Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Why Not Use Common Sense ?

A friend of mine sent me an article from the L.A. Times and his accompanying question was, “Are these are next homeless?” 

The article detailed a family of six living in Los Angeles near U.S.C. that was soon going to be forced out of their apartment. The family had lived in that same rundown apartment for four years, but last year the building was sold and all of the tenets were going to be evicted by the new owner. They have looked for another place that could accommodate their family, but despite the fact that both the mother and the father work as managers at pizza places, they cannot find any place that they can afford. Their present monthly rent is $1600/month, and they recently looked at a small 3BR house that rented for $3800/month, which is far out of their range. They have considered moving 60-70 miles outside of the city where housing is cheaper, but the commute would take hours, and they have only one car. The wife said, “It is not easy leaving “home,” family, schools, and church. We may have to live in our car for a while, or in a hotel.” As I read this article, I asked myself, “Where is the common sense?”
In L.A. stories similar to this are apparently not uncommon. Reportedly in L.A. 600,000 are “severely rent burdened” meaning that they spend at least 50% of their income on rent. Last year over 8000 became homeless for the first time, and reportedly for each rent increase of 5% in L.A., an additional 2000 will become homeless. The enormity of these statistics surprised me, and again I asked myself, “Where is the common sense?”
I read the article more than once, and then responded to my friend, “Yes, this is a big problem, but to me the answer for this particular family is pretty basic, but probably not what they want to hear. – move somewhere that you can afford, and find jobs close to where you relocate.”
California is an expensive place to live, and it is even more expensive to live in and around its major cities. Not surprising a lot of people want to live where the weather is nice, but everyone cannot live wherever they want. Let’s use some common sense . . .
If you want to live in X, you should evaluate whether or not you can afford to live in X.
After paying 50% of one’s income for rent, how long should it take to realize that you cannot afford to live in X.
About fifteen years ago a friend of mine and his wife realized that they would never be able to afford a house in Southern California. They decided that a choice had to be made – either stay in SoCal and rent or move someplace else. They used common sense, and moved to Texas. They left “home,” family, schools, and church, and now return once a year to visit.
Why don’t the powers that be come out and just state the obvious?
“If you and your family can not afford to live here, please use common sense and move to someplace that you can afford.”

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