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Home Resource Center In the News Home Greenbelt Alliance in the News |
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Greenbelt Alliance In the News
December 5, 2006 COALITION URGES VALLEJO TO ADDRESS LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOMES Bay City News WireThe Vallejo City Council will hear arguments for a new housing policy today based on a new study that shows home prices in Vallejo have more than doubled since 2000. A coalition of organizations and residents will address what some are calling a lack of affordable homes in Vallejo, according to Kate O'Hara, a spokeswoman for Greenbelt Alliance. The City Council will discuss an "inclusionary housing policy'' during today's meeting, which would require new housing developments to include a certain amount of homes affordable to residents with modest incomes, O'Hara said. "The unbalanced housing market is forcing families to move out of Vallejo to find homes they can afford,'' said O'Hara in a statement. "This increases the pressure to build on working farms and natural areas and increases traffic clogging on freeways.'' According to a recent housing study commissioned by the city of Vallejo, home prices in Vallejo have more than doubled between 2000 and 2006, increasing by more than 155 percent. A family of four needs to earn about $100,000 a year to afford a median-priced home of $425,000, but 70 percent of Vallejo families earn $88,000 per year or less, which is not enough to buy a home in Vallejo, according to the report. The new homes that are being built start selling at around $707,000, which is too costly for Vallejo teachers, government employees, nurses and others, the report found. According to Art Grubel, a spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 1280, workers' salaries have not kept pace with the increase in home prices in recent years. "Many of the homecare and Head Start workers are not finding homes they can afford in Vallejo,'' Grubel explained. O'Hara added that the majority of Bay Area cities have adopted inclusionary housing ordinances, including Petaluma, American Canyon, Napa, Walnut Creek and Pittsburg. Today's City Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Vallejo City Hall, located at 555 Santa Clara St. ### |
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