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As a UC Santa Cruz professor, I’ve witnessed first-hand the housing crisis affecting our students. In some dorms, double rooms have been converted into triples, and lounges into bedrooms. As construction on new dorms has been halted by courts, students must rely on off-campus housing.
Many struggle to find it. A recent survey showed a staggering 9% lacked secure housing. Our commitment to their education is undermined when they struggle daily for basic shelter. Measure M, while claiming to increase affordable housing, would, unfortunately, exacerbate this crisis. Its requirement for a 25% affordable housing quota in new developments deters the very construction it aims to encourage. The harsh reality is that developers find such high percentages unprofitable, leading to fewer housing projects and, consequently, even scarcer affordable options for our students.
The current 20% threshold is already challenging and raising it higher will only worsen the situation. I urge the public to vote no on Measure M. Our focus should be on realistic solutions that actually increase the availability of affordable housing, ensuring that our students can spend more time studying and less time worrying about the rent.
Ajay Shenoy
UCSC associate professor, economics