{"id":243914,"date":"2025-09-21T12:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T12:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/243914\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T12:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T12:59:08","slug":"dont-just-build-preserve-affordable-housing-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/243914\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t just build. Preserve affordable housing \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

The California Legislature recently passed another major bill to spur development in an effort to tame the cost of housing by boosting supply.<\/p>\n

The concept behind Senate Bill 79<\/a>, building high-rises around transit centers, is one that many people support, though the inclusion of nearby single-family home neighborhoods in the targeted areas has drawn unsurprising opposition. The bill, now on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s desk, was also hotly disputed because it can override local zoning ordinances.<\/p>\n

Another approach, however, should start getting the kind of attention these types of pro-development efforts have garnered for years: preserving existing lower-cost housing.<\/p>\n

The city of San Diego is moving toward launching an innovative program<\/a> to create a fund to purchase affordable apartments before they are turned into market-rate housing (and potentially out of reach for existing residents) or torn down to build more luxurious abodes.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t an either\/or argument. Construction of new homes is needed across California in the appropriate places \u2014 an important point \u2014 and along transit corridors is one of them. The controversy tends to be over what constitutes a transit corridor.<\/p>\n

The definition of transit corridor, as in SB 79, often means land a half-mile on either side of a route or station. A San Diego ordinance aimed at boosting housing density expands that to 1 mile. That\u2019s a lot of territory, some of it not necessarily suited for high-density development \u2014 at least in the eyes of homeowners<\/a> in those neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Retaining existing lower-cost housing increasingly is seen as essential in addressing the affordable housing crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmid the country\u2019s current housing shortage, building new housing is necessary,\u201d the National Housing Trust wrote<\/a> in June. \u201cHowever, to truly grow the supply of housing, it is vital that existing housing continues to remain livable and affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trust also emphasized that much of the existing housing may need to be rehabilitated.<\/p>\n

Preservation efforts can be costly, but generally less so than building new homes. Also, controversy over them tends to be minimal compared with new development. For one thing, the buildings already are there and occupied. For another, they\u2019d likely be replaced by projects that may include more units.<\/p>\n

If existing affordable housing is lost, that means even more development will be needed just to keep from losing ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cA city analysis determined that 35 percent of all new production will simply replace lost cheaper housing if the city doesn\u2019t intervene to begin preserving them,\u201d David Garrick of The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote<\/a> this month when a San Diego City Council committee approved the housing-preservation fund with $5 million in seed money.<\/p>\n

Protecting lower-income housing is also considered an effective way to keep people from falling into homelessness, much like housing vouchers and emergency rent subsidies for people at risk of being forced out of their homes.<\/p>\n

Such preemptive action is a far more cost-effective \u2014 and humane \u2014 move by public agencies than waiting until people are out on the street and struggling to find them temporary shelter, housing and other services after the fact.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a sense of urgency in San Diego and across the nation because decades-long rent restrictions on a lot of subsidized housing are expiring in the near future.<\/p>\n

The National Housing Trust said \u201cas many as 223,000 rent-restricted affordable units (are) set to lose their affordability nationwide in the next five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

California state government hasn\u2019t been blind to the problem. Since 1987, the state has enacted housing preservation laws, with a notable expansion in 2017, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. But the scope of those efforts doesn\u2019t meet the current need.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long ago when San Diego didn\u2019t have much of a handle on the problem of rent covenants expiring. Recorded inventory was lacking, as was a systematic approach. That\u2019s changed.<\/p>\n

As the Union-Tribune\u2019s Garrick pointed out, the city is focused on saving subsidized and rent-restricted housing, and what officials call naturally occurring affordable housing \u2014 older housing with limited amenities that rent for lower than market rate even without subsidies.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s housing commission will oversee the fund and the $5 million will be used along with tax-exempt bonds to purchase apartments. Rents will pay back the bonds, and the hope is that initial success will attract investors, such as philanthropic organizations and banks.<\/p>\n

These purchases wouldn\u2019t require additional subsidies (though it\u2019s possible some existing residents already receive vouchers or other assistance). That\u2019s significant because housing voucher funds are increasingly limited at the federal, state and local level.<\/p>\n

The city program is another tool among many needed to provide affordable housing, which is generally defined as housing that costs no more than 30 percent of household income.<\/p>\n

Despite all the pro-housing policies emanating from the state Capitol and San Diego City Hall, housing starts have not met expectations or the need, and there\u2019s been little impact on housing costs. Market and economic factors often trump government policies.<\/p>\n

Advocates say these laws eventually will result in a lot more homes. That may be. But in the here and now, keeping the affordable housing we have must be a priority.<\/p>\n

What they said<\/strong><\/p>\n

Covie (@covie_93<\/a>) via X.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you see anyone not mourning the death of Robert Redford the way you would like them to please call their employer and get them fired!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The California Legislature recently passed another major bill to spur development in an effort to tame the cost…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":243915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1073,50,80,3549,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-243914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-columns","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-sandiego","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115242412648446612","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}