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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

November 9, 2005

Agency: Homes in Solano even less affordable now

Rising costs and a shrinking supply of affordable homes is making home ownership in Solano County a nearly impossible dream for a growing number of first-time buyers, experts say.

A newly released report called "Through the Roof: Solano County's Housing Crisis," by a coalition of the Greenbelt Alliance, the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California and the Solano Housing Coalition, shows that appearances can deceive.

"Housing is considered relatively affordable in Solano County, and with all the home building on, people look at that and say, 'how can there be a housing shortage?'" said the Greenbelt Alliance's Kate O'Hara. "But the big picture is that Solano is the Bay Area's fastest growing county. The housing being built is gobbling up agricultural land without creating affordable housing. We need townhouses and apartments within the cities."

O'Hara said the recent study shows that 80 percent of county residents can't afford the median priced home, and prices continue rising. Most residential building countywide is turning out expensive single family homes, she said.

"It's especially tragic because it's hidden in the Bay Area context," O'Hara added. "With Solano County seemingly more affordable and all the building going on. But those homes aren't affordable to most people."

"About half of our Solano County clerical workers, many of them single mothers, are locked out in terms of buying a home in Solano County," said Art Grubel of the Service Employees International Union, Local 1280. "Many are buying outside the county, in Sacramento and Yolo. It's a growing trend."

Linda Gunnerson is one such person.

Single and in her late 40s, Gunnerson said she'd hoped to buy a house in Solano County where she works, but couldn't afford what was available.

"I don't need a huge four-bedroom house," she said. "And that's all they're building. What I could afford were in areas I wouldn't even rent in." She bought a small home in Yolo County 3 1Ú2 years ago.

"It kind of blows my mind that I own a house," Gunnerson said, but added she now shares an increasingly congested commute to Fairfield and back twice a day.

"It's creating a commuter culture," Gunnerson said. "I pass agricultural land every day with signs that read 'Sold.'"

The commute isn't just inconvenient, it also contributes to worsening traffic and air quality, Grubel said.

The report suggests this trend will only increase if something isn't done, and suggests "inclusionary housing" is the answer, said Evelyn Stivers of the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California.

"Affordable is not the same as substandard or dilapidated housing," Stivers said. "We need to create clean, safe affordable housing. Especially for families who are already here."

Inclusionary housing, Stivers said, would require developers to include a certain percentage of affordable units in any new housing development. Questions over the percentage and whether the affordability transfers with the house when it's sold would be decided by each city, she said.

The report recommends Solano County's largest cities - Vallejo, Vacaville and Fairfield - adopt inclusionary housing ordinances. Fairfield is the only Solano County city with any type of inclusionary housing policy, but it's too narrowly defined, O'Hara said.

"It only applies to mid-range, single family homes," she said.

The coalition calls the report its first official salvo in a battle to introduce workable options to increase affordable housing in Solano County

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