Gen Z’s Perspective on the Housing Crisis
Writing and research conducted by Annabella Bader
A Topic Piece on San Diego Student’s Perspective on the Local and National Housing
Crisis:
The housing crisis has shifted from a policy debate into one of the biggest defining struggles of our generation. When you look at everyday numbers, safe living is not just “expensive,” but a systemic lockout. The supposed lowering average rent in San Diego is close to $3,000 with units at $2,400-2,700 sitting on the more “affordable” end. In the perspective of a person 18 years and older pursuing higher education, housing costs have completely detached from the reality of student wages. For many of us, facing this issue isn’t just about finding an apartment, instead it’s about choosing between rent, tuition, and basic stability.
I’m Annie Bader, and I’m currently a Junior at San Diego State University studying Environmental Sciences and minoring in Data science. Since beginning college, I have found and fostered my passion for community service through member and board positions in clubs such as the Mustard Seed Project, Rotaract, and Epsilon Eta. Being a small part of the aiding student forces for environmental and systematic issues in our city is a huge part of who I am, which is what led me to join the ECOSD and be a part of their important work of balanced housing crisis advocacy. These past few months I’ve worked on a survey that reached 112 students and we gained some perspective on how my generation is currently processing the housing crisis in San Diego. I look forward to sharing the results with you as well as looking into what this means for our future. I hope this write-up can give you some hope that the generation we are a part of is concerned, and more than willing to learn and garner more information about the problems that will inevitably be ours to solve.
For my current youth outreach internship under the San Diego Quality of Life Coalition’s housing subcommittee, I spent this spring and summer conducting a survey of 112 students across San Diego and other counties major university and junior college campuses. It is notable that those not attending school in San Diego, originate from San Diego. The topic of the survey was student’s knowledge on the current housing crisis in the county. The responses recorded confirmed what we’ve all been feeling for some time now.
