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May 23, 2001

Cops need homes. Right?

Perhaps you heard Assemblyman Lou Papan sympathize with the housing needs of young Pacifica police officers when he spoke at the police station groundbreaking ceremonies last Saturday. He pointed out that many of them can't afford to live here. It was an appropriate comment in an appropriate setting. It seems unlikely, however, we'll ever be able to afford to pay our young officers enough that they can afford to buy a home in Pacifica. Housing costs locally are racing upwards at an exponential rate.

The Linda Mar rancher across the street from my home, a modest 1040 square feet, built about 1955 or '56, with one bathroom, is on the market for $485,000. Other Linda Mar ranchers have already sold for well over $400,000. That's good news for sellers, and for those who make commissions selling houses, but it means a home originally sold for about $10,000 has appreciated enough to make it difficult or impossible for most young people to afford it. Comparable homes in the pleasant, growing city of Santa Rosa were selling three or four years ago for less than half what they cost then in Pacifica. Lucky me! When I sell, I should get a bundle. Unlucky you! When you buy my home for 450 K, give or take, you're going to get a Linda Mar rancher, a small tract home with one bath and a two car garage on 5000 square feet of land. They're good little houses, and they've held up well after four decades or so, but in theory they self-destruct when they're 75, which means they've already survived more than half their allotted life span.

Local young people who want to buy a local home are mostly priced out of the market. Hardworking teachers, cops, secretaries, newspaper reporters, sewer workers, airport mechanics, and fire fighters can't afford to buy here. Commuting is hell. I think you should live where you work and work where you live. It's more efficient. It saves time and nervous energy, not to mention gasoline by the bucketful.

What I find truly amazing it that some of those hard workers I alluded to above were happy, thrilled and excited to learn that over 4000 acres of Rancho Corral de Tierra, property extending south from Montara Mountain to points east of El Granada has been bought by an organization devoted to permanently withdrawing the entire acreage from the land market.

If those 4000 acres, over six square miles, were to be devoted to housing, 30,000 to 50,000 citizens might enjoy the privilege of living in their own homes. Hundreds of hardworking carpenters would practice their craft. Real estate sales folk would once again to be able to use words like "immaculate" and "gem." Interior decorators would be hard at work. Carpet stores would bustle with customers.

With the pressures resulting from the artificial land shortage removed, housing costs in Pacifica might remain stable, and more sons and daughters of Pacificans might be able to remain in the city they grew up in and love. The main drawback I see is that the home I bought in 1963 for $16,700 might never sell for a million dollars. Much more than 50,000 acres on the Peninsula has already been selfishly sequestered as open space. When do we stop this dog in the manger attitude? When do we admit there are good citizens being denied their right to housing space by open space fanaticism?

Actually I don't think we ought to use all those 4000 acres for wall to wall housing tracts. But even one or two thousand acres of Rancho Corral de Tierra would relieve some of the pressure on housing buyers. A compromise is in order.

Paul Azevedo's e-mail address is thereactor2@earthlink.net

 
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