Are AirBnBs and vacation homes causing the “housing crisis”?

This sure doesn’t look like a problem of too few housing units for the population:

After, all we had a massive glut of houses just 15 years ago — the government was handing out huge tax credits to buyers just to try to soak up the inventory! Since then, we’ve kept building even with very slow population growth — and no growth in California.

Being one of the most desirable vacation places in the country, Encinitas surely has more than its fair share of AirBnBs and second homes for the wealthy.

Is mandated high density development just bringing us more AirBnBs and vacation condos?

San Diego is de-populating

John Burns Research and Consulting:

HT: Bubbleinfo

This data is based on very recent Postal Service change of address forms, and confirms that the long term trends shown in IRS tax migration data continue.

8/23/23 City Council meeting open thread - Part Deux

 Please use the comments to record your observations.

OOPS. Sorry for the duplicate open threads. I’ll leave them both up to preserve the comments.

8/23/23 City Council meeting open thread

 Please use the comments to record your observations.

Storm watch

San Diego's first-ever tropical storm warning.

Watch out for high winds and flooding.

If you get any good videos, please link them in the comments.

8/16/23 City Council meeting open thread

 Please use the comments to record your observations.

City purchases Surfer’s Point property

 City press release:

City Announces Purchase of Surfer's Point

On August 9, 2023, the Encinitas City Council unanimously approved a purchase and sale agreement with Surfer’s Point LLC in order to purchase two parcels known as Surfer’s Point at the Northeast Corner of Highway 101 and La Costa Avenue in Leucadia.  The land will be purchased for $6 million dollars with a 45-day due diligence period and a target close of escrow on September 29, 2023.  The City Council believes that the value to the community by securing the land as public property provides an intangible that makes it worth the investment.    “This property is a high visibility parcel that will preserve a very cherished vestige of Encinitas’ and Leucadia’s character,” stated Mayor Tony Kranz.  “The acquisition of this land helps preserve open space and meets the City Council’s goal of Evolving and Preserving Community Character,” he added.  The total cost for the acquisition of land will be approximately $6.3 million which includes the purchase price of $6 million plus closing and financing costs of $300,000 which will be temporarily transferred from the City’s contingency reserve.  The City is considering using bonds for the long-term financing of the land to reimburse the funding used from the contingency reserve.  The debt service payments (principal and interest payments) at an estimated interest rate of 4.33 percent over a 30-year period will be approximately $377,000 per year.

8/9/23 City Council meeting open thread

 Please use the comments to record your observations.

Is the city trying to push a sales tax increase again?

Encinitas Votes:

Get ready for new taxes from the Encinitas city council. City engineer director Jill Bankston is circulating a bid for the following: Professional services to provide polling, public outreach and ballot initiative drafting services. Required services will include community engagement, polling services, data gathering, data analysis, report preparation, and drafting of ballot measures for the November 2024 election whereby the City may request voter approval to support funding for infrastructure projects which may include: public safety, transportation, drainage, pavement, traffic calming, mobility, climate action plan, and various identified and unfunded capital projects."

Overspend projects that no one wanted: for example the 101 streetscape of $60 plus million, the green bike lanes with bollards that creates confusion and at least 2 deaths.

Back in 2014, the council majority of Lisa Shaffer, Teresa Barth, and Tony Kranz aggressively pushed for the hiring of push-poll propagandist firm Lew Edwards to promote a sales tax increase. Only the presence of Kristin Gaspar and Mark Muir denying them a supermajority foiled their plans.

Now Kranz has his supermajority, and needs money. In addition to the boondoggles mentioned at Encinitas Votes, Kranz also needs a multi-million-dollar city bailout of the "volunteer-funded" Pacific View fiasco, the vastly expanded city staff including the new, permanent homeless bureaucracy, and tens of millions for payouts for injuries and deaths due to negligent street design.