Water will be an even more serious issue when CA decides to overdevelop in order to meet demand.
Commuting from Stockton to San Francisco is just dumb. As I remember reading this woman makes $81,000.00 a year. She could afford other places such as Novato, Petaluma, Cotati or Santa Rosa. Sure the rent would be higher but who wants that commute? I moved from the Boston area 9 years ago. The prices for housing was high as well unless you wanted to live in the dead zones. Stockton is not a good place to reside.
It comes down to affordable housing. Either you have it or you don't. I've been here for four years and cannot understand why some areas are not being developed. There are empty, vacant lots in Richmond and other nearby areas that could be converted to micro-housing. As I understand it, I might be wrong, but believe it comes down to permitting and having the community at large allow this kind of construction. For which, I ask, why not?
1
Everyone wants to blame housing, yet neglect to mention the fact that 99% of the work in the bay can be done remotely - and the same tech companies that preach "work anywhere, any time, any way, often have policies that require people to be in their office 5 days a week.
1
You're comparing Stockton to L.A.commutes? Please!
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Hey...this has been going on forever. In 1980, I lived in San Jose and had to commute to Palo Alto, which should be about a 25 minute ride. It took 70 minutes one way.
In LA, it seems even worse, especially if you only take freeways.
Many days, it takes me 40 minutes to get out of San Francisco to the freeway, about 3 miles total. This is due to all the Uber and Lyft drivers from Stockton and the East Bay, who don't know where they're going and only rely on electronic directions that take every car the same way through the financial district.
It's a part of living in California with almost 40 million people. Get over it!
In LA, it seems even worse, especially if you only take freeways.
Many days, it takes me 40 minutes to get out of San Francisco to the freeway, about 3 miles total. This is due to all the Uber and Lyft drivers from Stockton and the East Bay, who don't know where they're going and only rely on electronic directions that take every car the same way through the financial district.
It's a part of living in California with almost 40 million people. Get over it!
4
The actual commute time is only the half of it. I live only ten miles from my job but I leave an hour and half early so the twenty minute drive takes only twenty minutes. Every ten minute delay adds twenty . . . Gives me lots of time to write dumb comments here.
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Having just relocated with my husband and young son from the NY metro area to southern CA after having first left Manhattan because of housing costs and then enduring a year of NJ Transit and north Jersey traffic, this story is of particular interest. Thanks for highlighting the reality of the commuting hardship and for the link to the comprehensive stats/analysis. Very interesting.
2
Perhaps returning to Manhattan and leaving San Clemente to the old longboard surfers might be alternative if the numbers close in on you.
It's not Mexico that's the problem but everything east of Tahoe and Needles.
It's not Mexico that's the problem but everything east of Tahoe and Needles.
My daughter calls me at 5:30 am pacific time embarking on her 90 minute commute by public transit. She works as a nurse's aid for minimum wage traveling 3 hours round trip. Work and affordable housing are ridiculously distant. I can't imagine doing this with a family or partner. Housing affordability matters to the vast majority of Americans, and its scarcity is being paid for in many ways, among them the life hours of all these commuters.
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Stop building more housing, builders get rich and taxpayers are stuck with paying for police, fire, and infrastructure costs.