Affordable Housing

The article “Young Shut Out by Rental Prices” in your July 23 issue was dead on. I’ve been waiting for someone to point out the lack of affordable housing in Ventura County, and Jenifer Ragland presented excellent research, depth and accuracy in her writing.

I lived at my parents’ home in Oxnard from the time I was 11 until I was 19. I went to university in Riverside, and when I returned to work in Ventura, I figured that getting an apartment would be a piece of cake. My boyfriend and his two roommates had rented a three-bedroom, three-bath apartment in Riverside for $750 a month, and I thought, “Well, a one-bedroom might be around $600 or so.” Yeah, right.

Finding a vacancy wasn’t that difficult, but it meant paying much more than I’m comfortable with or should be spending. As a single young person with no roommates, the rent I’m paying for a 435-square-foot studio in Ventura is killing me. Last summer I looked for an alternative but I found nothing cheaper except in neighborhoods where no woman should live alone. It has been frustrating and agonizing, and with student loan payments, car insurance payments, utilities, food and other expenses, I have absolutely no money to put into savings.

Ventura is a rather crusty, dirty town, and I can’t understand why anyone would pay so much to live there. I am relocating to Redlands, and found an 895-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath apartment for less than what I’m paying for the 435-square-foot studio in Ventura. I don’t think that after living in such an affordable area I will ever be able to come back and live in Ventura County. The sad thing is, there are most likely plenty of other young people who share my views, and Ventura County will really be suffering the loss of some great individuals who will use their talents and skills to better other areas instead.

Thank you again for including an article that really pinpointed the very serious problems young people and working families are facing in Ventura.

Laura Chen

Ventura