Building Low-Income Housing

The Orange County Grand Jury has added its voice to the chorus proclaiming the need for low-income housing. It’s a valuable reminder that the county cannot expect boom times to be built on the backs of workers unable to live within our borders.

One recommendation in the panel’s report this month is that county departments take the lead and cooperate with cities in coming up with a map that shows where land is available for low-income housing. The map should be provided to private firms and government agencies that have a say in building housing.

The single-map suggestion has been made before, but having the grand jury put its weight behind the proposal gives it extra heft. The panel dispatched its report to the county and to cities and requested that they respond.

The remarkable growth in the cost of housing in Orange County in recent years is demonstrated graphically by a list of how much money is needed by a family of four to be considered low-income: $55,680 a year. At that level, a family paying 30% of its income for rent could afford a maximum of $1,392 a month. While the 30% rule of thumb is helpful, it’s often unrealistic in Orange County. Surveys have shown any number of people paying 40% or more of their income in rent.

The grand jury said the absolutely obvious--that the people least likely to find housing they can afford are those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. To fall into the very-low annual income category requires earnings of $34,800 or less for a family of four. Using the 30% rule, that works out to a maximum affordable rent payment of $870. Good luck finding a decent place for a family to live in Orange County for that amount.

The housing shortage is a reason why individuals and even families share housing in some areas. That’s especially notable in Santa Ana, where city officials periodically have tried to limit the number of people living in one unit. A state appeals court ruled that the city went astray 10 years ago when it limited the number of people who could live in a one-bedroom apartment to five. State law allows 10 people in a typical one-bedroom apartment.

Clearly, Orange County cities will have to do a better job of providing more housing units. The grand jury noted the need for “political will” and government leadership on this issue. It also noted that residents often fear that low-income housing nearby will cause the value of their homes to drop.

One possible solution has been proposed by a team at the Planning Center in Costa Mesa, which suggested reshaping down-at-the-heels shopping centers into a mix of retail use and housing.

Rather than leave in place a massive parking lot, mostly vacant now because shoppers have sought the newer, shinier strip mall, build apartments and condos. Put parking on the bottom of the building, or even on the top. Save some room for grass and trees.

The feeling always has been that those sorts of urban mixed-use properties won’t work in Orange County, a prototypal suburb where families with 2.2 children demanded a single-family home and lawn, preferably with a pool.

But cities including Anaheim, Garden Grove and Brea have tried to convert struggling commercial properties into mixed-use communities in some instances. Brea City Councilwoman Bev Perry says it makes sense to take advantage of existing infrastructure such as water and sewers and add housing. What’s more, people like it.

As the grand jury noted, businesses in Orange County have been complaining that their workers can’t afford to live here. That means living in Riverside or Los Angeles County and commuting into Orange County, clogging the freeways, increasing air pollution and frazzling the nerves of the commuters before their work day begins.

All the county’s cities, in the south as well as the north, need to commit to providing shelter affordable to all. It may mean allowing density greater than is allowed now; it may mean innovative developments such as those suggested by the Planning Center. But with planners saying that the bad situation for very-low-income workers will get even worse in the years ahead, it’s time for public-private partnerships, with government agencies taking the lead, to provide the housing that workers need and can afford.