Condo Crisis: Enter Prop B

Come November, San Francisco voters will weigh-in on affordable housing bill Proposition B. Many middle-class families hoping this will help put them in a new home might need to think again. Prop B will only assist households making less than 80% of San Francisco's median income - that's a maximum of $67,900 for couples. Speaking out against Prop B is none other than Gavin Newsom himself, who's probably mostly concerned with the city's budget. The $2.7 billion proposal doesn't specify how it will be financed and prohibits a reduction of funds through 2024 despite any changes in the city's housing situation. So if come 2016, we have a surfeit of affordable housing and everyone is perfectly content, no one is protesting anything, and the banking system makes a miraculous rebound, funds will still be diverted as the measure dictates. Is this a sort of subtle gerrymandering — as says the SF Business Times"building a particular electorate is as important as building housing"— or an earnest attempt to answer the housing shortage and house the city's lower-income residents? Waiting for November ...
· Measure seeks to house middle class — somewhere else [SF Business Times]For more stories from Curbed SF, go to sf.curbed.com.

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