Ten Percent of City’s Households Now Benefiting from Affordable Housing, Rental Assistance

In his State of the City speech on Wednesday, Mayor Victor Gordo said that currently 10% of the City’s households benefit from affordable housing or rental assistance programs.

“Over the past four years, Pasadena constructed 375 affordable housing units, representing 18% of all new housing built, and these include options for low-income families, workforce housing, and permanent supportive housing,” Gordo told the standing room only crowd.

Pasadena, like the rest of the state, is mired in an affordable housing crisis.

The Eaton Fire further deepened the crisis. The fire destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena and Pasadena, displacing hundreds of local residents, including 132 who lost their homes.

“A cornerstone of building a better community is ensuring everyone has access to safe, affordable housing,” Gordo said.

Pasadena’s housing prices have continued to soar. In May 2021, the median price of a home was $1.1 million, up almost 19 percent from 2020.

To make matters worse, today, rent for a two-bedroom apartment is well over $3,000, with some units going as high as $3,900. The income required to afford housing is still above moderate household incomes.

Also, as housing prices have increased faster than household income, the affordability crisis continues to worsen. In 2017, 56% of all Pasadena households experienced housing cost burden, meaning more than 30 percent of household income was spent on rent or a mortgage. This degree of overpayment means that many people face having to cut back severely—or forego—spending on healthcare, education, and other life needs.

The City continues to take steps to alleviate the issue locally. As part of that effort, 1,106 market-rate units were converted to affordable housing.

Gordo said the recently established Regional Housing Trust with Glendale and Burbank continues to work hard to expand housing opportunities in our community. To date, the Regional Housing Trust has awarded $4.9 million to assist affordable housing projects in Pasadena alone.

The City’s Housing Department is engaged with Housing and Urban Development and lobbyists to ensure that Pasadena receives its commensurate share of federal disaster dollars as expeditiously as possible to assist residents.

“These efforts reflect our commitment to addressing the housing crisis head-on and ensuring that Pasadena remains a diverse and inclusive community,” Gordo said.