Monterey County affordable housing issues highlighted in recent study

City leaders across Monterey County are looking deep into the issue of affordable housing following several presentations of a study that was recently released.

The study is done with the help of multiple cities, including Salinas, Monterey and Seaside among others. The Monterey County Housing Authority also contributed to this report.

Of more than 125,000 households participating, about half of them described suffering from “housing problems” for one reason or another.

The report found that wages, even for full-time employees, are often not enough to cover housing costs.

Low-income residents are especially vulnerable to the problems inadequate affordable housing can bring.

“It’s a real thing,” says Monterey resident Beth Callaghan. “I work with a lot of especially younger people or people with families who struggle to find a place to live in the area.”

20% of renters say their household is overcrowded while 9% of homeowners say the same.

This “Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice also discusses how much of an impact the lack of access to affordable housing can have on people of color.

The topic has been a concern for residents for years, some of whom have friends, coworkers or relatives trying to live in Monterey County.

“Pricing is hard,” says Monterey resident Kevin Robinson. “The wages in the area seem good enough to be able to help things out, but the pricing on the housing market just seems to keep going up.”

When attempting to address the affordable housing issue by building more affordable units, cities have said some communities have resisted and refused to have large units constructed near their homes.

The study argues the region’s water shortage limits the development of affordable housing. Development pressure, meanwhile, can impact some low-income homes as well.

Public transportation also comes into play when talking about affordable housing, as insufficient and unreliable public transportation “creates an additional barrier to affordable housing.”

According to the report, job centers are, for the most part, located too far from from affordable housing units, whose tenants might need it the most.

“It’s a peninsula, so the housing is limited. There’s a lot of competition for that housing,” says Callaghan.

Seaside city council members were the more recent council to review the affordable housing report.

The report says Salinas city council members are expected to do the same at its meeting scheduled for May 14, 2019.

To read the full study, click here