Housing Crisis Spurs Long-Distance Commutes

We recorded a new podcast! Our second one. This one zooms in on our housing crisis, long-distance commutes and the I-15 growth corridor, wildfire threats, the missing middle, NIMBYs, YIMBYs and more. Before we get to it, we want to share a few related items that inspired our podcast.
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There’s been a lot of talk about our housing crisis, perhaps too much talk, and not enough action. MNM Principal Tony Manolatos, a father of three children whom he fears won’t be able to afford a home in San Diego, recently weighed in with an op-ed in Voice of San Diego to shed light on two bans on homebuilding that have exacerbated our housing crisis:

Bans on Housing in Unincorporated Areas Worsen the Housing Crisis | By Tony Manolatos

Tony’s piece was picked up by KUSI TV and KOGO Radio, each of which brought him in to discuss the impact our housing crisis is having on working families and young professionals, many of whom are forced to move out of state. Others move to Riverside County, where they can afford a home, and commute back here for work. In fact, 60,000 people make the Riverside-to-San Diego commute every work day, polluting our air, jamming our roads, and robbing them of valuable time with their children because they are spending up to four hours a day commuting to and from work.

​KOGO Radio with Tony Manolatos: Young Families Hit Hardest by Housing Crisis​​

​The MNM Podcast: Episode 2, Housing Crisis Spurs Long-Distance Commutes

​Tony’s op-ed has people talking and thinking about a topic important to everyone across our region. So we decided to move the conversation forward. We recorded a podcast on long-distance commutes, the backcountry vs. the I-15 growth and transit corridor, the omnipresent wildfire threat, and what housing experts refer to as the “missing middle.”
 
Our podcast includes an interview with Ginger Hitzke, an affordable housing developer who commutes to work every day from her home in Riverside County to her office in Lemon Grove. She avoids rush hour traffic to avoid spending more than 3 hours a day commuting. We also spoke with Christopher Dicus, a professor of wildland fire and fuels management at California Polytechnic State University and a former firefighter, because very often housing opponents bring up wildfires as a reason not to build along the I-15 growth and transit corridor. In the last segment, you will hear from MNM’s Dike Anyiwo, Tanya Mannes Castaneda and Tony Manolatos. Click below to listen.

Ginger Hitzke

Professor Christopher Dicus