Corona Councilman Jeff Miller Speaks The Truth About Development

I've been following Corona Councilman Jeff Miller since his name popped up as a candidate for Assemblyman Todd Spitzer's seat when Todd was leaning toward challenging District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.

I'm generally pleased with what I've seen thus far -- and then Miller goes and pens a column like this one, and my opinion of him skyrockets (H/T to BIA/OC CEO Kristine Thalman):

Economic development efforts aside, here’s probably the best way to improve the economy in western Riverside County. Build more houses.

There. I said it. I really mean it.

Go ahead and vent for a moment. “What about overcrowding?” “What about the increasing congestion that more people will cause?” “What we need are jobs, jobs, jobs, like Orange County has!” Feel better? I didn’t think so. Take a few moments and hear me out. Maybe you’ll see what I’m talking about.

In 1965 - just 40 years ago - Orange County (you know, the county right next door to us where there are tens of thousands of high-paying jobs and where the average home costs more than $600,000) was viewed as an affordable, suburban alternative to urban Los Angeles. With a lot of homes. And not very many jobs. Fast forward to 2005, and note the similarities. Today, western Riverside County is viewed as, well, the affordable, suburban alternative to urban Orange County. With a lot of homes. And not enough jobs.

Here’s the deal. Western Riverside today is experiencing a transition that will rapidly change it from today’s rural/suburban place to a suburban/urban place. People are coming to this subregion by the tens of thousands each year. Forecasts indicate that they will to continue to do so during the next 25 years and probably beyond. Today Riverside County is not only the fastest growing county in California, it is the second-fastest growing county in the entire United States.

As the county grows it strives, ultimately, to be its own place, with its own identity, and perhaps most importantly, with its own significant and supporting job base. It strives to evolve beyond the current status as a bedroom community to Orange and Los Angeles counties, reliant on jobs located there. But getting to a position of eventual economic maturity requires a strange approach, one that seems counterintuitive regarding the achievement of that end goal.

It’s this: In order to reach economic maturity (and potential independence from jobs based elsewhere), Western Riverside must continue to build more homes in the subregion. It’s simple. If Western Riverside desires to create a job base, it must realize - almost without exception - that as municipalities grow, jobs follow housing. Let me repeat this: jobs follow housing. Translated, this means that jobs follow housing. If we put the brakes on housing growth now we would effectively take ourselves out of the employment game because, well, you know. Just in the last few years the subregion has begun to see more and more employers viewing Riverside County as a place to locate their businesses. And the economic forecast for the Inland Empire is quite upbeat when compared to many other areas in Southern California. But what is assumed - yet rarely mentioned and almost never prioritized as a discussion point - in many economic forecasts is this: the region’s population increase, accommodated by and through continued housing development, might just be the most important component in spurring future economic development.

You can read the rest of Miller's column here.

Thank you, Councilman Miller, for that breath of fresh, common sense thinking -- especially refreshing for Orange Countians fed up with creeping NIMBYism behind the Orange Curtain.

Comments

[Capo Annie]

Thanks for giving this additional circulation, Jubal. In fact we are woefully behind in providing housing here in OC, hence the outrageous house prices. And due to the fiscalization of land use, cities are rewarded for approving retail, which generates sales tax, but there is a disincentive to approving housing, although that's where CUSTOMERS come from. Jeff Miller should be commended for going out on a limb to support housing...hopefully no one is nearby with a saw!