Affordable Housing

By Mike Kasperzak

Ensure that Mountain View has a variety of housing options to preserve our communities unique character

Housing is becoming so expensive that long time residents have had to move away, leaving friends and family. Yet, many of these same people still work in our community and now have to spend hours on the freeway getting to and from work. While this worsens the number one problem in the area - traffic - it more importantly takes an unbearable toll on those who have to suffer through it daily.

As a member of the Planning Commission, and as Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, I have been a vocal advocate of affordable housing and a strong proponent of Below Market Rate housing programs and of Efficiency Studio Apartment projects. I am not talking about public housing or "projects", but housing that would be more affordable for the average person in our community. I also support the concept of "linkage fees" which would require a commercial developer to pay a housing impact fee to a city housing fund to help finance low income housing programs and projects.

Mountain View MUST NOT become a community where only the well-to-do can afford to live. We want our teachers, firefighters, store clerks, children and others to be able to live in this wonderful community. To make that happen, we must continue to explore creative and collaborative ideas so that those who want to live and work here are able to do so. It is the diversity of our community that makes Mountain View unique, and we MUST work hard to preserve that which makes us great.