Cupertino’s Fight Over a Dead Mall

Home to the Apple Headquarters, Cupertino, California is the ultimate dream city for people to live in, as it provides job opportunities, safe environments, and superior public school education. However, despite Cupertino being the most ideal place for families to move to, Cupertino faces a serious housing crisis, as the average price of a house in Cupertino is 2.7 million dollars with the average rent of a thousand square foot apartment being around three thousand dollars. This is not a problem in only Cupertino, as many cities around the world suffer from housing inequalities. For example, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Vancouver have the worst housing inequalities in the world, each with its own proposed solution. Although many may say that malls should not be converted into affordable housing units, I argue that converting malls into affordable housing units is the most effective way to fix the housing crisis as the downfall of malls caused by the COVID-19 pandemic can provide new spaces for these affordable housing units.

The high housing prices in Cupertino can be attributed to the inability of the market to fulfill the housing demand caused by the high influx of families attracted to high-paying jobs. According to the US Census Bureau, the average annual household income in Cupertino between 2015 and 2019 is $171,917, with the top employer in Cupertino being Apple Inc. In comparison, the national average household income in the US is only $69,560, so it is understandable that many people would be enticed to move to Cupertino. As more people try to move to cities in the Bay Area, the demand for housing increases, but since the supply of housing can not keep up with the demand, the prices of housing units in the Bay Area will increase. Even though the majority of the Bay Area residents have enough money to keep up with the soaring housing prices, the growing demand for housing displaces low-income families out of the area. According to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the growing housing prices caused growing inequalities among its residents, as Santa Clara County only has 29 homes available for every 100 low-earning families (Aurand et al.). Low-income families use a large proportion of their income on rent “because there are so few homes affordable to people in this lowest income bracket, and many of those that are affordable are rented by people who make more money… they have little or nothing left over for other expenses. That lifestyle is untenable and often leads to missed rent payments and eviction, or the threat of eviction” (Kendall). In other words, the high housing costs caused by the shortage of affordable housing units put low-income families at extreme risk of homelessness, since the majority of their income goes towards housing expenses. Paired with Cupertino’s high living costs, the shortage of affordable housing units places an unbearable burden on the low-income households, as they have to worry about what should be a basic human right. Even though Cupertino has the best living conditions on paper, in reality, it only applies to those who can afford these conditions, as the unlucky few have to constantly worry about their financial status because of the housing shortage.

To combat the housing crisis in Cupertino, the State of California passed SB35, a bill that would create more affordable housing units for cities that were plagued by housing shortages. More specifically, SB35 allowed cities that did not meet the Regional Housing Needs Assessments to develop affordable housing units on land zoned for residential use without having to go through city legislation. In 2018, a plan was proposed pursuant to SB35 to convert Vallco Mall into a mixed-use space that included 2400 affordable housing units. However, this plan was met with local outrage because of the fear that it would drive the surrounding housing prices down, and instead counter-proposed with a plan that only included 400 housing units. Many do not support the conversion of Vallco Mall into affordable housing units, as it would not only cause a massive influx of people but also drive down their property’s values. For example, many residents argue the influx of people would cause a massive uptick in traffic problems because this area is situated in the central part of Cupertino and is surrounded by the already-busy Apple Headquarters, Main Street Shopping District, and Cupertino High School. Also, once affordable housing units exist in Cupertino, the housing prices would fall, which is not ideal for the majority of homeowners in Cupertino, as they would be losing money. Because of the conflict within the city residents, a solution still has not been successfully proposed, so to this day the plot of land where Vallco Mall used to stand remains vacant and desolate, as the housing prices in Cupertino continue to soar by the day. In my opinion, the City of Cupertino should take advantage of this vacant plot of land and continue with the proposed plan to convert this area into affordable housing units. The addition of affordable housing units would alleviate a lot of the burden that the disadvantaged face, as they would not have to spend the majority of their paycheck on housing, which should be a basic necessity. In addition, I strongly believe that the location of the proposed housing units is perfect for low-income families because its close proximity to the surrounding stores and companies would provide them with job opportunities. In fact, this would benefit the local economy, as more people would spend their money and work in Cupertino. Obviously, none of this would be possible without the current resident’s approval. As a Cupertino resident, I strongly support the addition of affordable homes, even if it means increased traffic and decreasing housing prices. I truly think that low-income families should not have to worry about something that is considered a basic necessity and that we should put aside our own greed to help others live under a roof without fear.

Sadly, the housing crisis is not a problem just in Cupertino or even the Bay Area, as people around the world are unable to find housing due to rising housing costs in major cities. In fact, in just the US alone, more than 200 cities have a median house price of one million dollars or more (Keffler). Additionally halfway across the world, New Zealand has seen a 22% increase in housing prices in just 2020 alone (Keffler). In an interview with the World Finance, Richard Florida, the founder of the Creative Class Group, said that the main reason why housing prices are soaring is that “housing has been financialised and turned into an investment vehicle, which has caused an oversupply of luxury housing and a lack of affordable housing”(Keffler). In other words, more people view housing as a financial luxurious asset rather than a human necessity. Because of this, developers aim to build housing that would earn them the most profit, rather than housing units that would benefit the general population. As a result, there is a lack of land for affordable housing to be built on, like those in major cities around the world are taken up by luxury housing complexes. Because of the greed for maximizing profits, developers of these luxury properties are directly responsible for the growing housing inequalities, as they only cater to the select few who can afford to purchase these luxury properties, thus displacing families that actually need housing units. The COVID-19 pandemic greatly magnified the problem, as the economic standstill displaced those who lost their sources of income from their homes. Instead of focusing on catering to the rich and elite, housing developers should focus on developing more affordable housing for the general population, as they are the ones who need housing units the most, especially during the pandemic.

As the world is trying to recover from the pandemic, many different governments are looking at potential solutions to help solve the crisis, that can also be applied in Cupertino. Specifically, India has been able to use cheaper construction materials, namely GFRG panels, to build affordable housing units at a cheaper cost. First introduced in Australia in the 1990s, GFRG has been used in India to build affordable housing communities in Nellore, India. During the construction of this community, the usage of GFRG not only led to a decrease in the price of construction, but it also reduced the time of construction of the community to 25% (Gopinath). If the cost of construction can be significantly reduced through the usage of GFRG, then more affordable housing units can be constructed, which relieves the area’s demand for housing. This type of construction material should be used around the world so that more affordable housing units can be constructed. This also applies to Cupertino, as the Vallco Mall redevelopment can include the usage of GFRG so that the city can use less of the taxpayer’s money on this specific project and use it to build more affordable housing in other parts of the city.

All in all, the City of Cupertino and its residents should push for the conversion of Vallco Mall into affordable housing units made from cheap, innovative materials, in order to relieve the pressure from the high housing demands. Globally speaking, the conversion of malls into affordable housing is an ideal way to solve the global housing crisis, as the growth of online shopping has rendered malls useless. This is an important issue that everyone should care about, as housing should not be a family’s worry, as it should be a basic necessity.

Works Cited

Aurand, Andrew, et al. “A Shortage of Affordable Homes.” The Gap, National Low Income Housing Coalition, Mar. 2021, https://reports.nlihc.org/sites/default/files/gap/Gap-Report_2021.pdf.

Keffler, Natalie. “Solving the Global Housing Crisis.” World Finance, 7 Sept. 2021, https://www.worldfinance.com/infrastructure-investment/solving-the-global-housing-crisis.

Kendall, Marisa. “How Can We Solve the Bay Area Housing Crisis? Build 160,000 Affordable Homes.” The Mercury News, The Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2021, https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/03/18/how-can-we-solve-the-bay-area-housing-crisis-build-160000-affordable-homes/.

Gopinath, Vinod. “GFRG Panels — A Trending Innovation in Low Cost Housing.” Vin Civilworld, 14 Dec. 2020, https://vincivilworld.com/2020/06/18/gfrg-glass-fiber-reinforced-gypsum-trending-innovation-low-cost-housing/.