While many cities have difficulty attracting jobs, the San Francisco Bay Area has experienced a strong, continued surge in new jobs, thanks in large part to area high technology companies. Adding about 400,000 jobs in the past four years, the area has reached nearly 40 percent of the 1.1 million total regional planners expected by 2040, with the strongest growth in high technology, construction, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality. Nearly one-fourth of the jobs were added in San Francisco, according to SFGATE.
The Bay Area’s employment growth has contributed to a housing availability shortage and affordability crisis. The surge in jobs has strained San Francisco’s housing and transportation capabilities. There is huge demand for construction, because the recession put many building projects on hold. At the same time there is a lack of space and a lack of affordability. Only 14 percent of households in San Francisco can afford the median-priced home at nearly $1 million, and some people say the housing problem is “the accumulation of decades of underbuilding,” according to the San Francisco Business Times.
Why should there by such a crisis? Cities can use fiscal impact analyses and nexus studies to understand the impact of development projects on municipal operations and land use balance and to respond to growth appropriately. RSG has performed many of these analyses and studies for California cities. Contact us today to ensure that your city avoids uneven development.
Written by Dima Galkin, Senior Analyst at RSG.