Mayor Kevin Faulconer has committed San Diego to plan for nearly 110,000 new housing units over the next decade to keep up with job growth and help alleviate the California housing crisis.
Faulconer voted with a majority of board members of the San Diego Association of Governments, the regional planning agency for San Diego County, on Friday to approve the state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Assessment.
San Diego is committed to plan for 107,901 units over the next decade, or nearly nearly two-thirds of all new housing in the county. The city’s outsize role is because it has 55 percent of the jobs and 67 percent of the mass transit infrastructure.
“We need to build more housing or we’re never going to get out of this statewide affordability crisis, and the City of San Diego is leading by example by planning for our future housing needs,” Faulconer said after the vote. “This decision is in line with the housing reforms we’re pushing to increase supply, lower costs and promote smart growth as we work to make sure that our children and grandchildren can afford to raise their families here just like we did.”
Since 2014, the San Diego has completed 14 community plan updates, adding capacity for over 46,000 additional homes. On Tuesday, the City Council will consider the Mission Valley community plan update, which would add approximately 28,000 additional homes.
The plan approved by the SANDAG board drew criticism from the cities of Coronado, National City and Solana Beach, with their represents saying smaller cities were being asked to build too much new housing.
