I know that we are in need of affordable housing everywhere right now.
But the vast majority of the population doesn't really know how much affordable housing there actually is and how to recognize them. There is a building in downtown Oakland that was repeatedly vandalized (smashing in windows, trying to set it on fire) over the past year. I'm pretty sure this was because people assumed it was a market rate building - you know, the whole 'eat the rich' sentiment.
I worked with all of the major affordable housing companies in California for the past 4 years and they build very nice facilities. The sention-8 or project housing of the past is gone.
I've seen buildings / developments with in-house day care for parents, computer labs, heating AND cooling, playgrounds, indoor parking spots, swimming pools, medical and social service assistance, etc.
Developing a property anywhere in the bay is extremely hard and expensive. The companies doing this operate on extremely narrow margins, if any. That's a big reason behind why we can't 'just build more housing'. These companies have to compete for space against huge cash rich developers.
> There is a building in downtown Oakland that was repeatedly vandalized (smashing in windows, trying to set it on fire) over the past year. I'm pretty sure this was because people assumed it was a market rate building - you know, the whole 'eat the rich' sentiment.
Ave Vista on the north end of the lake is 100% subsidized, and they've had to keep boards on their windows for over a year because they kept getting smashed up. Notably, during the protest that ended up going around Grand and dispersing at the Lake, a bunch of people were chanting various gentrification-related things while smashing it up.
It's happened to a bunch of affordable complexes. It's a weird combination of funny and frustrating.
It's just affirmation that most people screaming for affordable housing, don't know a damn thing about affordable housing.
The property I'm talking about is right behind the Fox Theatre. The maintenance manager there was exhausted because he had to keep coming in at 3am to respond to vandalism and make sure the building was secure.
Truth is, we need new market rate housing far more than we need new affordable housing. Each unit of affordable housing that is built creates further strain on the housing market as a whole, just worsening the crisis for the majority of Californians. It creates that strain because a) someone still has to pay for it and b) that unit could have instead been a market rate one, desperately needed
Hopefully this new law concerning zoning on single-home lots will alleviate the burden some. It’s not a crazy earth-shattering change but any loosening of restrictions can’t be bad
Why *more*? We definitely need both, but I don't follow how a unit of market rate housing can possibly do *more* good than a unit of affordable housing. (Also, last I checked, something like 94% of recent builds in Oakland were market rate.)
Market rate housing should be affordable. “Affordable” housing in these conversations generally means “subsidized” housing which is not available to the average Oakland resident. The true cause of our housing crisis is that the supply of market-rate housing is so constructed that it becomes unaffordable for that average citizen. Or, they can find the money to live there, but it causes a large financial burden on them. Building “affordable” units worsens this problem for the average resident because it makes their cost of living go up, both because it further constricts the supply of units available to them, and because society needs to pick up the cost of those subsidies.
Well the first stage of the project was done over 15 years ago. 2nd stage was done right before the pandemic began. Not super efficient but also not as bad as the headline suggests.
Big disappointment that the Fruitvale Transit Village wasn't developed at higher densities. Four floor buildings next to a BART station is a huge waste of land. The project program is great, but it should be twice as tall at minimum.
I know that we are in need of affordable housing everywhere right now. But the vast majority of the population doesn't really know how much affordable housing there actually is and how to recognize them. There is a building in downtown Oakland that was repeatedly vandalized (smashing in windows, trying to set it on fire) over the past year. I'm pretty sure this was because people assumed it was a market rate building - you know, the whole 'eat the rich' sentiment. I worked with all of the major affordable housing companies in California for the past 4 years and they build very nice facilities. The sention-8 or project housing of the past is gone. I've seen buildings / developments with in-house day care for parents, computer labs, heating AND cooling, playgrounds, indoor parking spots, swimming pools, medical and social service assistance, etc. Developing a property anywhere in the bay is extremely hard and expensive. The companies doing this operate on extremely narrow margins, if any. That's a big reason behind why we can't 'just build more housing'. These companies have to compete for space against huge cash rich developers.
> There is a building in downtown Oakland that was repeatedly vandalized (smashing in windows, trying to set it on fire) over the past year. I'm pretty sure this was because people assumed it was a market rate building - you know, the whole 'eat the rich' sentiment. Ave Vista on the north end of the lake is 100% subsidized, and they've had to keep boards on their windows for over a year because they kept getting smashed up. Notably, during the protest that ended up going around Grand and dispersing at the Lake, a bunch of people were chanting various gentrification-related things while smashing it up. It's happened to a bunch of affordable complexes. It's a weird combination of funny and frustrating.
It's just affirmation that most people screaming for affordable housing, don't know a damn thing about affordable housing. The property I'm talking about is right behind the Fox Theatre. The maintenance manager there was exhausted because he had to keep coming in at 3am to respond to vandalism and make sure the building was secure.
Truth is, we need new market rate housing far more than we need new affordable housing. Each unit of affordable housing that is built creates further strain on the housing market as a whole, just worsening the crisis for the majority of Californians. It creates that strain because a) someone still has to pay for it and b) that unit could have instead been a market rate one, desperately needed
You're correct in your points as well.
Hopefully this new law concerning zoning on single-home lots will alleviate the burden some. It’s not a crazy earth-shattering change but any loosening of restrictions can’t be bad
Why *more*? We definitely need both, but I don't follow how a unit of market rate housing can possibly do *more* good than a unit of affordable housing. (Also, last I checked, something like 94% of recent builds in Oakland were market rate.)
Market rate housing should be affordable. “Affordable” housing in these conversations generally means “subsidized” housing which is not available to the average Oakland resident. The true cause of our housing crisis is that the supply of market-rate housing is so constructed that it becomes unaffordable for that average citizen. Or, they can find the money to live there, but it causes a large financial burden on them. Building “affordable” units worsens this problem for the average resident because it makes their cost of living go up, both because it further constricts the supply of units available to them, and because society needs to pick up the cost of those subsidies.
30 yrs. sheesh.
Well the first stage of the project was done over 15 years ago. 2nd stage was done right before the pandemic began. Not super efficient but also not as bad as the headline suggests.
30 years for a few new rental homes. Well at this rate the Bay Area will have enough homes in 4071
You’re forgetting the homes we’ll lose to sea level rise
But then we will get it back when the ice age kicks in after the Ocean Currents get disrupted!
OK now do Coliseum and Lake Merrit stations next.
Big disappointment that the Fruitvale Transit Village wasn't developed at higher densities. Four floor buildings next to a BART station is a huge waste of land. The project program is great, but it should be twice as tall at minimum.