ARTICLE
2017 is the Year of Housing for the Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce. It is our primary policy issue this year. Mayor Cynthia Chase of Santa Cruz stated a similar message in her state of city speech a few weeks ago. She is launching a housing listening tour to better understand the dynamics of housing on our community. This Friday, the Chamber is hosting a luncheon with our guest speaker, State Senator Scott Wiener (D-11th District, San Francisco). The subject is yes - Housing. Why so much discussion about a mounting policy issue that impacts the economic vitality of a community? If we don’t respond as a community now, these challenges will follow - increased homelessness, increased demand on our transportation system, more workers forced to commute to jobs outside of our county, and graduating students leaving the region for jobs in areas where they can live where they work because they cannot reside here. Economic reality is that a sustainable community thrives when workers live closer to their jobs, closer to where their children are schooled and where they are actively more engaged in the day-to-day activities of their community. Yesterday, the Santa Cruz Sentinel article implies the obvious (see below): It is nearing impossible for the median income household to stay in our community. Fundamentally, we are pricing ourselves out of our own community. Santa Cruz County median home price reaches record $875,000 in May -- Prices of single-family homes in Santa Cruz County soared to new records in May as the number of sales shrank. The median price, the midpoint of what sold during the month, was $875,000, topping the previous high of $830,000 in April, according to Gary Gangnes of Real Options Realty, who tracks the numbers. Our Santa Cruz Sentinel Reporter, Jondi Gumz’ article can be read here: Santa Cruz Sentinel The housing market and the rental market are reaching into the stratosphere. There is no end in sight that can slow this increasing cost of living and working in our coastal community. On Tuesday night the City Council launched their outreach activities about housing… To prime Tuesday’s discussion, Assistant City Manager Tina Shull told the audience and the council that Santa Cruz’s population grew by about 10,000 residents between 2000 and 2015. During that time, the city saw an 88 percent spike in homeowners by residents ages 55 to 64, and the biggest drop in those 34 years and younger. These are alarming statistics. Later this summer, the Chamber will embark on our annual Community Leadership Visit (CLV). These annual visits to other communities are designed as educational tours where our community leaders (public, private and non-profit sector leaders) come together to listen, look and learn how other communities address policy issues that impact their cities and the quality of life for their residents. In Santa Cruz we seem to think the world stops at our door steps in awe of our beautiful coastline, to visualize the walkability or our towns, to envy the sights and sounds of the surf, the beach, the boardwalk, our music and artistic scene, and of course the laid back lifestyle that defines us. Yet, lost in that visual is the reality that Santa Cruz County residents face every day. Can we sustain this lifestyle if we don’t address the deficiencies in our infrastructures - education and job opportunities, housing, transportation and water? Housing for all levels of income in Santa Cruz is one pillar of the health of a community. We are failing to address this problem. Paul Bailey, co-owner of Bailey Properties, who’s spent more than 40 years in real estate, said he would not be surprised if the median price reaches $1 million in three years. here aren’t enough homes for sale to meet demand. That’s partly due to lack of construction but also due to baby boomer homeowners reluctant to sell and downsize to a smaller nest. We are at a crossroad where the path for the future generation of leaders in Santa Cruz must answer this question: Do we want to be a bedroom community to Silicon Valley where our local residents are retirees and the economic opportunity (employment) is outside our county? Or do we want to reinvest in creating a community where young professionals can prosper in local jobs, raise their families in our neighborhoods and where housing is within their financial means? The truth to our future is ours to make.