Valley’s Edge is not dead, Bill Brouhard is absolutely determined to shove it right down Chico’s throat, damn the voters. Mr. Brouhard told a gathering of the city’s new Ad Hoc Committee on Growth and Development that he believes developers should lead the conversation. He’s convinced City Council to establish an “Ad Hoc Committee on Growth and Development,” of which he is a member. He’s brought in reinforcement – a team of realtors to drive in his point: Chico doesn’t have enough housing.
At the second meeting of this committee, Chico real estate agents Brent and Derrick took turns trying to convince us that Chico doesn’t have enough housing, and that’s why housing is so expensive right now. But they also explained that people aren’t buying because interest rates are so high – if interest rates weren’t so high, people could afford more expensive houses. Of course, if interest rates go down, buyers come flocking in, and then there’s not enough houses, so prices go up.
Talk about circular reasoning – I hope you left your breadcrumbs, cause we been here before. At least twice in my adult life, City of Chico council, staff, and development community have told us that we needed to “build more housing for starter families” and “more affordable housing“. Followed by benders of annexation and development, government programs to encourage people to borrow more money for houses they couldn’t afford, and finally by the housing crashes of 1990 and 2008. Both causing major recessions that affected the housing market and the general economy for many years thereafter.
The above description is from my memory. Here’s the AI Overview generated by my search — The 2008 recession was caused by a number of factors, including a housing bubble, low interest rates, and government policies that encouraged home ownership:
- Housing bubble (a period when house prices rise beyond what is considered reasonable or sustainable, usually due to demand, speculation, or overzealous investing) – The housing bubble was a major driver of the economy before the recession, leading to record levels of residential construction.
- Low interest rates – Mortgages were given to unqualified borrowers at low interest rates, which led to asset bubbles and a housing price crash when borrowers were unable to repay.
- Government policies – Government policies encouraged home ownership, even for those who could not afford it, which led to lax lending standards and unsustainable housing prices.
- Record household debt – The decades before the crisis saw record levels of household debt, which led to a balance sheet recession when housing prices began to fall.
- Homebuilding decline – The housing market crash led to a decline in homebuilding, which reduced the supply of new homes.
- Seller’s market – The lack of supply and increased demand created a seller’s market, which led to increased home prices.
The 2008 recession was the worst economic downturn in the United States since the Great Depression.
Yep, that’s exactly how I remember it, and it’s what I’ve seen again over the last couple of years. First, “record levels of residential construction.” Chico has been building like crazy (unfortunately, not on Brouhard’s land). But you see, prices have not gone down. And here we are, again – “Seller’s market – The lack of supply and increased demand created a seller’s market, which led to increased home prices...” If you put up the For Sale sign, they will come. Brent and Derrick report people are back to bidding right now in Chico, and homes are going for more than asking price.
Our development community, encouraged by our “city leaders”, keeps stepping in the same pile of shit they’ve stepped in again and again. They keep telling us building will bring down the price of housing, and according to Brent and Derrick, that just brings more people and higher prices. This is a case of circular reasoning if I ever saw one.
Believe what you see, and what I see right now is another housing bubble.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
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