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Why are middle-class families leaving San Luis Obispo County?

October 9, 2018

Jason Anderson

OPINION by JASON ANDERSON

As a small business owner, I have experienced firsthand how difficult it is to run a business on the Central Coast. But the cost of running a business here is only part of the problem. The other problem is how incredibly expensive it is to live in the Central Coast where few good-paying jobs exist.

Middle class families are leaving San Luis Obispo County at one of the highest rates in the country. The high cost of living, lack of affordable housing, and few good-paying jobs make it hard for families to stay.

Major employers like Weatherby, Really Right Stuff, and Lockheed Martin are moving out of the County because it is too expensive to operate here. We cannot afford to force more companies out of business – and lose more good paying jobs.

As a parent, I want my kids to want to come home after college. As a business owner, I need my customers to stay here.

The County needs to retain and increase good-paying jobs so that the beautiful place we live, once again, becomes a place of opportunities and hope.


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Why are they leaving? One only needs to read the NIMBY comments here.


3

So what’s your point? Do you you think, like Heidi Harmon and Gary Grossman (at least he knows he’s lying, I’m not sure Heidi does), that you can build your way to affordability by trying to turn SLO into Santa Maria or Bakersfield? Not going to work unless you are willing to destroy quality of life. We are Santa Barbara. They could line State Street with 7 story buildings to try to force down housing costs. They stopped having this non-sensible debate 30 years ago. Just more high-end development with the only affordable housing being that which is subsidized and restricted. Think that will work there or here? Wake up. And good-paying jobs are not consistent with Heidi’s SLO tourist model. And the long-time SLO tourists are complaining that SLO is no longer the SLO they want to visit. “Looks more like Orange County.” Heidi and Gary don’t care. Keith does.


3

Stop and think about it. Building more homes does NOT make the homes more affordable, especially since money to buy these homes is coming from places like silicon valley and retirees with money. What attracts everyone here is the quality of life, less congestion and pollution and more and more homes built under the false hope of affordable housing brings more and more congestion, pollution, water issues (HAS ANYONE MENTIONED THE STRESS ON OUR WATER RESOURCES??), infrastructure issues . . . . there goes the quality of life. BTW, of all the thousands of homes now planned to be built in AG, SLO and the rest of the county, do you really see any that are ‘affordable’?? 


3

Dude, you totally don’t understand the law of supply and demand.


3

It’s just a gap between what you can make here and what it costs to make a life here. For SLO I put my hope in clean tech jobs but that’s as far as I’ll think it or discuss it.


0

we are doing everything we can to drive good paying jobs out of here, from PG&E to oil and gas. without private sector jobs, all that will be left are service industry and government jobs.


good luck with that!


7

Exactly, and with everyone moving out the cheap housing dilemma will be solved. Soon you won’t be able to give a house away in SLO. No jobs.


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