{"id":158113,"date":"2025-08-19T10:06:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T10:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/158113\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:06:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T10:06:11","slug":"morning-report-can-north-county-keep-working-class-families-from-leaving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/158113\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Report: Can North County Keep Working-Class Families From Leaving?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Riverside County, South County, Tijuana \u2013 these are just a few of the places that many of North County\u2019s working- and middle-class families are migrating to in search of affordability.<\/p>\n

Why? It has become too expensive for most working-class families to live and work in North County.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As rent prices continue to climb, many of North County\u2019s working-class households are being priced out of their homes and out of their communities, sometimes being forced to commute long hours to keep their jobs or keep their kids in the schools they know and love.<\/p>\n

It comes down to affordability:<\/strong> Roughly half of the residents in each North County city spent more than 35 percent of their income on rent in 2023. Experts say renters should spend no more than 30 percent of their income on rent.<\/p>\n

That means thousands of families are spending more than their means on housing. It\u2019s led to many people leaving the cities that, in some cases, their families have lived in for multiple generations.<\/p>\n

Our Tigist Layne spoke to a North County elected official and an economic leader in the region to understand if North County can keep working-class families from leaving in the next 20 years. Both agreed that more housing is the answer, but the two differed on what exactly those housing options should look like.<\/p>\n

Read the full story here.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This story is part of our new series this week celebrating Voice of San Diego\u2019s 20th anniversary: <\/strong>What\u2019s at stake for the region over the next two decades? Read more stories in the series here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Environment Report: Why Utility Companies Put A Dollar Figure On Safety<\/strong><\/p>\n

The California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC, recently ordered<\/a> two investor-owned utilities (San Diego Gas and Electric and Pacific Gas and Electric) to drop the price they\u2019re willing to spend to prevent a death caused by their equipment.<\/p>\n

Why? It all comes down to the dollar value of a human life.<\/p>\n

The push to put a price on safety goes back to 2010, when a PG&E pipeline exploded in San Bruno, killing eight and destroying dozens of homes. The tragedy showed regulators at the CPUC that public safety had to be quantified so it was clear how utilities made spending decisions, our MacKenzie Elmer writes.<\/p>\n

The CPUC began asking utilities to calculate the value of a statistical life \u2013 a number that determines how much a company can justify spending to prevent one death.<\/p>\n

SDG&E and PG&E previously set that number at $100 million, which was much higher than most utilities. Then, the CPUC ordered the two companies to lower it in order to protect ratepayers from paying higher bills.<\/p>\n

Read the Environment Report here.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

San Diego Is Clearing Freeway Encampments\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"PotsPots and pans can be seen on the ground at a homeless encampment next to state Route 94 East freeway in Golden HIll on July 15, 2025. \/ Ariana Drehsler for Voice of San Diego<\/p>\n

The city of San Diego wasted no time.<\/p>\n

Since reaching a deal with the state to clear encampments on state property last month, city crews have cleared 57 sites and connected 16 individuals with shelter, a city spokesperson told Voice of San Diego.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crews also removed 44 tons of trash and debris, the spokesperson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As our City Hall reporter Mariana Mart\u00ednez Barba revealed, the deal allows the city to clear encampments<\/a> along a 5-mile stretch of state freeways and to get reimbursed by the state. The city is the first to reach such a deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sen. Catherine Blakespear is working on legislation that would grant others the same power. Meanwhile, she\u2019s encouraging other cities to reach similar deals, she told the Union-Tribune.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Chula Vista<\/a> is already on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Other News\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n