LETTERS
Housing’s Case
There is a disheartening trend growing in our community.
More homeowners oppose the building of new homes now more than ever. One of the hardest things for a homebuilder to do is try to get someone who already has a home to support the construction of new homes next door.
What are the reasons behind this thinking, when maintaining our quality of life is the single most important reason for those of us living here?
There are some strong and important reasons why residents should re-examine their thinking and support new development instead of opposing it.
First, we are growing as a county,not from immigration, as most people think,but from those of us having babies of our own! Almost 80% of the county’s growth today comes internally, according to the 2002 Orange County Community Indicators.
Second, not enough homes are being built to meet the needs of these new families that form as our children grow up. You have two children. Your two siblings have four children between them. These six children grow up and among them, they have 10 children.
Thus, there is a severe shortage of homes in all price ranges, from the most affordable, on up. Economics 101 teaches us that when supply is low (not enough houses) and demand is high (lots of people wanting them), prices skyrocket. A lack of affordable housing can be a major barrier to a strong, reliable economy.
At first, people may be happy to have their homes worth more. However, with time high housing prices will force quality businesses and high paying jobs to leave Orange County and go where housing is affordable.
As the business sector becomes depressed it gives way to the lower paying jobs and more people who cannot afford to buy a home.
Some families are having to move out of Orange County to seek affordable homes in Riverside and San Bernardino and are commuting one to four hours a day to and from their jobs. This is resulting in stressed families with no time to serve or care about the community.
But most families don’t move out of Orange County. Instead, families are starting to double and triple up to afford to buy and live in one house designed for one family or rent from absentee landlords. Recent news headlines of overcrowding in Santa Ana and Anaheim are just the tip of this phenomenal iceberg. No community is immune, even Irvine, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and San Clemente are seeing the effects of insufficient housing.
Now what does this mean for you? Do you notice more cars parked on your neighborhood street? Do your neighbors have young adults still living at home, starting their own households in their parents’ home? Are your schools, parks and sports fields overcrowded?
The impact of this “doubling and tripling up” on municipal services, such as parks, sports fields, schools, fire and police services and hospitals, will be profound. Homes were designed for one family, not two or three, or more. Streets, sewers, water systems and other public infrastructure may not have been designed to carry this unplanned-for load.
Guess who will have to pay for all the extra stress on our neighborhood infrastructure? You. And do you think this will affect your quality of life and the future fabric of your community? Yes, again.
New home development in Orange County takes some of the pressure off this insidious trend. Compact developments that effectively protect open space yet help to meet the need for new homes are starting to receive positive attention from community leaders with foresight.
This good planning and smart environmentalism will mandate that new homes are not islands or “add-ons” but complement and complete our beautiful existing neighborhoods. With this approach everyone’s quality of life is protected, even while the life cycle continues and we grow.
Shirley Commons,
Orange County Planning Commissioner
Director South Coast Apartment Owners Association
Viva El Toro
November’s passage of Measure B and the rejection of Proposition 51 is a wakeup call to the U.S. Navy implying the El Toro issue should be revisited.
After all, it was public opinion that caused the Navy to decide to sell the base rather than give it for public benefit. Now it’s public opinion that says don’t transfer that base until it is cleaned up for its intended use. In addition, voters all over California have said no to paying for a park for Irvine.
Just look at the vote in November compared to the vote last March. Cleanup, Measure B, was broadly supported all over Orange County. Park funding, Proposition 51, was rejected in every county in the state.
By contrast, that other initiative, Measure W, passed with a majority only in south Orange County cities. I believe the Navy should revisit El Toro and consider that the highest and best use may just well be an airport.
Donald Nyre
Newport Beach
