Reforming tax-control measures, speeding up permitting, cutting construction costs and fees, and building more affordable housing are some of the methods recently laid out by a panel of experts for solving California's housing crisis.
At a conference at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., experts agreed that there is a way out of the Golden State's housing crisis, though the solutions may not be popular. The Mercury News reports that some experts pushed for higher-density living in the state, citing the 2016 McKinsey Global Institute report on the topic, while former Villa Park councilwoman Deborah Pauly asked, “Do we really want to cram people into these pockets to live like sardines? That’s not the Southern California lifestyle. Heck, that’s not even the American lifestyle.”
High housing costs are “crowding out” personal consumption, with more cash going to landlords and lenders instead. If their housing costs weren’t so high, Californians would have enough dollars to buy 15 billion more Happy Meals than it does. They would have enough cash to buy 1.5 billion more Angels tickets or 455 million tickets to Universal Studios Hollywood. And every man, woman and child in the state could buy tickets to see “Hamilton” — six times.
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