SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A new ABC 10News poll shows San Diegans are more concerned about the city's cost of living than just about any other issue. These findings come as Mayor Todd Gloria outlines new plans to make housing more affordable in America's finest city.
"The only true solution to both addressing homelessness and housing affordability is to build more housing," said Gloria.
Mayor Todd Gloria laid out his plans to build more affordable housing during his State of the City Address Wed. That includes a new executive order.
"Today I signed a new executive order, requiring permit applications that fall under our Complete Communities program to be reviewed and permitted in thirty days," said Gloria. "What typically has taken up to 12 months to review, I'm now ordering be done in just one."
According to the city's website, the Complete Communities Program incentivizes builders to make new units near public transit. 15 percent of those units need to be reserved for low-cost units.
But some groups, like Neighbors for a Better San Diego, say this program doesn't always live up to its promises. Geoff Heuter is the chair of this group.
"There's already Complete Community projects. One in University City that's gonna add something like 1,300 units. And only 42 of those are gonna be affordable," said Hueter. "That's not 15 percent, that's a few percent."
Mayor Gloria says other programs like the Housing Action Package 2.0 will also provide more affordable housing. But Hueter says current efforts won't be enough to meet the state-mandated goal to permit 108,000 new units by 2029.
"Of that, 40,000 of those units by the state's estimate need to be for very low or low-income families," said Hueter. "And we're just not getting anywhere near that target."
Despite these concerns, Mayor Gloria is optimistic.
"To every hardworking San Diegan, this mayor wants there to be a place for you in this city," said Gloria.
If you want to watch the full State of the City Address, you can find it here. You can also click here to find Neighbors For a Better San Diego's full rebuttal.
