I've posted on this subject in several local online forums, as well as here on waccobb. As a native Californian woman in my early 60s, with a 30 year+ history of living here in Sonoma County, I'm at a crossroads around housing. Simply put, it is no longer affordable for me to live here alone. This is something that has changed drastically over the last 8 years. I've always worked full-time, sometimes even more, to make ends meet. I've been a service-oriented person all of my life; I was a massage therapist until a bad car accident damaged me to the point where I can no longer give it. I worked in the restorative justice field until it was decided that an all volunteer staff would be better and i was laid off. Now I am a care-giver full-time.
All my life I have taken care of people in addition to my regular job. Care-giving is now my only work. Since I am paid through IHSS, I don't even make $12 an hour, gross. According to housing experts, to be able to afford a rental here, one must make $22.65 an hour and work 40 hours a week. I am now in a lovely relationship with a wonderful man and we would like to find housing together. This is proving to be much harder than either of us thought it would be. (He has been a service person all of his life as well [body work, driving] and according to the property managers we have talked to, the two of us together don't make the requisite $6000-8000 a month, which is what is required to rent here, nor do we have the high credit ratings of 675 and above.)
There are several reasons for this; 1) every place we look at has 50+ applicants so competition is fierce.
2) many places are not owned by individuals, but by non-local investors who have no interest in giving back to our community. 3) prices fluctuate EVERY DAY through a complicated formula that takes into account all rental prices in the area. 4) young tech people want to live in "Wine Country" now; many of them make $10,000+ a month (yes, you read that right-TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH) and they are willing to start a bidding war to get what they want (the reason for #3). 4) we're old school folks who pretty much go by the rule that if you can't afford something, you don't buy it, hence we have some credit, but it's evidently not enough- we've been told that we "need more credit cards!" 5) I have great rental references, my partner doesn't because he's been taking care of his dying mother for the last 3+ years in her home and his landlord before that is now deceased so his last 7 years of housing is unverifiable.
And now we come to #6; the real reason that service workers in this area can't afford to rent here. in a word:
GREED
What I have seen here is that there is a deep soul sickness. When human beings take advantage of other human beings by charging exorbitant rents or trying to gouge their fellow humans for monetary gain, it's a sign that they have lost their humanity.
The signs are all around us and they aren't just about money; it's about power and privilege too. I see people's behavior has become spectacularly selfish- speeding through red lights because "I'm in a hurry;" stepping in front of people in lines and ignoring the others who are already waiting; employees chatting to each other and ignoring customers; customer service people acting rudely by talking fast and copping a nasty attitude if asked questions; people acting disdainfully towards those of us who are homeless, mentally ill, or disabled; interrupting others when they are talking; being extremely loud in public spaces; refusing to move to one side of the sidewalk when passing and forcing others off of it. These may seem like small things, but they're not; they're indicators of how far we have moved away from loving and supporting each other.
Every where I go I see this and more. It's profoundly disturbing and it seems that this is the status quo now and no one bats an eye. it's "just the way things are" as if we haven't made choices to behave this way. But we have. Over and over, every moment of every day, we make choices about how we will treat others. What we are choosing to do is harm one another by disrespect and disinterest. And some of us are willing to actively and directly harm others by trying to make as much money as we can from them.
This does not bode well for us humans.