By Catherine Borgeson, KQED News Fix
It’s a hard time to find an affordable place in the city. Rents have climbed 10 percent at a time of year when they’re normally going down. Exacerbating the problem, San Francisco lost millions of dollars in low-income housing funding when Gov. Jerry Brown dissolved redevelopment agencies in February.
In San Francisco, “affordable housing” is mainly a network of low-cost apartments spread throughout the city that house a variety of residents from the elderly, disabled, veterans, families, formerly homeless to immigrants.
Even when there was redevelopment funding, it was still difficult for low-income residents to land an apartment. For instance at Crocker Amazon Seniors Apartments, there were 1,600 applicants for 37 studio and one-bedroom apartments when it opened in 2005.
Supporters of Proposition C on the Nov. 6 ballot are asking voters to earmark funding for affordable housing and down payment assistance. Mayor Ed Lee’s proposal would create a Housing Trust Fund that would amount to $1.4 billion over the next 30 years. It would develop 30,000 affordable rental units over the next three decades.
Read the complete story at KQED News Fix.
