Reimagining Berkeley’s Housing
Last summer, I interviewed physical therapists to fill a position at my downtown Berkeley physical therapy clinic. Many of them were recent graduates of Doctorate of Physical Therapy (“DPT”) programs. I reminisced about when I first started in this field over twenty years ago, with a desire to help people and bring healing to the world.
When I graduated in the mid-nineties, I had $60,000 of student debt owed to private banks. Soon after passing my boards, I was offered a starting salary of $30/hr. This was enough money to sustain me and rent my own apartment in the Bay Area. Things were different then.
One of the recent grads I hired has accumulated $160,000 in debt, all to fund his postgraduate studies. Even with a starting salary of $40/hr, my new employee can’t sustain himself as I did. Instead of finding a place of his own, he rents a 2-bedroom apartment with friends. Instead of planning for a family as I was, his plans focus on the repayment of his growing debt, the original amount plus an additional $70,000 in accrued interest.
Even though hundreds of newly built “market rate” apartments have deluged downtown Berkeley and the surrounding area, none are within the means of health care professionals who wish to serve us. The Costa Hawkins Act of 1995 dramatically affected the Berkeley rental market, as it eliminated protections for existing tenants and, as a result, decreased community stability. This vacancy decontrol law exempts new construction, condos and single family homes from rent control.
As I ponder how we arrived in this zone of servitude to the banking sector, I wonder if it’s wise to encourage more young people to become professionals? Should they invest their youth accumulating debt in a system that values capital above all else? A system that rewards their contribution to society, not with loan forgiveness, but with imprisoning debt service to the Big Banks, who set national and global policy. A system that creates a widening gap between rich and poor without regard for community health, human welfare or the future of our planet. A system where shelter is treated as a commodity not a human right.
As a mother I wonder about my children’s future when every segment of our society benefits a corporate bottom line. Does governance mean anything beyond protecting the wealth and assets of the rich? Shouldn’t the government exist to level the playing field?
I think it should!
It will require each of us engaging locally. Let’s bring our ideas, opinions and voices to bear on the issues that matter most to us. It’s the only way to create the change we want to see.
This article was first published in the Berkeley Times on January 21, 2021. Reimagining Berkeley is co-edited by Negeene Mosaed and Elana Auerbach, two longtime residents who invite the community to envision an equitable Berkeley where everyone thrives. Together, they want to utilize this extraordinary moment in American history to reimagine and create a genuine community where more than just the 10% and a single race flourishes.
