801 Alma Street Family Housing

Need

It is expensive to live here. In fact, Santa Clara County is among the 20 wealthiest counties in the country. In 2010, the median household income for a family of four in Santa Clara County was $103,500, which equates to a monthly pre-tax income of $8,625. Furthermore, household income in the mid-peninsula area is considerably higher than in all of Santa Clara County, making this area one of the highest-income communities in the nation.

The result is extremely high housing costs, which have remained relatively high despite the recent economic downturn. In 2009, the average monthly rent for new vacancies in Palo Alto was $1,760 for a 2 bedroom/1 bath apartment and $3,062 for a 3 bedroom/2 bath apartment. Based on guidelines established by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the monthly pre-tax income needed to afford a 2 bedroom/1 bath apartment in Palo Alto is $5,867 ($70,404 annually), and $10,207 ($122,484 annually) for a 3 bedroom/2 bath apartment.

These realities make living here beyond the reach of many members of our community. For a preschool teacher who is dedicated to providing top quality care to our children, for the medical assistant who helps in our doctor's office, or for a clerk who rings up our purchases at the grocery store, typical full-time salaries are in the range of $30,000 - $40,000 per year, equating to a monthly pre-tax income of $2,500 - $3,300.

As a result, these and similarly paid workers are simply not able to afford to live in our community. Instead, they must live in crowded conditions, often with more than one family living in a small apartment, or in areas far away from where they work. The hours spent commuting between home and work significantly affect their quality of life, and those long commutes contribute to traffic congestion and global warming.

It is our goal to provide affordable homes for lower-income workers so that more of us can live where we work and raise our families as full members of our community. Creating more affordable homes for working families is an advantage for our community because it assures an adequate labor force and reduces the number of people commuting into this area from long distances. Actively welcoming lower income working families will say a lot about our community. And it's the right thing to do.