Home sweet home is out of my price range

I distinctly remember an early morning conversation with Councilman

Chris Steel in the parking lot after a council meeting. It was after

2 a.m. and I was wired after forcing myself to stay awake through an

eight-hour meeting. For some reason we got to talking, debating,

chatting and the topic of affordable housing came up. Steel and I are

on opposite sides of the picket fence.

I was trying to explain to him how depressing it was to know I

would never be able to own a house in my hometown.

“Why, you don’t think you are going to be successful?” he asked

me.

“I plan on being successful, I just doubt I’ll ever be rich,” I

countered.

There is a big difference.

I feel successful now. I graduated from a great college (some

would argue it’s the best -- Fight on!) and landed my dream job in

the field of my major. The sad fact is, up until just recently, I

qualified for government housing. Unfortunately, I have chosen a

profession, which I absolutely love, but one that for now doesn’t pay

me enough to afford even a condo in this area.

Journalists aren’t alone here. There are a lot of people like me

who don’t necessarily make the worst neighbors. Like my best friend

Heather, who also graduated from USC and is now a teacher in

Rosemead. Or the officers at the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa police

departments, the teachers at our schools, friendly checkers at the

market ... the list goes on and on.

According to a study by the Public Policy Institute of California,

titled California’s Housing Element Law: The Issue of Local

Noncompliance, a third of California cities are out of compliance

with the state’s affordable housing laws. Author Paul G. Lewis

outlines a number of factors that would contribute to noncompliance,

including shortages of available land, explicit anti-growth policies

and an aversion to affordable housing among wealthy communities.

Gee any of these sound familiar here?

Newport Beach has tackled its affordable housing quandary by

adding more senior housing but none for lower to middle-income

families. And many Costa Mesa leaders and residents feel the city has

done its portion to alleviate the regional housing problem and don’t

want any “low income” residents.

Lewis said the state’s housing law is flawed because it asks local

politicians to go against their constituents.

“It goes against the grains of local politics to asking cities to

plan for the needs of the wider region, not just those of current

city residents,” the study reads.

Newport-Mesa provides the perfect example of this as City Council

members, who are elected by the residents, are often unwilling to

push for affordable housing when the masses are rallying against it.

What I don’t understand is why people are so against allowing

middle-income families to move into their neighborhoods. Affordable

housing would cater to people such as myself and my teacher friend

and all of the people my age who find it daunting to have to save up

$40,000 to $80,000 just for a down payment.

According to a survey from the Orange Coast Assn. of Realtors, the

average selling price in Costa Mesa was $401,650, and $946,381 in

Newport Beach. If I somehow was able to pinch enough pennies to save

$300 a month (yeah right, but let’s just play the game anyway) it

would take me 26 years to save up a 10% down payment for the average

Newport Beach home and 11 years for Costa Mesa.

Heather and I have often ranted and raved about home prices and

asked where we are supposed to be able to raise our families. She is

from Walnut and will also never be able to afford a home there as

long as she’s a teacher. (By the way, she quit her high-paying career

in marketing because she wanted to teach.)

I grew up on Albert Place in Costa Mesa and had the luxury of

having a huge backyard, two dogs and a quiet street to race bikes

with the neighborhood kids. We bought the then 75-year-old house for

$109,000 in 1986. Even so, my mom, aunt and grandmother split the

mortgage to afford it. When my aunt got married, we had to move.

Now, that same house would easily go for $500,000 and I know I

will never be able to offer my son the same memories I had. Well not

as a homeowner anyways. Not unless there were some sort of affordable

housing available.

People constantly tout the character of Costa Mesa and Newport

Beach. There is diversity in Costa Mesa -- beyond race and class --

and the city is full of fun-loving characters who are candid and

passionate. Newport Beach also has an eclectic nature with its

bungalow-style beach homes and a fun mix of young and old beach

lovers.

A lot of these colorful individuals, who established the area’s

famous laid-back style -- where flip flops and board shorts are worn

almost anywhere -- were simply lucky or smart enough to have bought

here before the real estate boom. As the prices move higher and

higher, you will see less diversity and more cookie-cutter

communities.

Residents will lose out on the opportunity to live and interact

with people of different backgrounds and great people who have chosen

low-paying but important and wonderful careers will miss out on

growing up in paradise.

I will gladly rent for the next 15 years to keep my son in this

area, in good schools, around my family and a quick bike ride from

the beach. It’s just sad that I -- a local girl who writes for the

local paper and loves the area -- have to pay someone else’s mortgage

to afford my son the same magnificent childhood I had.

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

and covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275

or by e-mail at [email protected].