Let the market work toward equilibrium

“Are San Diego County and California politicians doing enough to encourage homebuilding?”

(March 17): This week, 14 of 14 in the Econometer said local politicians aren't doing enough to encourage more home building. I think they are all wrong, and the market will do what they can't.

First, San Diego County has the same population now as in 2015 (it peaked in 2019), but we have more homes, condos and apartments. And accessory dwelling unit requirements are more friendly, so we are likely to see more affordable units.

This year rent increases are diminishing and local rental vacancy rates are up, as a result of a net outmigration due to our affordability crisis. The market will start to come into an equilibrium, probably at lower rents, even without more political action. Joseph Abbinanti

Cardiff

There once was a time when New York City was affordable. You didn't have to be rich to live in Manhattan. There once was a time when San Diego was affordable. You didn't have to live on the sidewalk.

Our city has changed its identity. It's now an expensive city, as expensive as any. So we are never going to fix the homeless problem. It's not fixable. It it were, it would have been fixed by now. And it's only going to get worse. So are we going to continue to ruin our urban center by allowing tents on our sidewalks? Or are we going to require the homeless to live on the outskirts of town? They aren't going away and “affordable housing” is just a slogan to make us believe there's a fix.

William Franklin