Not all homes are houses. My Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bob moved to the foothills around 1977. They lived in a decommissioned army transport bus on the 300 acres near the middle fork of the Yuba that they bought for $10,000. They homesteaded by the side of Studhorse Creek while they saved to build their cabin, deep in the madrones, bothering no one and bothered by no one.
A few years later, my parents packed up my crib and followed them to Nevada County. Our families were the newcomers then. Hard workers but never in well-paying jobs, well-educated but not in a terribly practical way, piecing the finances together a month at a time. It never felt like poverty, but finances were always tight, and things were easier then – you didn’t need to take out a mortgage to afford lumber and a building permit.
Class divisions have grown. Many of my high school associates (Nevada Union class of ‘97) moved away and started successful careers elsewhere. A few of us stayed local, or left and came home, and have managed to piece together decent livelihoods. Many others stuck around and are just flat-out struggling – taking care of kids, taking care of parents, working multiple jobs, still falling behind.
SOME TRUTH
Local wages have fallen critically behind the local real estate market. Landlords generally expect an applicant to show three times the rent in monthly income, say $5400 a month to get your foot in the door of a modest apartment and $3600 in cash to cover the deposit and first month rent. And Lord help you if you have pets. I spent 15 years in the local bar and restaurant industry, and I can tell you with confidence that many of the people who serve your coffee, cook your meals, perform at your theaters, bag your groceries, or play guitar while you’re eating your dinners are struggling to keep themselves housed.
Many of these hard-working people are finding ways to make it work that are outside of the traditional housing market – buying an RV, building out their vans, finding a place to park on friendly property for a few hundred a month while they get themselves more solidly on their feet.
These aren’t outsiders. They’re our people – the products of our schools, the employees of our businesses, the parents and children and neighbors of our community, barely holding on. There’s a line between living in a safe, unpermitted residential vehicle on private property and being well and truly homeless. It is in none of our best interests to push people over that line. A society cannot function if everyone is either wealthy or unhoused.
LIVE AND LET LIVE
Supporting the Sierra Roots/No Place to Go Project and its All Homes-on-Wheels (HOW) Initiative is a way to acknowledge the challenges faced by the low-wage working class. It’s also a way to support homeowners struggling to keep up with a mortgage – sometimes that friend who’s paying a few hundred a month to park their RV out back is the difference between foreclosure and barely making it all work. This is what the American Dream often looks like up here in our hills.
I’ve had careers as an educator and a bartender and now as a CFP® (Certified Financial Planner) and have been privileged to form close relationships with people on all rungs of the economic ladder. I’ve known friends who see my life as incredibly blessed, and others who see a man just barely scraping by. I think it’s important to remember that both of those things can be true at once – that all of us are wealthier than some and poorer than others, that we all have less than we want but still so much to lose.
HERE WE ARE TOGETHER
I don’t see this as a locals-vs-newcomers issue. Those of you who have arrived more recently with resources and a dream and respect for the land and the community will always be welcome. Your spending power sustains whole sectors of our struggling economy. Just understand that a property that is within reach for you with your retirement savings or the income from your remote job might require three or four incomes to sustain for some local folks trying to maintain a foothold in their hometown.
We’re all worried about density. This proposed HOW amendment retains existing density restrictions and environmental regulations while simply expanding the definition of a “home.” If my favorite barista or line cook or handyman or gardener or musician or disabled former classmate or down-on-his-luck grandfather needs to park their RV in the corner of a friendly property for a season or a decade, I think we should have the decency to let them do so.
These are our people, making their lives work just like homesteaders have in this county for so many decades. What’s new is the stridency of the regulations, the massive increases in rents and property values, and the endless parade of vacation-home shoppers ready to snatch up whatever comes on the market.
Let’s make sure the people who make up the vibrant soul of our community are given a fair shot at sticking around. We hold on best when we hold on together. Please show your support by signing the Sierra Roots/No Place to Go Project’s All Homes on Wheels Initiative at www.noplacetogoproject.com. Then make plans to attend the public hearing on the proposed Tiny Homes on Wheels ordinance during the Board of Supervisors meeting Nov. 26.
Matthew Osypowski, CFP®, Nevada City