Housing costs have been a relative bargain in inland cities like Fresno. But a sharp rise in rental costs is making life less affordable for low-income families
Then discussion turned to housing. “Who has heard of gentrification?” Grecia Elenes, a senior policy advocate at the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, asked in Spanish. No one raised a hand.
Elenes described the process by which wealthier and often whiter residents transform a neighborhood. Juliana Seguín, who lives with her husband and four children in a nearby three-bedroom apartment, piped up. Her month-to-month rent has climbed from $850 in 2017 to $1,550, as her complex has undergone renovations to attract a better-paid crowd, she said.
Another renter in attendance, Patricia Lobato, chimed in: She had been recently forced to move, due to a giant rent hike.
At some point, said Segúin, her property manager explained that the prices were normal for the building’s new owner, who had previously lived in the Bay Area.
“I said, if this is the Bay Area, then bring us the beach,” said Seguín, whose name (along with Lobato’s) has been changed due to her status as an undocumented immigrant.
But I thought Nancy Pelosi dais ILLEGALS were good for the economy?