Inland Empire Sees High-Density Housing in Its Future

ONTARIO, CA-The rapid growth in Riverside and San Bernardino counties will require high-density developments to house the region's growing work force, according to panelists at a ULI event this week. But building those high-density projects will be easier said than done, according to the ULI panelists, who cited a host of political, economic, social and planning concerns that will have to be addressed as the once sparsely settled Inland Empire fills with people.The event, at the Ontario Convention Center, was titled "Density in the Inland Empire: Are We Ready to Grow Up?" The answer is a qualified yes, according to the panel members, who emphasized that high-density housing isn't a panacea, is often too expensive for a large number of the Inland Empire's workers and has to be located in the right places to succeed.One of the many themes to emerge from the wide-ranging discussion was that Inland Empire communities need to start thinking now about high-density housing for the region's growing work force. "We would consider it a loss if we don't wind up with more high-density housing," said Greg Devereaux, city manager of Ontario, explaining that high-density housing is the type most likely to be affordable by workers in certain key industries. He cited the hospitality business as an example."If we're going to have hospitality workers, then we're going to have to have housing that they can live in," Devereaux said. "You have to provide housing choices for your entire work force."But Devereaux was also quick to point out that not all high-density housing projects make sense. Ontario and other cities have made mistakes in the past when they approved multifamily projects that were incompatible with the rest of the neighborhood, he said.Definitions of high density have changed, the panelists noted. High-density housing once meant apartments or condominiums, but now it's more likely to include retail or office space in a mixed-use project that is economically more feasible for the developer and the city.One reason that the ULI is tackling the high-density issue now is that the Inland Empire, once the province of cheap single-family detached homes, has grown so quickly in recent years that housing prices have climbed out of reach for many of those who might have been able to buy a single-family home here just a few years ago. Panel members pegged the price range of much of what's being built today at $350,000 to $600,000, with new apartments in the $1,500 range.The rising prices reflect a host of factors, among them the immense growth in the two-county Inland Empire region. Riverside Mayor and panelist Ron Loveridge, who has witnessed much of the growth, pointed out that the region's population has soared from 600,000 in the mid-1960s to more than four million today.Despite that growth, the Inland Empire remains considerably less densely populated than nearby counties. Brian Judd, a VP at the Costa Mesa-based Planning Center, said that the huge geographic expanse of the two county region's larger than some states leaves plenty of room for "an array of choices" in the types of housing that will fit in the Inland Empire.Panel moderator Steve PonTell, president of the nonprofit La Jolla Institute, cited statistics showing that 65% of Los Angeles is developed at high density, 50% of Orange County and 25% of the Inland Empire. PonTell voiced a consensus of the panel when he said of high-density housing, "It's not the answer all the time, but it is an answer, and it is part of an array of housing choices that communities need to provide."