My fellow Ventura County Leadership Academy Cohort XXVII Member, Atticus Reyes, a Field Representative for the California State Assemblymember Steve Bennett, recently shared his thoughts on the crisis of the unhoused in Thousand Oaks on the VC Leadership Academy Cohort Reflections blog post.[1] It is a timely piece since the City of Thousand Oaks will agree with Ventura County, builder Shangri-La Industries, and the low-income, service-enriched operator, Many Mansions, to take over and convert the Quality Inn and Suites near the Janss Marketplace retail center into a permanent supportive housing facility.[2] The hotel is in a commercial retail pocket with limited street access and near county-operated buildings that offer behavioral health support services. It is also about one-tenth of a mile away from the Janss, which includes tenants like Aldi, Buca di Beppo, Burlington, Dave & Buster’s, Gold’s Gym, Nordstrom Rack, Old Navy, Regal Movie Theaters, and Ulta Beauty. The nearest traditional housing stock is over a half-mile away. I cannot think of a better location to address the City’s homeless and substance abuse disorder issue.
As a resident of this community, I was disappointed by fellow residents’ NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) reactions. Aside from being intellectually lazy to make their points, locals would use inaccurate information to encourage opposition to the proposal during city council reviews and eventual voting. Residents would state that these facilities increase public dollar dependency and drug use, encourage additional homeless people to come to the area, and negatively impact property values. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Stanford University completed a 10-year study in 2015 on the “spillovers of properties financed by the Low-Income Housing Tax (LIHTC) onto surrounding neighborhood residents.”[3] The study showed the substantially positive impact it had in low-income neighborhoods. Thousand Oaks is in the top 10 list of the wealthiest cities with over 100,000 residents. The annual household income is at least $191,469. The study was fair in showing that housing prices declined by 2.5% very locally (within a one-tenth mile) in high-income cities but recovered and increased over the study period. Trulia, an online real estate marketplace, completed a similar study in the nation’s 20 least affordable markets.[4] They found no significant effect on home values located near a low-income housing project, with few exceptions. The National Institute of Mental Health and the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities agree that providing supportive housing plays a vital role in recovery from substance abuse disorders.[5][6]
Atticus and his team visited the City of Thousand Oaks. My cohort team visited the City of Oxnard, the most populous of Ventura County. The Economic Development & Housing Departments shared the pipeline of 1,200 proposed residential units, 970 approved units, and 900 under construction. Almost all of these developments include accommodations for veterans, people with special needs, seniors, low income, and the unhoused.
Oxnard uses a “housing first” approach instead of requiring a person with a substance abuse disorder or experiencing homelessness to find a job and get clean to find a place to live. The City is collaborating with Community Development Partners to build a 110-unit permanent supportive housing facility in the urban core near City Hall.[7] In an interview with Jessica Petrillo, Homeless Assistance Program Coordinator for the City of Oxnard, she noted some main factors on how people become homeless:
- Lack of affordable housing
- Unemployment
- Fleeing violence
- Discharge from institutions
In addition, many homeless populations suffer from mental health issues, substance abuse, trauma, and the lack of a family safety net.
The City of Oxnard’s history and demographics differ from Thousand Oaks. However, both cities are making substantial strides in creating affordable housing and addressing homelessness with permanent supportive housing units.
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[1] Reyes, Atticus. “The Crisis of the Unhoused in Thousand Oaks.” Ventura County Leadership Acadmy Cohort Reflections. 25 October 2021. https://vcleadership.org/the-impact-of-martin-v-boise-in-thousand-oaks/
[2] Harris, Mike. “Thousand Oaks Moves Closer to Getting First Homeless Facility; Here’s Where Shelter Might Go.” VC Star. 29 September 2021, https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/conejo-valley/2021/09/29/thousand-oaks-seek-state-funding-citys-first-homeless-facility/5883509001/
[3] McQuade, Rebecca DiamondTimothy James, et al. “Who Wants Affordable Housing in Their Backyard? an Equilibrium Analysis of Low Income Property Development.” Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1 July 2015, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/who-wants-affordable-housing-their-backyard-equilibrium-analysis-low.
[4] Young, Cheryl. “There Doesn’t Go the Neighborhood: Low-Income Housing Has No Impact on Nearby Home Values.” Trulia Research, 10 Oct. 2019, https://www.trulia.com/research/low-income-housing/#.
[5] Dickson-Gomez, Julia, et al. “Access to Housing Subsidies, Housing Status, Drug Use and HIV Risk among Low-Income U.S. Urban Residents.” Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, BioMed Central, 23 Nov. 2011, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3283493/.
[6] “Meeting the Housing Needs of People with Substance Use Disorders.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 1 May 2019, https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/meeting-the-housing-needs-of-people-with-substance-use-disorders.
[7] Kolwitz, Scott. “Development Projects – Community Development Department Juily 2021 Update.”July 2021. https://www.oxnard.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2021-Community-Development-Projects.pdf
