Families making $117k qualify for subsidized housing | Tim Talk | Tim Hunt | DanvilleSanRamon.com |

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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

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Families making $117k qualify for subsidized housing

Uploaded: Jun 26, 2018
The headline in the East Bay Times was stunning: “Low income is the Bay Area is $117,400.”
That’s the updated number from the federal Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. It’s been driven by soaring rents and housing prices to say nothing of other price points. Have you noticed how much cheaper gasoline is in Tracy than Pleasanton?
A second front page story by CalMatters reported the economic challenges faced by college students from poorer families. Vanessa Rancano reported that median rent statewide had climbed about 44 percent in a decade and that number is much higher in the Bay Area where a shortage of new units has seen both for-sale housing prices and rental rates skyrocket.
These headlines help focus on the East Bay Economic Development Alliance’s annual outlook report prepared by Beacon Economics and its principal Chris Thornberg. He’s optimistic about economic growth in 2018, but warns that the current expansion at nine years is among the longest on record—the same caution that Gov. Jerry Brown has issued with his budgets for the last three years. Expansion cannot go on forever.
For this year, Beacon expects job growth to continue and the unemployment rate to continue to decline in the East Bay. He also cautions about the lack of housing where the new home construction is still lagging historical averages that coupled with low inventory of for-sale homes continues to drive up prices.
For the Bay Area, employment in 2017 grew 1.9 percent—a rate that continues to outpace the national growth.
Wonder why roads are congested: about one-third of East Bay (Alameda and Contra Costa residents) leave the county to work in the South Bay or San Francisco. Mix in the Solano and San Joaquin County commuters and you understand why I-680 is a parking lot many mornings.
More good news: taxable sales in the East Bay grew nicely in 2017 reaching a new record of $48.9 billion as did venture capital investment that hit $2.4 billion last year. Commercial real estate vacancy rates remain near post-recession lows, while rents are climbing. Interestingly, the vacancy rate for retail, which is struggling nationally, stood at just 6.6 percent, while office was at 14.1 percent. Warehouse, a bullish category, hit a low of 6.7 percent.
The challenge is that housing, with the relatively affordable East Bay prices versus the South Bay, the Peninsula or San Francisco, prices soared at double-digit rates.
With very low unemployment rates, Beacon predicts continued economic expansion for the East Bay.


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Comments

Posted by Doug Miller, a resident of Country Fair,
on Jun 26, 2018 at 2:19 pm

Doug Miller is a registered user.

As Tim writes, our highways are parking lots, in part, because of the "no growth" people. We restrict large tracts of land from development which drives up the value of unrestricted land. We charge developers additional fees to build a lot of infrastructure that may not be necessary. This drives up the cost of new construction. Then the state tells us that some arbitrary portion of new construction must be "affordable" further driving up the cost of housing that is sold at market prices.

With these increased costs for land and construction, only those with higher incomes can afford to live here. Which leads to the I680 and I580 parking lots as people drive to where they can afford to live.

I have often thought that those sound walls along the freeways were really constructed by the no growth crowd to keep to keep people out of Pleasanton.


Posted by Karl Aitken, a resident of Pleasanton Valley,
on Jun 26, 2018 at 3:49 pm

Never new I was "low income".........................


Posted by Lincoln, a resident of Danville,
on Jun 27, 2018 at 11:02 am

Better location of jobs nearer to where housing is more affordable would also help.


Posted by vefamosu, a resident of Danville,
on Jun 30, 2018 at 3:57 pm

Richard and Maurice McDonald who is the founder of the Store. It was founded in the year 1940.McDonald's is one of the largest chains of fast food restaurant in the world, serving more than 68 million customers on a daily basis. Web Link


Posted by ecindia, a resident of Rancho Romero Elementary School,
on Jul 2, 2018 at 1:11 am

ecindia is a registered user.

McDonald's is one of the largest chains of fast food restaurant in the world, serving more than 68 million customers on a daily basis. Web Link
Web Link
Web Link


Posted by MOLINA, a resident of Avila,
on Jul 3, 2018 at 1:11 am

Thanks for sharing details with these increased costs for land and construction, only those with higher incomes can afford to live here. Which leads to the I680 and I580 parking lots as people drive to where they can afford to live.
Web Link


Posted by direect, a resident of Carlton Oaks,
on Jul 14, 2018 at 2:56 am

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