With new council-members elected, now is the time to consider what can be achieved together to make Santa Monica a better place to live. The race featured lots of discussion on the need for more affordable housing in Santa Monica – one of the most expensive areas not just in Los Angeles County but the entire nation. But what does it mean for housing to be affordable, and for whom?
One recurring theme in recent years has been that middle class people who work in Santa Monica can’t afford to live here. Let’s dive into some examples and data to see what those working in Santa Monica can afford today for the common rule of thumb not to spend more than 30% of income. We’ll use 3 examples to explore affordability: a police officer for the city, a teacher at the school district, and the median household. For the police officer and teacher, we benefit from public salary schedules, and so we will use the posted starting pay.
What’s an affordable rent?
What can these three households afford?
The Police Officer: The officer has some options for choosing an apartment. While they can’t afford the average 2 bedroom rent of $3,762 per month according to Apartments.com, there are plenty of 2 bedrooms priced under $3,390 per month: 91 to be exact as of November 6. These are often on the smaller side and older, though there are some recently built units available, like the one pictured below (Seventh West, built in 2012).
The police officer could also afford pricier one bedroom apartments, and will have plenty of choices: 197 priced between $2,500 – $3,389, including new buildings like The Charlie. Overall, for a single police officer or one with a small family, the Santa Monica housing market is affordable. But if this officer needs more space for a growing family, they’ll be priced out. There is only one three bedroom unit available in our city under $3,389, and it ain’t pretty.
The Median Household: For a budget of $2,738, the choices become fewer – in fact, this household can’t afford the average one bedroom rent of $2,992. 2 bedroom units listed under $2,738 are scarce, with only 6 as now.
In all likelihood, this household has two choices: choosing a 1 bedroom, or leaving Santa Monica for lower rents on larger units. There are plenty of choices for 1 bedrooms that are affordable, however the inability to afford a second bedroom would make Santa Monica impossible (or at least uncomfortable) for a family with a child at home.
The Teacher: If you’re reading this article, you probably know the search for an apartment is going to be a tough one with a budget of $1,516. In fact, there are only 2 units available in Santa Monica for their budget. Even expanding their search, the options are scarce with a handful of units across West LA and Mar Vista, including some co-living buildings. More likely, a teacher looking in Santa Monica will find a roommate or share the burden with a partner. However even then, the choices are limited in comparison to those of the police officer, with only 37 2 bedrooms affordable to this household. If our teacher has a child but not an earning spouse, they will likely end up living far from Santa Monica or enter into a crowded living situation doubling up with another family.
With this research, we can map out what the choices are for our 3 households:
Putting the city on a better path
For working Santa Monicans, the choices range from underwhelming to impossible. What could a better future look like 4 years from now, and how could our new city council put us on that path?
To estimate income in 2028, we’ll use SMMUSD’s agreement with the teacher’s union (5% per year), 2013-2023 median income growth for households (2.3% per year), and police officer historic negotiated salary increases (2.5% per year).
These rental estimates can inform the goals of our city council in making housing more affordable. With the housing prices we have today, we are a long way from a teacher affording a 2 bedroom apartment on their own, but we can set reasonable goals that can be achieved in four years.
The teacher should have lots of choices to live alone in studios or co-living, and some choices of 1 bedrooms under $2,000, instead of being forced to live with a roommate or move out of town.
For the median household, $3,000 per month should provide lots of choices of 2 bedroom apartments, not a frantic search to find the few units that they can afford. For the police officer, they could choose a better quality 2 bedroom, stretch to low-end 3 bedrooms, or simply save money.
A studio or a better 2 bedroom might not be a house with a white picket fence, but it is a meaningful step forward for working Santa Monicans to stay in the city. Importantly, making these options available is not beyond the realm of possibility. It just requires a slowdown in rent growth, which we can achieve by building more housing.
What would this mean for low income residents?
With results like this, we can focus our resources on those who need them most, like the 23% of households earning less than $35,000 per year, and those living on the streets.
Making market-rate rents affordable for teachers in Santa Monica does not on its own solve low income residents’ inability to afford housing, but it does make subsidies possible. At $35,000 per year, a resident could afford a rent of $875, which would imply a subsidy of ~$1,100 from the city (or from the federal Section 8 program). A $10,000,000 annual investment would house 757 households at this rate.
Now is the time
Our council must set goals to make the city more affordable, with a plan of action for how to build enough homes to achieve them. It should regularly track our progress to meet the tangible needs of citizens like:
● Can a new SMMUSD teacher afford an apartment in Santa Monica on their own?
● Can the median household find a 2 bedroom apartment?
● Can a police officer house a growing family?
● How much does it cost to house a low income family?
We can start making Santa Monica an affordable city now, and we should for the benefit of all.
