Affordable housing, why bother?
Why Bother, Indeed.
Today, Marin is in a severe housing crisis.
Fully 96% of our housing is market-rate; this means that households with only moderate income can afford to live in only 4% of our housing units, and only 3% of our homes and apartments are within the affordability reach of lower income folks. In the past 12 months, the median price of for-sale housing has increased 14%, and rents are increasing faster than incomes. There has been an exponential increase in evictions, making the homeless crisis the worst it’s ever been.
One reason to be bothered is because the environmental impacts of the affordable housing shortage are unsustainable.
Marin County has some of the worst freeway congestion in the Bay Area. Mostly due to the cost of housing, 62% of the people who work in Marin commute from other counties. Most of the 68,000 people who drive into Marin drive alone, making our already exorbitant carbon footprint even more egregious.
You should also be bothered by the economic effects of our housing imbalance.
The majority of Marin’s workforce earns their money here, but spends it where they live, in other counties. A 2011 study by the Marin Economic Forum found that this outflow amounted to a $1.4 billion loss in potential revenue to local businesses. The same study found that if affordable housing were created for just 1% of Marin’s in-commuters, the new households would add over $14 million to Marin’s economy.
Hiring service-workers like elementary school teachers and health aides is becoming a real “bother” for Marin employers.
Economists generally agree that families who pay more than 30% of their income for housing are likely to have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. Based on this standard, a household of four would need to earn $8,187 per month or $98,240 per year to afford the average rental in Marin… IF they could find a place to rent at all. The starting salary for a schoolteacher in San Rafael is less than half of that amount — $43,050.
The lack of affordable housing can also be a big “bother” for our seniors because many of them are house-rich and cash-poor.
They have trouble making ends meet, and are lacking affordable housing options in order to age in their own community.
But what bothers us the most is that none of this is coincidence, and it’s not all due to the blind hand of supply and demand.
Our housing market was and is shaped by local government decisions. Over the past 40 years, local government in Marin has restricted the growth of housing supply while increasing housing demand with policies that grew thousands of low-wage retail and service jobs.
Stick with Us!
Over the next year, we’ll tell you more about why we all should “bother” with affordable housing and what we can do about it. Watch for our monthly newsletter MEHC Perspective in your inbox. Be sure to sign up on our email list to stay informed about important opportunities–and challenges–to affordable housing in Marin. Stay tuned!