In this hearing I discussed the need to redefine California’s housing model for both homeownership and the rental market. The current system of housing is failing the middle class, single-parent households, working families, recent college graduates, aging seniors, and routinely overlooks the significant differences between Northern and Southern California. A new “housing economic ladder” is needed to move away from limited traditional, two-income homeownership assumptions and instead re-orient home affordability to include alternative paths to wealth-building. This approach reframes issues of housing support through the lens of economic empowerment, rather than simple social programming.
To begin to address this issue, we need a proactive, surgical, and regional approach towards housing that serves all California residents. In addition, the burden of infrastructure development should not fall on developers who already face significant structural barriers to project completion. These meaningful reforms require procedural, distributive, and intergenerational justice to rebuild housing and the financing model from the ground up and middle out. Furthermore, a stronger alignment between local and state governments is crucial in bolstering housing affordability. Rebranding and revamping the economic housing model will dismantle generations of economic disparity and provide affordable solutions throughout California. Thoughtful and intentional reform necessitates that all developers, financiers, and constituents be considered in the economic housing ladder.
