This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/us/california-housing-crisis-rent.html
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| As Rents Outrun Pay, California Families Live on a Knife’s Edge | As Rents Outrun Pay, California Families Live on a Knife’s Edge |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| [Sign up for our daily newsletter about news from California here.] | [Sign up for our daily newsletter about news from California here.] |
| LOS ANGELES — When Priscilla Fregoso and her family moved into their apartment in Van Nuys, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley, three years ago, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. | |
| They had bounced from home to home in Long Beach and Orange County and then in Pacoima, long known as a diverse working-class area of the Valley. But when their rent there increased by $220 a month, they found themselves living in their car. | They had bounced from home to home in Long Beach and Orange County and then in Pacoima, long known as a diverse working-class area of the Valley. But when their rent there increased by $220 a month, they found themselves living in their car. |
| In Van Nuys, they now have room for their two young boys. They have a small patio and big couches. Ms. Fregoso’s husband, Ryan Coughran, owns a television for the first time in his life. | In Van Nuys, they now have room for their two young boys. They have a small patio and big couches. Ms. Fregoso’s husband, Ryan Coughran, owns a television for the first time in his life. |
| Recently, though, Ms. Fregoso said she received a notice from her landlord. The rent for the compact three-bedroom apartment, in a labyrinthine complex on a densely packed street in Van Nuys, was increasing from $1,236 to $1,456 a month. | Recently, though, Ms. Fregoso said she received a notice from her landlord. The rent for the compact three-bedroom apartment, in a labyrinthine complex on a densely packed street in Van Nuys, was increasing from $1,236 to $1,456 a month. |
| Which means that, with an annual income of about $40,000, her family is once again balancing on a financial knife’s edge. And it may again come time to move. | Which means that, with an annual income of about $40,000, her family is once again balancing on a financial knife’s edge. And it may again come time to move. |
| “It’s a lot of unknown — that’s the scariest part,” she said. | “It’s a lot of unknown — that’s the scariest part,” she said. |
| Much attention has been focused on the more visible extremes of California’s housing crisis: the $100 million mansions not far from where people live on the streets. But thousands of families like Ms. Fregoso’s — working renters whose pay has inched upward while housing costs have rocketed — are barely hanging on in a housing market that has tipped further and further in favor of homeowners. | |
| As property values rise, the resulting rent increases have forced these tenants to move from home to home, sometimes pushing them into homelessness and often sending them far away from jobs and support networks. | As property values rise, the resulting rent increases have forced these tenants to move from home to home, sometimes pushing them into homelessness and often sending them far away from jobs and support networks. |
| This, experts say, has caused housing shortages to ripple outward from the state’s higher-cost regions, effectively destabilizing the lives of legions of workers who form the base of the state’s economy. | This, experts say, has caused housing shortages to ripple outward from the state’s higher-cost regions, effectively destabilizing the lives of legions of workers who form the base of the state’s economy. |
| “That cuts across all industries,” said David Garcia, policy director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley. | “That cuts across all industries,” said David Garcia, policy director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley. |
| The impact does not end with the economy, he added: There are downsides for the environment and the very social fabric of the state. | The impact does not end with the economy, he added: There are downsides for the environment and the very social fabric of the state. |
| “Where folks are being pushed further and further away and spend far too much time commuting,” he said, “that has implications for family life.” | “Where folks are being pushed further and further away and spend far too much time commuting,” he said, “that has implications for family life.” |
| California lawmakers recently passed a milestone statewide rent cap, as part of a broader effort to protect renters, but many observers say the measure will not be enough to keep many lower-income renters in stable housing. | California lawmakers recently passed a milestone statewide rent cap, as part of a broader effort to protect renters, but many observers say the measure will not be enough to keep many lower-income renters in stable housing. |
| Roughly one in three renters in Los Angeles report spending more than half their income on housing, census data shows. | Roughly one in three renters in Los Angeles report spending more than half their income on housing, census data shows. |
| The average apartment in the city goes for $2,517 a month, according to the research firm RENTCafe.com — $1,056 more than the national average. | The average apartment in the city goes for $2,517 a month, according to the research firm RENTCafe.com — $1,056 more than the national average. |
| The most basic form of affordable housing — a one-bedroom apartment renting for less than $1,000 — has become particularly scarce. Los Angeles County, with a population of more than 10 million, has 154,000 such units today, half as many as there were in 2010, according to census data. | The most basic form of affordable housing — a one-bedroom apartment renting for less than $1,000 — has become particularly scarce. Los Angeles County, with a population of more than 10 million, has 154,000 such units today, half as many as there were in 2010, according to census data. |
| In Van Nuys, where the average rent has shot up by $300 a month since 2016, more than 35 percent of families in rental housing report paying at least half their income to live there. | In Van Nuys, where the average rent has shot up by $300 a month since 2016, more than 35 percent of families in rental housing report paying at least half their income to live there. |
| Such unsustainable rents have resulted in more lower-income people moving out of the Los Angeles area than are moving in. | Such unsustainable rents have resulted in more lower-income people moving out of the Los Angeles area than are moving in. |
| Not only are they being replaced by higher earners whose arrival pushes up housing costs in Los Angeles, but their relocation to less expensive areas of the state also tends to drives up costs in those communities. | Not only are they being replaced by higher earners whose arrival pushes up housing costs in Los Angeles, but their relocation to less expensive areas of the state also tends to drives up costs in those communities. |
| “We get a lot of spill-out that comes from the Bay Area and L.A.,” said Amber Crowell, an assistant professor of sociology at California State University, Fresno. “And we expect it to get worse.” | “We get a lot of spill-out that comes from the Bay Area and L.A.,” said Amber Crowell, an assistant professor of sociology at California State University, Fresno. “And we expect it to get worse.” |
| This was not always the case. | This was not always the case. |
| In Southern California, as the region’s economy grew in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a symbiotic relationship between job growth and home construction. In those decades, the economy created a new housing unit for every three new jobs. The economy slowed down over the following 20 years, but the area still gained nearly a million more new homes. | In Southern California, as the region’s economy grew in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a symbiotic relationship between job growth and home construction. In those decades, the economy created a new housing unit for every three new jobs. The economy slowed down over the following 20 years, but the area still gained nearly a million more new homes. |
| The recovery from the most recent recession has played out differently. The job market has churned to life, but housing construction has slowed to a trickle. These days only one new housing unit is being built for every eight new jobs, and supply has fallen short of demand. | The recovery from the most recent recession has played out differently. The job market has churned to life, but housing construction has slowed to a trickle. These days only one new housing unit is being built for every eight new jobs, and supply has fallen short of demand. |
| Mr. Garcia, of the Terner Center, said that in the years since the most recent recession, it had also become much more difficult to get a mortgage. | Mr. Garcia, of the Terner Center, said that in the years since the most recent recession, it had also become much more difficult to get a mortgage. |
| “You’re not seeing the same kind of lending, with no check on income or ability to pay, because of what happened 10 years ago,” he said. “That’s good on one hand.” | “You’re not seeing the same kind of lending, with no check on income or ability to pay, because of what happened 10 years ago,” he said. “That’s good on one hand.” |
| On the other, Mr. Garcia said, it is helping to increase pressure on renters, who are now at greater risk of being displaced than are their neighbors who own their homes. That is a reversal of the conditions during the recession, when underwater homeowners were among the most vulnerable. | On the other, Mr. Garcia said, it is helping to increase pressure on renters, who are now at greater risk of being displaced than are their neighbors who own their homes. That is a reversal of the conditions during the recession, when underwater homeowners were among the most vulnerable. |
| Home sale prices have risen sharply, and middle-class buyers are snapping up homes in neighborhoods they avoided in the past. | Home sale prices have risen sharply, and middle-class buyers are snapping up homes in neighborhoods they avoided in the past. |
| This has pushed many longtime residents — particularly renters — out of black and Latino neighborhoods, even as those who were able to purchase homes decades ago have seen their property values rise. | This has pushed many longtime residents — particularly renters — out of black and Latino neighborhoods, even as those who were able to purchase homes decades ago have seen their property values rise. |
| “What’s causing displacement here in Inglewood is corporate speculation and increased perceptions of desirability,” said D’Artagnan Scorza, a community advocate with the group Uplift Inglewood and a member of the city’s school board. | “What’s causing displacement here in Inglewood is corporate speculation and increased perceptions of desirability,” said D’Artagnan Scorza, a community advocate with the group Uplift Inglewood and a member of the city’s school board. |
| Real estate has actually appreciated faster in working class sections of Los Angeles than in the city over all, an analysis of sales data provided by ATTOM Data Solutions shows. That trend translates into sharp rent increases in those areas. | |
| Still, the effects of the crisis are playing out across the region. | Still, the effects of the crisis are playing out across the region. |
| When Catherine Butler, 55, arrived in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1999 from San Francisco, she paid $750 a month to rent a one-bedroom apartment. When she left that apartment in 2011 to get a bigger place to raise her daughter, the rent had risen to just under $1,000. | When Catherine Butler, 55, arrived in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1999 from San Francisco, she paid $750 a month to rent a one-bedroom apartment. When she left that apartment in 2011 to get a bigger place to raise her daughter, the rent had risen to just under $1,000. |
| Ms. Butler, who works as an archivist for a Hollywood nonprofit group, said she considered buying a house then. But many of the places she saw in her price range needed a lot of work. It made more sense to rent, she said. | Ms. Butler, who works as an archivist for a Hollywood nonprofit group, said she considered buying a house then. But many of the places she saw in her price range needed a lot of work. It made more sense to rent, she said. |
| “I had friends who leapt and bought, and ended up losing,” she said. | “I had friends who leapt and bought, and ended up losing,” she said. |
| Ms. Butler eventually found a two-bedroom house to rent in Altadena, an enclave tucked between Pasadena and the Angeles National Forest. Her rent there has increased over the years to $2,200 a month. | Ms. Butler eventually found a two-bedroom house to rent in Altadena, an enclave tucked between Pasadena and the Angeles National Forest. Her rent there has increased over the years to $2,200 a month. |
| She has good benefits, a master’s degree and makes a bit less than $70,000 a year — which fits squarely within what experts describe as middle class for the region — but she pays almost half of her take-home pay in rent, and she is anticipating another increase soon. That has her planning to move out. | She has good benefits, a master’s degree and makes a bit less than $70,000 a year — which fits squarely within what experts describe as middle class for the region — but she pays almost half of her take-home pay in rent, and she is anticipating another increase soon. That has her planning to move out. |
| Leaving the region is a nonstarter. Ms. Butler has worked at her job, which she loves, for 15 years. Her daughter is in school. | Leaving the region is a nonstarter. Ms. Butler has worked at her job, which she loves, for 15 years. Her daughter is in school. |
| Which means she has been scrambling to figure out another solution. | Which means she has been scrambling to figure out another solution. |
| “I’ve reached out to people on Facebook, like, ‘Does anybody need help making their mortgage?’” she said. “It’s all cobbled together. I’m not moving forward, I’m not succeeding.” | “I’ve reached out to people on Facebook, like, ‘Does anybody need help making their mortgage?’” she said. “It’s all cobbled together. I’m not moving forward, I’m not succeeding.” |
| Although the crisis has been a consuming source of frustration for leaders across the state, current California laws provide little incentive for them to change local zoning policies to allow more development. | Although the crisis has been a consuming source of frustration for leaders across the state, current California laws provide little incentive for them to change local zoning policies to allow more development. |
| New housing units raise the cost of government services, but strict caps on property taxes imposed under Proposition 13 limit the amount of money that would flow to local budgets to pay for expanded police, education and public works. | New housing units raise the cost of government services, but strict caps on property taxes imposed under Proposition 13 limit the amount of money that would flow to local budgets to pay for expanded police, education and public works. |
| And lawmakers, largely elected by homeowners, have little incentive to change existing law. | And lawmakers, largely elected by homeowners, have little incentive to change existing law. |
| That, Mr. Garcia said, is in no small part because homeowners, intentionally or not, benefit from a market in which scarcity is a driving force, which places their interests fundamentally at odds with those of renters. | That, Mr. Garcia said, is in no small part because homeowners, intentionally or not, benefit from a market in which scarcity is a driving force, which places their interests fundamentally at odds with those of renters. |
| “Over all, they see greater increases in the value of their own property,” he said. | “Over all, they see greater increases in the value of their own property,” he said. |
| A closely watched statewide proposal to relax zoning to allow for more multifamily housing development stalled this year in the California Legislature. Critics said the plan would lead to more high-end development and do little to address housing affordability. | A closely watched statewide proposal to relax zoning to allow for more multifamily housing development stalled this year in the California Legislature. Critics said the plan would lead to more high-end development and do little to address housing affordability. |
| Proponents said it was one of the few proposals before lawmakers that could have made a serious dent in the shortage. | Proponents said it was one of the few proposals before lawmakers that could have made a serious dent in the shortage. |
| “You have this attitude that high housing costs are a cross that California needs to bear, that it’s just what it means to be California,” said Christopher Thornberg, the founding partner of Beacon Economics, a consulting firm in Los Angeles. “What makes me crazy about that is it flies in the face of what’s happening across the nation. We’re turning California into Country Club California.” | “You have this attitude that high housing costs are a cross that California needs to bear, that it’s just what it means to be California,” said Christopher Thornberg, the founding partner of Beacon Economics, a consulting firm in Los Angeles. “What makes me crazy about that is it flies in the face of what’s happening across the nation. We’re turning California into Country Club California.” |
| A health care worker who makes $20.97 an hour, Ms. Fregoso said she and her husband have weighed leaving the state. They have considered living in Washington State or Arizona. | A health care worker who makes $20.97 an hour, Ms. Fregoso said she and her husband have weighed leaving the state. They have considered living in Washington State or Arizona. |
| But the heat in Arizona, she fears, would be more than her 4-year-old son could bear. He is autistic and sensitive to stimuli. She also worries that lower wages and fewer benefits there would cancel out any savings from cheaper housing. | But the heat in Arizona, she fears, would be more than her 4-year-old son could bear. He is autistic and sensitive to stimuli. She also worries that lower wages and fewer benefits there would cancel out any savings from cheaper housing. |
| Ms. Fregoso’s parents live in the Santa Clarita area north of Los Angeles, and she leans on them for help. | Ms. Fregoso’s parents live in the Santa Clarita area north of Los Angeles, and she leans on them for help. |
| In other words, Ms. Fregoso said, the family is stuck where it is. And without any sliver of financial cushion, she said, “every day is a risk.” | In other words, Ms. Fregoso said, the family is stuck where it is. And without any sliver of financial cushion, she said, “every day is a risk.” |