Home to more than Disney
NATIONAL headlines have declared a rift in the 50-year relationship between the Walt Disney Co. and the city of Anaheim. Disney has sued the city -- for the first time -- to block a mixed-income housing development, and it is leading efforts to get two measures on the ballot that would determine the future development of sites near its Disneyland resort.
While most of the coverage and commentary have focused on Disney's heavy-handed response, the underlying story is one of greater significance to many California communities: the lack of affordable housing. More than 200 workers and residents attended the April 24 Anaheim City Council meeting during which the project was approved. Many people shared their stories of raising children in overcrowded and substandard apartments, mobile homes and motel rooms. Their message was clear: If we're good enough to work here, then we should be able to live here in high-quality, affordable homes.
Orange County's working-class communities are in stark contrast to the O.C. portrayed in television "reality" shows and dramas. At the meeting, Councilwoman Lorri Galloway captured the reality of Anaheim's resort-area neighborhoods with some startling statistics: 6,000 low-wage jobs (with wages averaging less than $15 an hour) were added in the resort district since 2000, but no new homes affordable to those workers were developed. The rental vacancy rate is less than 4%, and a worker must earn about $29 an hour to afford the typical two-bedroom apartment. Many workers must double and triple up in overcrowded homes, and about 850 homes near the resort are categorized as "extremely substandard" and lack basic plumbing and kitchen facilities. As a result, Anaheim ranks fifth in the nation among cities with the most overcrowded housing conditions.
More than 35,000 Orange County residents are homeless, according to the latest figures, and more than half of them are members of working families with children. For many of its resort-area workers, Anaheim is clearly not the happiest place on Earth to live.
Disney's opposition to the housing proposal may seem simple enough: Disneyland is the city's economic engine, and the resort area is zoned only for projects with compatible commercial uses. "This (resort) district pays for police services and fire services and parks and repairs," said Disney spokesman Rob Doughty. "This is the major funding source for this city, and it perplexes us as to why they would jeopardize it."
