Population Pressures Force Development

The Times did a good job of outlining the Inland Empire’s growing pains (“Paying Price of Growth in Inland Empire,” Nov. 25). But, as a Riverside resident, I can assure you there is more to the picture.

California desperately needs new housing. The state’s population increased by more than 400,000 people per year during the 1990s and is projected to grow by nearly 600,000 each year for the next decade. But during the 1990s, home builders built only half the number of new houses and apartments needed to keep up with population and job growth.

As a result, housing prices, particularly in the state’s urban areas, have soared, and working families have been forced to move to the Inland Empire and outlying areas in order to find a home they can afford.

If California recognizes that growth is inevitable and properly plans for it--as we did so well in the 1950s and 1960s--the problems that come with it can be managed. If we continue to keep our collective heads in the sand, as we’ve done for most of the past 30 years, the problems will only get worse.

D. Gregg Brown

Vice President, California Building Industry Assn., Riverside