Affordable Housing

By Mike Kasperzak

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

Housing has become 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, more importantly, it takes an unbearable toll on those who have to suffer through it daily.

I have been a vocal advocate of affordable housing and was a leading proponent of the Below Market Rate housing program, the Housing Impact Fee, and the Efficiency Studio Apartment project. These programs make more affordable housing available in the community because housing developers provide 10% of the units in a new development at prices affordable to people like teachers, police officers, fire fighters and others. Commercial Developers help create affordable housing opportunities through the Housing Impact Fee by paying a small fee for new commercial development which brings with it more employees, which increase the demand for housing.

Mountain View MUST NOT become a community where only the well-to-do can afford to live. I 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.