Re “Don’t neglect middle class in California’s housing crisis” (Viewpoints, Oct. 24): Tia Boatman Patterson’s op-ed is poignant and points to California's burgeoning affordable housing crisis. Unfortunately, and like most of the bills passed in the Legislature recently to combat the affordable housing crisis, the only proposed solution is more government spending. Instead of continuing to only offer government spending as a solution, why not gather home builders and ask them why building a low income housing unit costs $332,000, about $80,000 more than the median home in Dallas or Phoenix. If you can pinpoint some items that are costly and unique to California, maybe one could work to find a solution to reduce the cost of construction rather than relying on government spending as the only solution. Most builders would love to offer affordable homes to our community, but affordable and California are like oil and water. It's time to find out why affordable housing and California don't mix before we lose the middle class completely.
Bruce Wirt, Fair Oaks
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