Home Top

Palo Alto residents who earn up to $250,000 a year to qualify for SUBSIDIZED housing in new affordable housing plan as teachers, cops and janitors are forced out of the city

House prices average $3m in Palo Alto, CA; a plot of land sold for $2.7m
Even those on $250,000-a-year drop two-thirds monthly wage on mortgage
It means low-income workers like teachers cannot afford to live in the city
In a bid to tackle the issue, the city has launched a new housing plan
The plan reserves 587 units for people earning more than $127,000-a-year

Published: 01:44 GMT, 24 March 2016 | Updated: 01:56 GMT, 24 March 2016

View
comments

People earning $250,000-a-year should qualify for subsidized housing in Palo Alto, according to a new proposal.

The well-heeled California neighborhood, where a plot of land recently sold for $2.7 million, is home to some of America’s richest entrepreneurs who work a few miles away in Silicon Valley.

With house price averages an eye-watering $3 million, even those earning $250,000-a-year are spending two-thirds of their monthly salary (around $14,000) paying off their mortgage.

It means workers such as teachers, janitors, firefighters, social workers, police officers and more are not paid enough to afford the local rent

Now the City Of Palo Alto has outlined an eight-year affordable housing plan - with 587 units for reserved for the area's uniquely wealthy middle class.

People earning $250,000-a-year should qualify for subsidized housing in Palo Alto, California, according to a new proposal. It comes after a plot of land (pictured) sold for almost $1 million in the well-heeled city

The plot of land behind this house sold for $2.7 million recently. House prices in the city average at $3 million, meaning low-income skilled workers are priced out of the area and have to commute a long way to work

'In most other areas of the Country, this income level would be associated with "above moderate" or market rate housing, rather than affordable housing,' the proposal says.

But in Palo Alto, this section of society - earning anything from $127,000 to $250,000 a year is struggling.

The plan, tabled at a council meeting on Monday, suggests building apartments as small as 200 square feet with bathrooms and kitchens shared between neighbors.

Other options include co-housing communities that share kitchens and dining areas, and special exemptions for property developers who set aside at least 25 per cent of new-builds for low income families.

The city's biggest problem is that low-income workers cannot afford to live nearby, 'indicating in a large unmet need for worker housing in the City,' the plan explains.

There are far more jobs in the city than there are employed residents.

And the impact is crippling.

'Since many of Palo Alto’s workers cannot afford to live in the City, the imbalance creates negative impacts such as long commutes for workers both inside and outside the region, increased traffic congestion during peak commute periods, and increased air pollution end energy consumption,' the proposal warns.

In total, the proposal suggests building 1,988 new units for anyone earning less than $250,000 a year.

The average area income is $106,300. The subsidized housing plan includes people earning 120 per cent of that ($127,000) and 'above'.

According to CBS' Bay Area station, the plan would include those earning $250,000.

In San Francisco the average area income is $102,000, with 'moderate' income around $122,000.

The figures: The penultimate line in this table from the city's proposal shows how people earning above 120 per cent of the average income (which works out to be around $127,000) require subsidized housing in the city