Housing availability and affordability are significant factors in recruiting new faculty and staff from outside the Central Coast. These are people Cal Poly needs to attract and retain to sustain academic quality. New faculty and staff are typically hired at lower salary levels and most families have only one income when they arrive in the community. These factors place severe limitations on housing choices.

Combined with a robust housing market, these factors mean many teaching professionals simply cannot afford to take a position here. An affordability analysis shows local housing costs are disproportionately high in comparison to the salaries offered. This project attempts to address this disparity for Cal Poly faculty and staff, using existing Cal Poly Land.

But it's not just about ownership of the land or the need for housing. Actions taken by one neighbor can affect others who live nearby. Apprehension about possible impacts to existing neighborhoods and quality of life raises compelling questions. Not everyone supports this project as a solution.

A local group, Neighborhoods North of Foothill (NNOF), raised issues about the initial environmental analysis early in the development process. Area residents expressed their views in responses to the EIR. NNOF filed suit in San Luis Obispo Superior Court challenging the adequacy of the Environment Impact Report (EIR). The subsequent court decision left four issues to be resolved; air quality, waste water impacts, traffic analysis and the type of findings needed at this point in the process.

Other points of controversy involve the density needed to accomodate more homes and people in the area. Housing costs also effect the business environment. This, in turn, ultimately affects wages and the ability to live and work here. Whatever the perspective held regarding growth v. no-growth and/or the integration of college and community, affordability of housing remains a challenge common to all.

News Articles About The Project - Click on a date to read the full article.

Mustang Daily

May 30, 2001
The Cal Poly Housing Corporation explained the need for new housing and heard public comment at a community meeting. The scope of the project is to provide low cost transitional rental condominiums to faculty and some staff in the first phase, and lower-than-market-value duplex homes for sale to a similar group in the second.

May 3, 2002
Even with a recognized shortage of housing, there is a group of people who aren’t so excited to welcome H-8 into their neighborhood. An organization now known as Neighborhoods North of Foothill (NNOF) is suing the California State Trustees for what they consider “notable” problems with the plans for the new housing. With about 200 members, NNOF formed last year and includes people from other areas besides those north of Foothill.

February 28, 2003
The California State University Trustees have released an addition to the Final EIR, providing a more detailed description and analysis of the proposed project. This supplement came after a local group, Neighbors North of Foothill raised concerns about the initial environmental analysis and Judge Douglas Hilton agreed.

April 14, 2003
The Cal Poly faculty housing project will return to the California State University Board of Trustees after a judge ordered Cal Poly to explain a previous report in more detail. Even though residents are continuing to challenge the faculty housing project, some are positive about this future development since housing in San Luis Obispo is hard to come by. With enrollment growth and professor retirements, more faculty and staff will need to be recruited and need a place to live.

Cal Poly Housing Corporation

Press Releases
Press releases about the project and the Environmental Impact Reports, with some easy-to-access information sources.

News Articles About Area Housing Issues

San Luis Obispo Tribune

April 13, 2002
A number of articles by the Tribune are provided about the effect of future population growth on the County of San Luis Obispo. This series addresses the housing crunch and the arrival of the “next 100,000” that will move to the county in the next fifteen years.

March 7, 2002
The housing crisis “ has gotten to the point that the lack of affordable housing has become one of the top reasons prospective new faculty turn down jobs at Cal Poly and part of the reason existing faculty choose to leave, said Harry Hellenbrand, dean of the College of Liberal Arts.” These challenges generated the idea to build faculty housing on the corner of Highway 1 and Highland. This is not a situation unique to Cal Poly - affordable faculty housing is a common factor at many CSU campuses.

Other Sources

Job-Center Housing
This is a Job-Center Housing bulletin on housing issues in California. One column lists San Luis Obispo-Atascadero- Paso Robles as the sixth least affordable housing market nationwide. The second column identifies the lack of affordable housing as a threat to the quality of higher education, pointing to “acute” problems in areas such Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, and San Luis Obispo.

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