Have you noticed all of the RV’s parked near the local Target store in Mountain View? Maybe you have read recent posts on social media about what to do with all of the homeless living out of their vehicles.
Well, last September the Mountain View City Council passed a parking ordinance that would restrict parking of oversized vehicles on narrow streets (less than 40 feet wide). Cited as a “thinly veiled attempt to push the homeless out of the city,” opponents demanded the council either rescind the ordinance or let the voters decide in an election.
Too late to be added to the primary elections in March, and in an effort to avoid the high costs of a special election in April which was estimated to cost $1.3 million, the referendum will be on the November ballot along with the presidential election.
All of this back and forth and indecision over what to do with the growing number of homeless in Santa Clara County is part of a bigger problem. Back in 2018, Californians voted on Proposition 10, a measure allowing for cities and counties to enact rent control laws in an effort to control housing costs. That measure was defeated, but not without real estate associations and landlords spent lots of money advertising against it.
Rent control is still on Californians’ minds though, with a statewide initiative on the ballot this November that would give cities the ability to block rent increases on newer buildings, constructed after 1995.
With the median house valued at almost 2 .5 times the average in the rest of the country, California is facing a housing affordability and homeless crisis. Something clearly needs to be done, but is rent control the answer?
Sources:
https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2020/01/15/mountain-view-voters-to-decide-on-rv-parking-ban?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/a-semi-feudal-society-in-east-palo-alto-the-influx-of-tech-companies-pushes-residents-to-a-breaking-point-over-gentrification/2018/11/02/03e1004c-d17c-11e8-b2d2-f397227b43f0_story.html?outputType=amp
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-proposition-10-rent-control-20181106-story.html
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article239950073.html
I agree that rent control is really important. I think a fact that is often forgotten is that there are workers who do the lower paying jobs that we need in our communities who can't even live here. Safeway workers, restaurant waiters, garbage men and women. they do such important tasks, yet they can't live here due to high rent. If it gets too high all around, eventually, it'll just become easier to work in their own neighborhood. High rent isn't just a housing issue, it's employment and community as well.
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