Key points:
- California’s housing crisis is about affordability, not just unit counts.
- Middle- and low-income Californians face severe cost burdens for housing.
- California needs over 2.5 million new homes by 2031 to restore balance.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — We hear arguments — there is not really a housing crisis because of claims that there are sufficient numbers of homes to accommodate current needs. Such arguments ignore issues such as location and affordability, but at the same time, they also acknowledge a real lack of units for low and middle income folks — what is that if not a housing crisis?
For instance, Gaetan “Guy” Lion’s recent report claims there is “no shortage of housing in general,” while acknowledging that “there’s a real lack of units for our middle- to lower-middle-class workforce.” Others, like McClure, have conceded that there is also “a real shortage for low income” households.
Add those groups together and you have a majority of Californians, spanning much of the state’s working and middle classes. The notion that such widespread affordability gaps do not amount to a housing crisis defies both data and lived experience…