Housing Shortage

[abbey1227]

Apr 26, 2022 23:44:20 GMT merh said:

Rent $1,100/mo.

That reminds me......... I was assisting my brother in law tonite and it involved going to my mother's apt.

He asked if I wanted to go in just to see how tiny the place was?  I passed on the opportunity.

But on the flipside, I have envisioned myself retiring into one of those tiny homes out in the middle of many acres

[merh]

Balboa Park



The Goldfish pond

[merh]

www.yahoo.com/finance/news/81-old-californian-sold-her-120000901.html

This 81-year-old Californian sold her $1 million home for half its value so it could become affordable housing after she dies
Colin Lodewick
Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:00 AM
When Bobbi Loeb, 81, moved into her house in a scenic rural area 40 miles north of San Francisco half a century ago, her neighbors were mostly cattle ranchers. “My son had a hard time in school because he was considered a hippie,” she says.

Now the area is home to Silicon Valley transplants and Loeb’s property is worth over $1 million.

Loeb, who lives on Social Security benefits and limited rental income from two separate units on her property, was facing a dilemma last year. She couldn’t afford to maintain the buildings, which needed roof and septic repairs, but couldn’t bear the thought of increasing rent on her tenants or moving

“I just couldn't do it,” she says about charging market rates for her rentals. “It was just so bizarre to be a landlady after all my experiences as a renter.”

She found a middle ground with the Community Land Trust of West Marin (CLAM), an organization whose mission is to ensure that Marin County remains affordable for low and middle-income residents.

This year, Loeb sold her property to CLAM for half its market value. She’s the first participant of the trust’s age-in-place initiative, which lets longtime homeowners stay in their homes while the trust takes over their upkeep.

When Loeb dies, CLAM will turn the property into affordable housing units, helping to mitigate the housing crisis affecting the Bay Area. “There will be three affordable units,” says Loeb. “That makes me feel happy.”

Loeb says that aging in place is a big deal when you’ve lived in a community as long as she has. She remembers people asking her why she didn’t just sell the property for what it was worth. “And where would I live?” was her response. “I would have to leave here.”

Loeb says her roots are deep in the community: “I know so many people, and so many people know me.” She remembers going to the post office recently with her 6-year-old grandson and him turning to her after noticing her greet everyone she passed. “He said, ‘You must know everybody,’” she says. “And I do.”

When CLAM acquires a property, the organization can decide to either sell or rent it as affordable housing, according to Pam Dorr, the trust’s executive director. CLAM currently houses 66 people and owns 18 rental units.

The organization has also coordinated two home ownerships. “The properties stay permanently affordable, and the land under the homes is retained in perpetuity by the land trust, so it's community-controlled housing,” says Dorr.

West Marin started to change soon after Loeb bought her house. She remembers wondering: “God, I don't know how we're going to make this mortgage,” and her real estate broker assuring her that in only a few years the payments would be the same as monthly rent in the area. Sure enough, he was right, and prices have only continued to rise.

Loeb’s decision to sell was just as helpful for CLAM as it was for her. “It's a very challenging environment to create affordable housing and to acquire properties,” says Ruth Lopez, CLAM’s program director, about Marin County’s real estate market. “We can’t buy properties at market rate and turn them into affordable housing projects.”

She says that since Loeb sold her house to CLAM, the trust has seen interest from other older members of the community in its age-in-place initiative.

Dorr says the initiative has strong community support. “Lots of folks who live in the community want to make sure essential workers, teachers, and people who work at the bakery can stay living where they work,” she says.

A community land trust, says Dorr, is a more flexible model of affordable housing than the more common model built using low-income tax credits, which subsidize the acquisition, construction, and renovation of affordable rentals. “[That model] takes a long time and really excludes the local community in making decisions about how the housing is managed,” she says, adding that only qualified developers can develop that model of housing.

Affordable housing built using low-income tax credits also often come with minimum unit requirements. “And in rural areas, you're typically not going to have that type of density,” says Dorr.

CLAM’s approach to affordable housing, and specifically its age-in-place initiative, also involves a philosophical shift in thinking about community development. “It’s a pivot away from how much can I get and what's best for me to what's best for my community,” says Lopez. “That shift in thinking is what will mitigate the housing crisis.”

Bobbi says it’s the sense of community that has led her to stay in Marin County all these years. Decades ago, a boiler exploded in one of the units on the property, burning her ex-husband and young daughter as the unit burned down. While they spent several weeks in the hospital, the entire community worked together to rebuild the unit before they returned.

She says that hasn’t changed. “People help each other here, says Loeb. “They look out for each other here. It’s just a wonderful community.”

[merh]

https:/portuguese-angered-influx-californians-import-143950897.html

Portuguese angered at influx of Californians who import their problems with them: report
Andrew Miller
Wed, May 18, 2022, 7:39 AM
California residents are fleeing to the country of Portugal and in many cases bringing problems that have made life more difficult for natives, according to the Los Angeles Times report.

A story titled "Welcome to Portugal, the new expat haven. Californians, please go home," reports that the number of Americans living in Portugal has risen by 45% in the past year with many of those Americans moving from California in order to escape high housing costs, pandemic lockdowns, and "Trumpian politics" in the United States.

The article explains that "resentment of newcomers is growing" in Portugal as California expats have become the "root of questions over gentrification, income disparities and immigration."

Portuguese activists have reportedly taken to the streets to protest the gentrification caused by Americans, many of them Californians, who have moved into the neighborhood and caused skyrocketing rent and evictions.

"You cannot deny that places like Lisbon have become much more appealing for young, creative people with money to spend. The effect on the economy and the way the buildings look — no longer empty — is astronomical," Luis Mendes, a geographer at the University of Lisbon, told the Los Angeles Times. "But the average Portuguese person can no longer afford to live in the center of Lisbon. Rents have gone up five times over a few years. Even the basic things, such as buying groceries, take longer trips outside the city center than they used to."

The Portuguese government has responded to the housing crisis by suspending its "golden visa" program in large cities that offered residency to foreigners who purchased homes that cost more than $500,000 euros which was a program "dominated" by Americans.

In Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal, evictions have doubled over the last few years with many blaming the influx of foreigners willing to pay more than locals with bank accounts backed by dollars and pounds.

California’s population decreased in both 2020 and 2021 which cost the state a seat in Congress for the first time after the U.S. Census found California's population growth fell behind other states.

"Things were just becoming too much back home, but I didn’t want to leave everything about L.A. behind," California expat Jamie Dixon explained. "With Portugal," Dixon added, "we could keep the parts we liked and leave the rest."

[abbey1227]

May 19, 2022 4:54:20 GMT merh said:

https:/portuguese-angered-influx-californians-import-143950897.html

Portuguese angered at influx of Californians who import their problems with them: report
Andrew Miller
Wed, May 18, 2022, 7:39 AM
California residents are fleeing to the country of Portugal and in many cases bringing problems that have made life more difficult for natives, according to the Los Angeles Times report.

A story titled "Welcome to Portugal, the new expat haven. Californians, please go home," reports that the number of Americans living in Portugal has risen by 45% in the past year with many of those Americans moving from California in order to escape high housing costs, pandemic lockdowns, and "Trumpian politics" in the United States.

"Things were just becoming too much back home, but I didn’t want to leave everything about L.A. behind," California expat Jamie Dixon explained. "With Portugal," Dixon added, "we could keep the parts we liked and leave the rest."

These people ruin things wherever they go?

And it's 2022........what sort of Trumpian politics were they escaping from last year?

[merh]

May 19, 2022 12:14:36 GMT abbey1227 said:

May 19, 2022 4:54:20 GMT merh said:

https:/portuguese-angered-influx-californians-import-143950897.html

These people ruin things wherever they go?

And it's 2022........what sort of Trumpian politics were they escaping from last year?

Can't go to Mexico anymore. So Portugal. 
Isnt that where Harry Skywalker posts from?

[abbey1227]

May 19, 2022 13:13:19 GMT merh said:

May 19, 2022 12:14:36 GMT abbey1227 said:

These people ruin things wherever they go?

And it's 2022........what sort of Trumpian politics were they escaping from last year?

Can't go to Mexico anymore. So Portugal. 
Isnt that where Harry Skywalker posts from?

why? What's so wrong with Mexico?

I don't think I recall that person

[merh]

May 19, 2022 13:15:48 GMT abbey1227 said:

May 19, 2022 13:13:19 GMT merh said:

Can't go to Mexico anymore. So Portugal. 
Isnt that where Harry Skywalker posts from?

why? What's so wrong with Mexico?

I don't think I recall that person

Uses the avatar of Han Solo shrugging?
Insists Die Hard is not a Christmas movie.
Hates Black Panther.

The gang beheadings sort of kills the Mexico buzz

[abbey1227]

May 19, 2022 13:21:40 GMT merh said:

May 19, 2022 13:15:48 GMT abbey1227 said:

why? What's so wrong with Mexico?

I don't think I recall that person

Uses the avatar of Han Solo shrugging?
Insists Die Hard is not a Christmas movie.
Hates Black Panther.

The gang beheadings sort of kills the Mexico buzz

OK, I think I remember him now. 

Who doesn't like a little head on vacay?      Maybe the US should stay the F outta Europe and Asia.........and start worrying about the criminal cartel operation right under it's nose?

[merh]

[abbey1227]

May 23, 2022 19:26:16 GMT merh said:

Always an interesting phenomena

[merh]

Housing crisis in USA/Canada and remote jobs are turning Mexico as too expensive to live for regular mexicans. Poster in CDMX

Canada?
So how is Biden responsible for lack of housing in Canada?

[abbey1227]

Jun 6, 2022 20:31:24 GMT merh said:

Housing crisis in USA/Canada and remote jobs are turning Mexico as too expensive to live for regular mexicans. Poster in CDMX

Canada?
So how is Biden responsible for lack of housing in Canada?

Flooding any area or country with more and more people will always lead to those kinds of reactions.

Google Arched Cabins sometime. That seems like yet another option.    But I already know many places are against tiny homes.

[merh]

Frustrated neighbors speak out against up-zoning in College area
City planners have been involved with a community plan update and recently, they released draft proposals that spell major changes for single-family neighborhoods.

Author: Brian White
Published: 7:14 PM PDT June 6, 2022
Updated: 7:14 PM PDT June 6, 2022
SAN DIEGO — Some neighbors in the College area are frustrated by what the City of San Diego is proposing for their neighborhoods.

“I’m frustrated. I’m sad. I’m angry,” said Danna Givot. “I’m all of the above.”

Givot has lived on 59th Street near Adams Avenue for nearly four years, and she enjoys living there.


“These are all my neighbors,” said Givot while pointing across the street. “These people have been here twenty-some odd years and raised their family here.”

Givot and many of her neighbors are upset about the city’s proposal to change the zoning in the area to allow for more density and housing to be built.

“It would be very sad and I don’t know that I would stick around and wait to see myself surrounded by 3-5 story apartment buildings or townhouses because that’s not what I bought into,” said Givot.

City planners have been involved with a community plan update for the College area over the past couple years, and more recently, they released some draft proposals that spell major changes for single-family neighborhoods.

“We need to continue to transform our communities but it shouldn’t just be, ‘Do whatever you want, wherever you want,’” said Geoffrey Hueter, Chair of Neighbors for a Better San Diego. “The point of the planning process is to guide where development makes the most sense.”

They believe any up-zoning belongs on the major corridors such as El Cajon Boulevard or Montezuma Road, but not in their quiet neighborhoods.

“Rather than trying to demonize homeowners, bring everybody into the table and let’s have a discussion,” said Hueter. “I think that if the city could present the needs that it has, I think homeowners would get engaged in a constructive way and be a part of the solution.”

When this planning process started, the only available data for population and housing needs over the next 30 years was from SANDAG projections made in 2013. Those numbers were much larger than the more recent data released by SANDAG last year, which shows smaller population growth.


“We don’t have to plan for a 95% increase in population, only a 35% increase in population so these plans need to be rolled back,” said Givot.

CBS 8 contacted the City’s Planning Department about the data discrepancy and they responded with the following statement:

“The SANDAG Series 13 Forecast for housing and population was the most current available forecast data when the City started the College Area Community Plan Update. The Series 13 Forecast provides data at the community plan area for the College Area. The SANDAG Series 14 Forecast was approved by the SANDAG Board in December 2021 at the jurisdictional level, but SANDAG had not yet released the Series 14 Forecast by community plan area for the City of San Diego when the City released the “Choose Your Future College Area!” survey. Moving forward, consistent with standard practice, City staff will use the most currently available data, which now includes Series 14, as part of the community plan update.”

San Diego’s Planning Department sent CBS 8 the following statement about the importance of planning for more housing capacity:

“Planning for more homes has never been more critical, and it matters where these homes are located. People need homes in areas where it is easy to get around by walking, biking, transit or car. It’s also important these areas have quality public spaces, schools and jobs. We know people are struggling to find affordable places to live and call home. These people are our children, our parents, our friends and our neighbors. Planning for more homes does not always result in more homes, but it is a necessary step in the right direction.”

Meanwhile, neighbors in the College area just want to feel like their voice is heard too.

“I think the problem is the city just comes in and says, ‘You guys are NIMBY and we’re just going to cram this on top of you,’ you know,” said Hueter. “There’s no tradeoff there.”

NIMBY

[merh]

[abbey1227]

Jun 11, 2022 17:54:47 GMT merh said:

There's more money to be made..........too bad the $Dollar isn't worth what it once was

[merh]

Jun 12, 2022 12:00:10 GMT abbey1227 said:

Jun 11, 2022 17:54:47 GMT merh said:

There's more money to be made..........too bad the $Dollar isn't worth what it once was

I keep telling you, the whole  NIMBY protecting the value of their property demands it remain scarce 

[abbey1227]

Jun 12, 2022 13:53:48 GMT merh said:

Jun 12, 2022 12:00:10 GMT abbey1227 said:

There's more money to be made..........too bad the $Dollar isn't worth what it once was

I keep telling you, the whole  NIMBY protecting the value of their property demands it remain scarce 

And I keep asking how/why more commercial or public property isn't just being turned over to such enterprises?

[merh]

Jun 12, 2022 14:09:27 GMT abbey1227 said:

Jun 12, 2022 13:53:48 GMT merh said:

I keep telling you, the whole  NIMBY protecting the value of their property demands it remain scarce 

And I keep asking how/why more commercial or public property isn't just being turned over to such enterprises?

You don't think that also would take local government rezoning areas?

Not to mention, the loss to the landowners? 
One can charge way more for business rentals than residential. I remember a lawsuit down here when an area got rezone for less...or was it the seller claimed it was zoned for business when it wasn't so the buyer lost money on the deal?

[abbey1227]

Jun 12, 2022 15:18:52 GMT merh said:

Jun 12, 2022 14:09:27 GMT abbey1227 said:

And I keep asking how/why more commercial or public property isn't just being turned over to such enterprises?

You don't think that also would take local government rezoning areas?

Not to mention, the loss to the landowners? 
One can charge way more for business rentals than residential. I remember a lawsuit down here when an area got rezone for less...or was it the seller claimed it was zoned for business when it wasn't so the buyer lost money on the deal?

I've noticed over my years that local govt has no problem rezoning a GD thing when enough influence and money is involved.

What loss? You've got empty warehouses, businesses and office buildings all over the place....... you determine the current fair market value and offer the owners a fair price.

Govt doesn't seem to have a problem when a highway goes thru or a rail line? right?  How about just plain condemned properties? For instance, we had a large mall in our downtown area........the local govt was stupid enough to have gotten involved in first the taking of existing small businesses to get that mall built.......and then a few decades later, when it all fell apart, getting stuck with the $Losses involved. They never bothered building a new skyscraper with affordable housing, though. They did build several homeless shelters which now house mostly people that aren't even from the area. They're brilliant.