Richie Cobb and his family have built their lives in the Monterey Bay area. Their son goes to San Carlos School in Monterey, and both Cobb and his wife are in master’s programs at CSU Monterey Bay. Because of that, they get student housing on campus. But as Cobb prepares to graduate this December, they’ve spent months looking for jobs – and housing – elsewhere.
As an IT professional, he was looking at a range of San Jose jobs with salaries about double what he makes here, but the idea of commuting was crushing. So when Cobb got an offer for a full-time position as a software consultant for CSUMB’s IT Department, he jumped at the chance – partly because staff housing is available.
“If you look at just salary, CSUMB pays less,” he says, “but when you factor in benefits like health insurance, CalPERS and housing, it makes it very competitive.”
The weekend of Sept. 22-23, the Cobbs moved into their new three-bedroom place in Schoonover Park, where they’re paying $1,565 per month. “For me it was a huge decision in making a decision to work at CSUMB,” he says. “Without it, affording to live in this area would be pretty difficult.”
CSUMB has long provided not just student housing, but faculty and staff housing, both for rent and for sale. As housing costs soar and municipalities grapple with what to do about getting more units built, employers are increasingly stepping in to fill the void.
According to the latest Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments’ projections for how many new housing units are required to keep pace with population, Monterey County needs 7,386 new units over 10 years, from 2014-2023. (About 58 percent of those would need to be low-, very low – or moderate-income.)
Agribusiness has been making a big dent in that number, with Tanimura & Antle building apartments for up to 600 seasonal workers in Spreckels. (Instead, about half that many long-term local employees moved in). The Nunes family, behind brand Foxy, followed suit with a 600-bed project.
Matt Huerta, housing program manager for Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, says employer housing is just one piece of a bigger puzzle. “Even if employers did everything they could, we’d still have a huge gap,” he says. “The business’ needs don’t always match up with the community’s needs.”
Pebble Beach Company spent years getting approvals from various agencies for new development, and had a choice: Pay $7 million in what are known as “in-lieu fees” to Monterey County, which could then theoretically use the money to build affordable units, or the company could build affordable units itself. Even though they’re spending more than $7 million, Pebble Beach Company President David Stivers expects the 24 townhome project currently under construction to be an asset to the company.
“We realized this would be a great project for us,” he says. “It would allow families to live close to work. It just made perfect sense.”
About 70 Pebble Beach employees submitted rental applications for 24 units; rental manager John Stewart Company is sorting through those applications now, before they’re ready for move-in in December.
On Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey, Montage Health bought a new 32-unit project for employees; it’s now about 85-percent occupied. “We’re bringing in difficult-to-recruit health care workers,” CEO Steven Packer says. “Our hope is they will stay with us forever; we anticipate a one – to two-year interim before they buy someplace.”
Cobb, at CSUMB, says as long as they can afford to live here, his family will stay: “You can get a whole lot more for your money in other places. But at the end of the day, this is California. We like the culture here, we like living here. Housing is extremely frustrating. If it wasn’t for that, we’d have the perfect place.”
(1) comment
Absolutely. . I lived in Texas until 5 yrs ago. As a divorced Female with an average paying job, I maintained a very nice 3br. 2 ba 2 car garage brick home with central air and heat. No assistance programs with utilities . I lived quite comfortably until my children were grown. When my oldest Son went out on his own, he was able to get a nice apartment in a gated community with a pool and work out room. He is on SS Disability due to visual impairment. He did this without any kind of rental assistance.
We both moved back to Salinas to be near Family but have struggled ever since. My Son cannot afford to have his own place here. He rents a small room from an older man that drinks a lot. I share a small house with a 92 yr old woman that didn't want to live alone. She controls the house and I have a very small room for my self. My Sister shares a 1 bedroom duplex with another woman that sleeps in the living room. .We looked into a 3 bedroom house for the 3 of us but it was not affordable. Even by lowering our standards, the 3 of us cannot afford one house. The only people that are able to live as a single family are the ones that bought their homes years ago and have them paid off. The part that gets me is that this area is not that desirable. We are surrounded by rowdy law breakers and a Policing system that wont control it.The streets are lines with trash everywhere. I constantly have to struggle with homeless people that want to camp behind the house. The elderly lady I live with does not drive but is always on the go so I have become her Taxi service. She still remembers the good old days when it was safe and people were friendly so she lets strangers into the house.(she calls them visitors) but twice I have had to intervene and ask Scammers to leave before they got the chance to take advantage of her.
The bottom line is that people are paying ridicules prices to live in an unsafe environment. That's un- American.
On a different part of the subject (If I may rattle on a bit more) I have an idea that could help with the homeless situation. No matter how many or what types of housing are in the plans, it's still going to be a while before anything is actually up and running . In the mean time We are all aware of the homeless situation and what it is doing to the City . There have been many plans discussed and moneys spent on solutions that only help a few while the numbers continue to grow and so does the trash and unsanitary environment .So what do we do?
We can't let them continue to trash up the streets of the City
We can't turn our backs on them
And we can't continue the mass moves for disease control .
So what is the alternative?
There is the key word " Alternative"
If you don't want a hungry child eating candy before dinner , you give them an alternative.
If you tell the homeless to move you have to give them an alternative place to move to.
Shelters: too small to costly and you still have people hanging around when the shelter is not open. Warming station? How nice but come on, is that a solution? No.
Housing: There isn't any and the solutions I'm hearing are only addressing Farm Workers. What about the rest of the people?. We are always talking about equality, but when it comes to solutions , things tend to get separated again .
So why not build a KOA type of camp ground.
• Sanitation and Personal Hygiene- The camp would need restrooms with showers built like those at a rest stop or KOA camp with large floor drains so that the area could be spray cleaned daily with a hose. People need to be able to use the restroom, brush their teeth and bath . It is the most basic of needs. A person cannot go to a job interview or any public place ( supermarket, social services, Doctor) without basic hygiene. The camp should also provide large metal or concrete wash tubs for washing of clothing and bedding and lines to hang things for drying.
• Trash/litter: Commercial dumpsters should be provided with weekly sanitation dept. pick-up.
• Fires: Each camping area should have a space for a tent, built in BBQ grill for cooking and warming . Just like public parks( such as Toro Park), This will eliminate the need for building illegal fires. People need to have a way to cook food to eat. Picnic tables would be helpful and eliminate the need for a bunch of broken furniture to sit on that looks like a trash pile.
• Drugs/crime: Local police and or CHP should drive through on a regular scheduled basis . Letting their presents be known, would cut down on any illegal activity and ensure the safety for all. Enforce the laws and rules! . People are less likely to commit crimes when they have peace of mind and not feeling bitter by the way they are treated.
• Pet litter:
A lot of the homeless have pets. Most Rest stops have a pet area. (This would also make it easier for the spca to monitor for abuse & neglect.
There could also be a public transportation. perhaps a stop for bus service .
Seriously, this would work and it would help clean up the city and save a lot of taxpayer money.
What is the main reason the homeless stay in China town? Consider moving that reason to another location. Couldn't Dorthy's kitchen get some type of grant or something to move to a better facility? ( Close to the camp)
Here is another idea: Court ordered Community Service could do some of the maintenance. or Hire homeless people to do maintenance and clean up jobs .
The City, County and State Government should collaborate on how and where the camps would be located there is plenty of unused land that would be suitable. The City has already wasted way too much money on pointless meetings where they discuss painting flower pots to beautify the down town area and when to have the next meeting. Put that money to better use instead tossing the ball back and forth and wasting time while the homeless suffer and the rest of the residents of this City suffer the consequences. Having a solution that worked would put Salinas and Monterey County back on track again and set an example for other cities.
We cannot allow this problem to continue any longer.
So.... First step. Construct the Alternative. Otherwise running them out is a wasted effort.
Once the camp is finished, the homeless would then be served with a "Notice to Vacate" and would have a place to vacate to.
Some would argue that the homeless put themselves in their situation.
Maybe some do . But do the technicalities really matter ? The point is their situation is affecting all of us in one way or another. Let's fix it.
Shelters only have enough room for a fraction of the people.
Some of the old timers have shared stories of how many years ago when coming to a new area it was customary to camp out until you could save up enough to acquire a home.
I believe that many of today's homeless could do the same if they had a legal independent place to stay while working on a solution.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.