negative impacts of these high-density/high-rise projects — are pushing down rental rates. But according to data from RentCafe.com, the recent 1.85% drop in monthly rental rates equates to just $55 per month in savings and a still expensive $2,938 average monthly rent.
Meanwhile, bike lanes and on-street parking restrictions have led to reduced parking spots. Builders are finding it much harder to rent units with no off-street parking. Vacancy rates are steady or increasing, which will tamp down new construction, causing rental rates to resume their upward climb.
Our city does not have a rental housing “crisis.” But we do have a severe shortage of truly affordable housing. Our elected officials’ love affair with construction industry execs who fund their political campaigns proves that the private sector and free-market strategies will not solve that problem.
Paul Krueger, San Diego