A closer look at 2 Bay Area cities
BERKELEY
Berkeley’s rental prices and home values have skyrocketed over the past few years. The median rent in Berkeley in June 2017 was $3,650, according to real estate firm Zillow.
Berkeley leaders and citizens have responded to the city’s housing crisis in a variety of ways. On the one hand, voters in the November 2016 election passed Measure AA, which strengthens rent control protections. On the other hand, Berkeley was sued twice in the past year for refusing to approve a small housing development that neighbors complained would create traffic congestion and cast shadows on their homes.
UC Berkeley’s new chancellor, Carol Christ, has put housing at the top of her list of concerns for the university. One conceptual plan — to put student housing and supportive housing for the homeless in People’s Park — has met with controversy.
PALO ALTO
Despite a 1989 cap on nonresidential development, Palo Alto continues to struggle with a significant jobs-housing imbalance. The average rent in Palo Alto in July 2017 was $3,298, according to property data research business Rent Jungle. One-bedroom apartments were $2,850 a month, and two-bedroom apartments were $3,808.
The lack of affordable housing in Palo Alto has been a major political issue there for the past two years. Leaders are listening. Since 2016, city officials have worked to preserve the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park and to explore a number of changes to zoning regulations and height limits.
The June 2017 draft of Palo Alto’s new comprehensive plan update calls for allowing higher-density residential buildings along major commercial corridors. Increased density means more housing units.