BAY AREA HOUSING CRISIS
BAYAAREA HOUSING WE NOW HAVE RICH PEOPLE AND CRISIS POOR PEOPLE ZONE WE NOW HAVE A RICH PEOPLE AND POOR PEOPLE ZONE
KENNETH SESSION
C
alifornia is the epicenter of the tech industry, the wealthiest and the most progressive state in the union, but it faces one problem, a drawback that could cripple its economy- homelessness and worse of all, no one seems to agree on how to solve the issue. The problem has become so bad that we now have a “rich man’s land” and “poor people land.” Middlefield Road marks the end of the poor people zone and the start of posh residential units for the rich. At one end of the road, you are net with the famously Atherton, characterized by luxurious canopy trees hovering over multimillion-dollar investment properties. At the other end, just a few miles away, there lies a neighborhood of modest, single-story homes in Redwood City where the poverty rate is nearly twice the average in the five counties of the Bay Area. The road cuts through perhaps one of the most extreme income gaps in the Bay Area. experts say that the gap here is larger than in any other part of California. And while it may be easy to just ignore this rift in enclaves like the Los Alto Hills or the Blackhawk, here the economic disparity is severe. From Atherton to Redwood city, it is surprising that the median household 74
l
income plummets nearly $180,000 and the college education levels drop with every single drop in the tree canopy line. But you may wonder, why so much segregation? Who is to blame? According to the New York Times, for San Francisco and most of the Bay Area’s discontents, tech companies are the boogeymen and an inescapable presence, bringing San Francisco and other Bay Area residents their comeuppance. However, looking deeper into this mess, tech giants in the area are not to blame, the real fright feature is the lack of housing in the region. According to the 2018 census data, the median household income in a place like Atherton where two-thirds of its residents is $250,000. A few miles away in Redwood City, the median household income is $71,458 and two-thirds of its residents are Latinos and a quarter of children here live in poverty. California is known for the notorious disparities in wealth gaps between communities and what’s in Atherton and Redwood City is not something new, however, there are some unique aspects that set Atherton and Redwood City apart from other areas with a significant wealth gap. The first on the list is Atherton’s wealth: With a net worth of 6.5 million per person, Atherton’s zip code is among the top wealthiest in the state of California. Redwood city on the other hand in on the lower spectrum coming in at bottom THE POWER IS NOW MAGAZINE | MARCH 2020
