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State could soon approve thousands more Tracy affordable housing units

Tracy residents fed up with reckless driving in their neighborhood
Tracy residents fed up with reckless driving in their neighborhood 02:30

TRACY — The city of Tracy is a sprawling community in California's Central Valley that now needs to add thousands of affordable housing units and new homes. 

Tracy is one of the fastest-growing cities in the state. With a population just shy of 100,000, there are just more than 725 units of affordable housing in the city. 

Now, the city has to build more. In a housing element plan under review by the state, the city of Tracy will need to build just under 4,900 affordable housing units by 2031. 

The city said in a statement: 

"The City of Tracy recognizes that the affordable housing goals established in the draft Housing Element are ambitious. The base number is derived from a public regional process and the City, in collaboration with HCD, determines the most feasible and equitable way to distribute these new units. The delivery of affordable housing units in Tracy, like many other communities, is challenging and relies on a network of incentives and partnerships." 

This is all a part of the state's goal to tackle the housing crisis by building 2.5 million homes in the next six years. 

The state could approve Tracy's housing element plan as early as Wednesday. 

"There's so many families in need right now. Prices are going up. Yyou see more homeless because they can't afford rent," said Tracy resident Susanne Valdespino. 

Valdespino has lived in Tracy all of her life and is currently in an affordable housing unit. She has seen Tracy grow in size, but at the same time, has seen the prices of living get bigger. 

"When you don't have choices, and you live in bad areas, and you can't afford to go anywhere else, you're stuck there," she said. 

Valdespino said that despite her living in affordable housing, she is still spending the majority of her income on rent. 

"They're making all these rich houses. Why aren't they making places or expanding the San Joaquin housing authority? Expand it to more families," she said.

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