Check us out!

We’re a good example.

Other cities, ahem Newport Beach, can take a look at how Laguna

Beach has handled affordable housing and hop to it.

Sure, we’re required to have a certain amount of affordable

housing, and not everyone is thrilled about it, but most realize it’s

the right thing to do and most importantly, it’s getting done.

The 26 units for very low income residents being built on

Glenneyre Street will fulfill the state requirement for affordable

housing in Laguna Beach.

There are about 12,965 places to live in Laguna, 4,592 of those

are rental properties, but prices are so high that service workers

and some artists can’t afford to live nearby.

So now we’re on our way to allowing more workers to live and work

here who would otherwise likely have to ride the bus FOREVER to get

to Laguna from another city where they could afford to live. Now

employers can keep the good workers and the workers can have a better

quality of life.

Six of the units are for people making less than $15,000 a year

and 20 are for people making less than $21,160 a year.

Affordable housing may not be everyone’s answer to the woes of the

world, but for those who may not like it so much, at least it is a

relatively easy and painless way to give a little. Even when there

was a battle over the land because the seniors were seeking a center,

most acknowledged the need for affordable housing.

The best part is, the project is actually ahead of schedule. It

was supposed to be completed by April 2004. Now officials say it

could be done in January or February.

In a world that makes projects like this sometimes seem like a

negative addition to a community, Lagunans should once again be proud

of their work and their support.