/ Published in Education, Workforce Housing

Bay Area Council Poll Validates Housing is a Critical Issue; No Easy Answers

SF Gate reports on a recent survey released by the Bay Area Council, having polled 1,000 residents across the 9-counties surrounding San Francisco Bay. The focus? Housing. Or more specifically what to do about the lack thereof.

Those polled ohousemoneycashffered up their preferences:

  • 84 percent saying they support stronger transportation networks between the Bay Area, Saramento and other areas in the Central Valley to take pressure off regional housing supply.
  • 68 percent support policies that make it easier to build new housing near transit hubs and job centers.
  • 60 percent of the respondents said they would prefer housing to be built outside the region, stating those who need to get to the Bay Area to work would be best served by improving transportation to and from more remote locations.

Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council states “There’s now an entrenched misperception that our region doesn’t have the capacity to add the housing we need. What’s unfortunate is that pushing housing outside the region still doesn’t solve the problem of supply and affordability in the Bay Area. It simply means that fewer working families and workers in lower-income jobs can afford to live here. It hurts the diversity of our region and our economy.”

Schools are struggling to retain teachers, hospital workers and first responders as well as other essential workers can’t afford to live close to the communities where they serve. Clearly, this is a complex issue with broad implications – and one that is not going away any time soon. The public and private sectors are working separately as well as together for solutions for this growing crisis – whether it be promoting legislation that would make it easier and less costly for homeowners to add second units, to seeking surplus property for funding and development of essential workforce and teacher housing.

DCG is putting our real estate, policy and civic experience to work to be a part of the solution as well. Having helped civic and faith leaders develop viable land use strategies for surplus or unused property for over a decade, we see untapped potential for funding and development options throughout the Bay Area and across California.