Affordable Housing for Everyone. Solutions to Sonoma County’s Housing Crisis reviews the implications of skyrocketing housing costs for low and moderate-income residents and suggests model policies and political strategies for expanding the supply of affordable housing and, ultimately, moving the county toward a more sustainable development path. The report argues that an aggressive local response is necessary to avert the threats posed by the housing crisis to the environmental, social, and economic health of the region—namely, sprawl, heightened inequality in real incomes and overcrowding—which in turn can create a drag on economic development. It analyzes changes in the county’s housing market through the lens of the “housing wage” (the hourly or annual wage that it takes to afford a given home price or rent), and considers these changes in light of income distribution and labor market structure in Sonoma County. Based on housing needs that are indicated by these patterns, the report recommends five key local policies and programs that can expand the supply of housing affordable to low- and moderate-income families, emphasizing that they must be undertaken as part of a broader strategy of promoting more equitable, high-road economic development in order to effectively alleviate the housing crisis. Finally, this report emphasizes the importance of political mobilization and alliance formation among key constituencies—specifically, labor unions, environmentalists and leading producers—to make adequate housing reform and sustainable development possible.

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