Survey: housing is #1 concern among SV residents

Housing affordability — as in, rents and home prices are too damn high — is the prime concern among Sonoma Valley residents, according to a survey undertaken by Sustainable Sonoma, a nonprofit consortium of community groups.

For the project, Sustainable Sonoma conducted a months-long survey of hundreds of Sonoma Valley residents to learn their top priorities for the community’s future. The group also hosted 20 ‘listening sessions’ to gather public input.

“What’s striking is how well people who live and work in Sonoma Valley see that getting housing right could be the key to having the community we all hope for,” said Caitlin Cornwall, the project director.

The survey canvassed opinions on such topics as housing, health, land use, open space, transportation, and youths. Some 350 respondents provided over 1,600 specific comments in the survey.

By any measure, Cornwall said, housing affordability was the most frequently voiced hope for the future among those surveyed, with many saying they’d like to see a greater diversity of housing prices and types.

In a representative comment, one respondent stated a desire to “Allow innovative housing development, via granny units, tiny houses.” Many respondents simply said “Rent is too high.”

The next most commonly expressed category of comments was that the Valley needs more and better ways of getting around, including public transit, bicycling and walking. Other top priorities included the need to protect our open space, and the importance of a fair, diverse community that provides access and opportunity for all, including young people.

Sustainable Sonoma will use these findings to inform its choice of which issues to take action on first. Conceived and launched by Sonoma Ecology Center, Sustainable Sonoma is composed of a diverse group of Sonoma Valley people representing commerce, infrastructure, environmentalism and social justice – and including leaders from local nonprofits, businesses and government agencies – working together to develop a strategy for tackling complicated problems like housing.

A full report on the findings is available at www.sustainablesonoma.net/listening-sessions-report.