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NEW: Farmworker Housing Study & Action Plan for Salinas Valley and Pajaro Valley


Infographic Farmworker Housing Needs

The California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) is pleased to announce the release of a comprehensive farmworker housing study commissioned by a consortium of local agencies in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties. The publication, Farmworker Housing Study and Action Plan for Salinas Valley and Pajaro Valley, was performed in partnership with the California Institute for Rural Studies. The findings and policy and program recommendations were featured at a Farmworker Housing Summit in the City of Salinas on April 19, 2018.

The study surveyed 420 farmworkers working in the Salinas and Pajaro Valley laborsheds from June to August 2017 about their household composition, housing conditions, permanent residences, commutes to work, and other pertinent information. Nearly 9 in 10 respondents were renters: 40% rented single-family homes; 30% rented apartments; 19% rented rooms without kitchens; and 12% lived in motels, boarding houses, and barracks. 16% reported sleeping in living rooms and garages. 44% had complaints about the physical quality of their housing. Many lived in situations of extreme overcrowding with 2 people per room and more than 5 people per bathroom. In total, the study estimated more than 91,000 farmworkers in the region and a need for 47,937 additional housing units.

In addition to identifying needs, the study also identifies potential sites for new farmworker housing, federal and state government funding sources to finance housing construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation, local government strategies to generate additional financing sources, local land use, density, and zoning reforms that could expedite and facilitate farmworker housing production, and best-practice farmworker housing developments in other parts of California.

For more information, contact Rob Wiener at rob@calruralhousing.org, 916-443-4448.


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