Vacaville was supposed to be where Guadalupe “Lupe” Lupercio realized his American Dream. After living paycheck to paycheck in Los Angeles and San Bruno, the Mexican immigrant retreated to this working-class exurb 55 miles northeast of San Francisco in the mid-1990s for cheaper rent, friendly neighbors and the hope of buying a house someday.
Yet today, Lupercio, 68, is struggling to afford the modest two-bedroom apartment he rents with his wife in southeast Vacaville. With few other low-income housing options in this steadily growing outpost of roughly 103,000 residents, the retired truck driver fears that soaring expenses could force him out of the Bay Area — or worse.
“It’s stressful,” he said. “There’s times I think I’m going to have to move out of here and go live under a bridge or something.”…