Guest Opinion | Margaret Muñoz: “Join Us this Saturday to Tackle Affordable Housing in Pasadena”

It’s not news that Southern California faces a housing crisis. But what may not be obvious is the impact here in Pasadena.

Over the past decade, Pasadena has shifted from a community where the majority of residents were homeowners to one where 58% are renters. That’s not surprising with the median sales price of homes in Pasadena now topping $1,000,000. Rents too have been rising, faster than incomes with 97% of apartments renting for more than $1500 a month and 76% renting in excess of $2000 a month. Economic stress from the pandemic is putting increased strain on working households to keep a roof over their head.

This affordability crisis means many long-term residents are losing their homes – and either relocating to distant communities where housing is more affordable or ending up on the streets. Today, there are more than 500 people experiencing homelessness in our community and at least 700 students in our public schools lack “lack “a “fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” The Pasadena Housing Authority has a waiting list of 23,000 seeking Federal Section 8 vouchers to help them find affordable housing.

What are we doing about it? Pasadena has done more than most surrounding communities, but today’s crisis forces us to face the hard reality: more needs to be done.

Fortunately, there is a great opportunity to come together as a community to chart new policies, programs and partnerships to ensure Pasadenans have access to safe housing they can afford.

Every eight years, State law requires communities to update the Housing Elements of their General Plans to assess housing needs and establish goals for meeting them. This is year for Pasadena to update its Housing Element – the new plan must be adopted by City Council by October, 2021.

A diverse cross-section of community leaders is forming to tackle this challenge – and opportunity. The Pasadena Housing Coalition is holding a webinar this Saturday for anyone interested in learning about how the Housing Element can be a vehicle for constructive solutions to house the homeless, promote affordable housing, protect tenants and provide expanded opportunities for home ownership.

The stakes are high. The State must approve each city’s Housing Element – which means Pasadena must not only demonstrate our ability to find room for constructing 9400 more housing homes and apartments in the next eight years, but even more challenging, nearly 6000 of them must be affordable for low and moderate income households. That’s a tall order – and will require a much broader public and private commitment to the policies, programs and funding to provide that housing.

Fortunately, there are feasible paths to make housing more affordable and available – but we need to come together to agree on a comprehensive approach that serves our whole community.

This Saturday, Jane 23 at 3 pm, the Pasadena Housing Coalition is sponsoring a free webinar to explain the Housing Element process. We’ll share more vital information about what our responsibilities as a city require – and how citizens can play a meaningful role in shaping the final Housing Element. To register to participate, use this link.

The leading sponsors of this effort are Making Housing and Community Happen, Pasadenans Organizing for Progress and Abundant Housing LA’s local chapter. Other community groups have endorsed this effort and we are eager to have more sign on!

Pasadena prides itself as an inclusive and diverse community. We love our historic heritage, our quality of life and unique identity. To ensure we find the right path to preserve these special qualities – and ensure that all our residents can continue to enjoy them, join us!

Margaret Muñoz is a community organizer with Abundant Housing LA in the San Gabriel Valley and a second year masters student in Urban Planning at USC.