February 27, 2005
Editor:
The San Diego Union-Tribune
P.O. Box 191
San Diego, Ca. 92112
RE: SANDAG DEALS OUT HOUSING GOALS U-T 2/26/05 B-1
The Yapidity of Politicians, Planners, and
Environmentalists
With much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands local politicians are in a
cataleptic fit over state housing
requirements for more affordable housing in San Diego. Even Mitch Mitchell (U-T
2/26/05) of the Chamber
of Commerce states, "We build plenty of $600,000 homes but we don't build homes
for lower income families."
This is akin to saying Mercedes Benz builds plenty of luxury cars but none for
poor people.
In reality when it comes to new housing, Fords, Chevys and Volkswagens have been
outlawed and it's hard
to buy even a Cadillac or Lexus. What a lot of us taxpayers would like to know
is, what's wrong with older
houses and apartments for low income people? Also, what's wrong with otherwise
intelligent politicians when
it comes to housing? Why do they think that people with no money, no education
and who can't speak
English should live in brand new homes? The U.S. Census reported that in 2000,
21% of adults in San Diego
did not have a high school diploma and 13% could not speak English (some of whom
have interpreters at
Affordable Housing Hearings).
The decades long plan to slow growth in San Diego that began with the adoption
of Dr. Robert Freilich's
growth management program has finally been achieved. As predicted, the
result is less affordable housing.
In 1973 San Diego was one of the nation's most affordable cities. Now it's
among the least affordable.
People forget that growth management (the construction of fewer homes) has been
and still is deliberate
government policy. Recently the county proposed removing more than 75,000
potential home sites through
its General Plan update and the City of San Diego scrapped its City of Villages
strategy that would have
added as many as 37,000 homes over the next 20 years. The yapidity of
politicians, planners, and
environmentalists has its fascinations.
The only solution to a housing shortage and lack of affordability is more
housing. In other words, reverse
the counterproductive government growth polices of the last 30 years and once
again San Diego will be
among the most affordable markets in the nation. If you won't support this then
stop yapping!
Fred Schnaubelt
2728 Adams Avenue
San Diego, California 92116
(619) 280-2082
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Schnaubelt, president of Citizens for
Private Property Rights, has been a commercial real estate broker
for 39
years and was a San Diego City Councilman from 1977-81.
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Fred Schnaubelt