As I scanned my linkedin timeline, I was surprised to see an article posted about Sacramento being recently voted as one of the best and most affordable places to live on the west coast. My surprise was not from reading the words Sacramento and best place to live together, as I adore the place I was born and raised but instead was in regard to Sacramento being awarded one of the most affordable places to live on the west coast.
It had not even been a month since I turned to google to research my housing options for this next year, trying my best to eliminate the unpleasant hour commute to campus. As I surveyed the listings, eliminating the places that surpassed my budget and those that were still a commute, I was left with one that met my needs: on campus housing. As I reflected on the hours I spent searching for housing, I realized how fortunate I was to be a student who qualifies for housing. I thought about those whose incomes have not caught up with the booming housing market and those who were losing a place to live because of the astonishing increase in rent prices.
This scary trend was presented in a CapRadio article. The article shared how Sacramento County’s renters must now make twice the state’s minimum wage to afford the county’s average rent. Further, the article shares how many renters are experiencing uprooting due to landlords capitalizing on the hot real estate market by selling their units. The current direction of the housing market can and will have devastating impacts on many.
As the public handles the ebbs and flows of the housing market, this blog will be presenting the consequences, keeping in mind the intersectionality of property ownership with poverty and discrimination.