The City of Los Angeles, including the San Fernando Valley, faces a housing crisis. Between 2000 and 2010, the San Fernando Valley’s population will increase from 1.69 million residents to 1.82 million residents – a growth of approximately 130,000 people. The Southern California Association of Governments’ Regional Housing Needs Assessment study estimates, in a best-case scenario, that the housing needs of only 87,569 new residents will be met. Consequently, more than 40,000 Valley residents will be forced to find housing in other areas.

To make matters worse, the pressure of increased population and resulting housing crisis has affected the San Fernando Valley’s housing affordability. According to the 2005-06 San Fernando Valley Economic Report, prepared by California State University at Northridge's Economic Research Center, the median home price in the Valley topped $600,000 – up 23.7 percent from the prior year. As home prices rise, many families have found that even if they do find a home in the area, they cannot afford it, even with the recent downturn in real estate prices.

Many potential homeowners, priced out of the San Fernando Valley, have moved to the Santa Clarita Valley or to locations further north, such as Palmdale and Lancaster, where housing is more affordable. Unfortunately, while housing costs less in these locations, most of the region's employment opportunities remain located within Los Angeles and adjacent cities, so individuals are forced to commute via automobile every day, creating a traffic chokepoint at the I-5/SR-14 Interchange. This freeway congestion, in turn, spills over to city streets, creating a larger problem for City of Los Angeles residents.

While area land developers have eagerly fulfilled the need for housing, few have done so with sensitivity toward the burdens of the residents already living in the area. No development project in the Northern San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita and other points north have been accompanied by any traffic mitigation measures that benefit the San Fernando Valley.

...This is the challenge facing Los Angeles and our region.