The problems of a lack of affordable housing, and recreational vehicles camping on city streets for weeks and months at a time has come to a head in East Palo Alto.
Wednesday evening, East Palo Alto officials towed away the last piece in an armada of RV’s that had called the 1100 block of Weeks Street home. KTVU talked to one RV resident who didn’t want to give his name…
“They’re just pushing people around. that’s not a solution to what the problem is,” said the middle- aged man who says he works two jobs but still can’t afford market rate apartment rents in the area.
“Lack of housing” is a misnomer. It’s broad and general without considering the whole picture.
It’s the price of housing. And this is just a result of supply falling so short of demand that prices can only rise to maintain economic equalibrium.
People who throw the “lack of housing” phrase in are considering housing a civil right and looking to government to provide for them. And, while I would concur that an ever expanding human population requires more housing, I take issue with the concept of the assumption of a right for anyone to live anywhere they chose and make demands to do so.
Personally, I’d like to live in Aspen…or locally, in Orinda. But, I can’t really afford either place despite having personal wealth that puts me in the top 5% of the nation according to polls I’ve seen. Well, I could afford it but only if I’m willing to dedicate an even larger portion of my savings and/or income to buying a house in either place.
I just returned from vacation in Pismo. Would love to live down there, with an ocean view. But, no dice either!
Where is it written that everyone gets to live in whatever locale they want? That’s the problem with the underlying approach of articles such as this and the public attitudes about housing these days.
Just returned from Vegas… No homeless or housing issues. Hundreds of new developments… Everything’s new. Low unemployment… Development solves all ills… Too bad BA politicians don’t get it… Simple solution. Suspend all zoning restrictions for Five years… Plenty of housing will be built…
Well, certainly no homeless people there, they arrive rich, gamble and return home to sign the deed to pay for their debts and then become the CA homeless population.
The housing crisis has shown acute symptoms in East Palo Alto schools. Ravenswood City School District Superintendent Gloria Hernandez-Goff said the homeless student population in the district has swelled from 25 percent at the start of last school year to 58 percent today. The district has stepped up efforts to feed children at school and distribute groceries to families in need.
Hernandez-Goff joined the protest Wednesday morning to show support for the students. Several come from the RVs lining a few local streets, she said. “It’s stunning,” she said of the working homeless. “There’s nowhere else for them to go.”
How do they count homeless kids? 58%? That sounds pretty fake.
If EPA just allows one big apartment building to be built all these people will have a home. But no, they can’t build because of traffic/birds/frogs what have you. It’s just like gun control debates. We can’t do the most effective most obvious solution because… nothing. Just pig-headed stubbornness and ignorance.
Also, why aren’t these people moving away? Forgive me to be blunt, these folks aren’t holding down high tech jobs that are unique to the Bay Area. They wash dishes and cook burgers. They can move anywhere in the USA and find the same jobs, pay a little bit less maybe but housing much cheaper. Is Sacramento or Stockton really that awful a place to live? Worse than living in an RV in the heart of Silicon Valley?
Americans used to travel from coast to coast looking for opportunities. Now people don’t even bother to move across town.
Vegas would be pleasant for the homeless. Except the cops won’t allow it
I even saw homeless camped on the freeway in Davis.
It is a California problem encouraged by liberal guilt
Same question can be asked about housed people in SV. Why not move to NC/TX to buy a good house with little money and enjoy a better life?
White people move more and minorities tend to move less. Immigrants are scared of unfamiliar places. Also California provides good social benefit.
I don’t think a new immigrant, legal or not, is willing to move to a place with no social benefit, no sanctuary protection or no jobs. In Stockton, even a native English speaker can’t get a job at McDonald’s. In SV, an immigrant with no legal status and with broken English can get a much better job than Stockton.
In some way, Trump’s focus on middle America can help a little in coastal cities’ overcrowding problem. When there are good jobs in Detroit, many mobile Americans will move from SV to Detroit.
I have the opposite impression. Immigrants are the ones who uproot themselves and move to a new country. You can’t be more mobile than that. Compare with the Trump voters in coal country who are more mobile?
I think immigrants are willing to live a worse life in SV. This is a good attribute. Some immigrants prefer a 20 people 1000sf house in CA over a 3 people 2000sf house in middle America
Part of the reason is that immigrants have no idea what a life in middle America is. Of course, Trump’s middle America could also be hostile to immigrants
“In 1983, East Palo Alto was incorporated as a city on the promises of compassion, equality, and fair housing for communities of color that had been excluded from opportunities to live in surrounding cities like Palo Alto and Menlo Park.”
Palo Alto and Menlo Park have laws about what races of people can live there?
I am an immigrant, but a tech employee. I came for the opportunities, but have no plan to bring family. Some people do bring extended family, but i dont. America is the melting pot, and i am adopting the western way of life and i dont expect this from my parents.
