The weird thing is that you could have written that same sentence 20 years ago. I remember around 2005 the Union Tribune ran a map of San Diego showing the percentage of household income spent on housing, with the entire coast red even in the rich neighborhoods where people were getting interest-only mortgages on multi-million dollar homes. At the time I remember being amazed at how many people would take such risky loans but now I’m more impressed by how often that worked: unless they couldn’t make it through the 2009 collapse and had to sell right then, they probably did clear a good profit from that strategy.
I was interviewed by the Union Trib in the late 80's about home affordability.
Between the Sunshine Tax and thin strip of land that everyone wants to live in, and there is no solution to affordability. (Except the usual go So Cal go east until the price drops)
Yeah, you can’t even use density all that well near the coast since everyone will sue if you block their view by building higher and coastal erosion/earthquake safety increases the cost a lot. The best idea I’ve had is more inland density paired with bike highways and transit so people can go to the beach without spending 40 minutes inching around PB looking for cheap parking.
