Figure 4-18 Transit Scores, Constra Costa County

FIGURE 4-18 TRANSIT SCORES, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

Services for Seniors and Persons with Disabilities While there are currently no licensed adult residential facilities or assisted living facilities in Orinda for seniors or persons with disabilities, there are two existing senior housing projects and a new senior housing project working through the planning process. Orinda Senior Village offers 150 affordable units to low-income seniors and Monteverde Senior Apartments offers an additional 66 units to low-income seniors. When constructed, Vista Verde Senior Housing will provide an additional 52 units for moderateincome seniors. However, while there are several senior housing options, the lack of assisted units for persons with disabilities may present a barrier to these individuals to live in the City of Orinda. During consultations, stakeholders noted a significant need for additional low-income units for seniors and persons with disabilities as well as supportive housing and assisted living opportunities. They noted that a lack of this housing can result in older residents being forced to relocate to housing outside of Orinda if they reach a point where they are unable to live independently. The City has included Action 1.F, 3.B, 3.C, and 5.A to provide incentives to developers to increase the supply of assisted and non-assisted housing for special needs groups. Additionally, the City will allow residential care facilities, regardless of size, in all zones that permit residential uses of the same type, in accordance with the City’s definition of family (Action 4.A).

Other services for Orinda seniors and persons with disabilities include the Seniors Around Town volunteer transportation service and County Connection LINK paratransit service. Seniors Around Town is a free service operated by volunteer drivers and offers free door-to-door service for seniors to non-emergency medical appointments and errands around town. County Connection LINK is a reservation-based ADA paratransit service operates as a fixed-route service between 4:30 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on weekdays and 7:00 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. on weekends. One-way LINK fares are $5.00. The routes are offered in similar areas as the County Connections standard fixed routes, which includes Route 6 (Lafayette / Moraga / Orinda).

Employment Opportunities The HUD jobs proximity index quantifies the accessibility of a given residential neighborhood as a function of its distance to all job locations within a Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA,) with larger employment centers weighted more heavily. Orinda’s jobs proximity index scores are between 40 - 60 for the majority of the city, close to the median in comparison with other residential areas in the state. Nearby regional job centers with high scores include sections of San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, San Leandro, San Rafael, and Corte Madera. While Orinda is primarily residential with a small commercial corridor along Camino Pablo Road where it meets State Route 24. Nearby areas with significantly low scores indicating furthest proximity from job locations include sections of Hayward, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, South Oakland, southwest San Francisco, Daly City, Pacifica, Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole, and Hercules. While some of these areas are suburban areas farther from job opportunities, others include low resource urban areas where access to quality jobs is limited. Orinda lies between a number of jobs centers and has a mobility advantage due to the presence of both State Route 24 and a dedicated BART stop.

Orinda has a lower unemployment rate than in other parts of the region. However, Orinda’s jobs-housing ratio is substantially lower than the averages for Contra Costa County as well as for the Bay Area, indicating that, while Orinda residents have reasonable access to job opportunities in nearby jurisdictions, there are relatively few job opportunities available in Orinda itself as compared with the amount of housing

available in the city. This data, in combination with the city’s regionally high incomes and resources, indicate that while there are more limited employment opportunities within the city of Orinda, residents who live in Orinda and work outside of the city earn high incomes. Housing costs are high in Orinda, with few lower-income households able to afford housing in the city.

Disproportionate Housing Need and Displacement Risk

Overcrowding The US Census Bureau considers a household overcrowded when the rate of persons per room is greater than 1.00, and severely overcrowded when the rate of persons per room is greater than 1.50. Homes in Orinda are primarily single-family residences, and Orinda does not contain any overcrowded households, placing it among the least crowded cities in the state. While the rate of overcrowding is generally lower in Contra Costa County than it is in the greater Bay Area, nearby jurisdictions with areas of rates of overcrowding above the statewide average include Oakland, San Francisco, Richmond, Pittsburg, Concord, Daly City, San Bruno, and Menlo Park/East Palo Alto. Census tracts in Oakland, San Leandro, Hayward, and Richmond exceed 20 percent, and several tracts in Oakland and Richmond are identified as having rates of severely overcrowded households. These jurisdictions have low resource tracts and more dense, urban areas within city limits, unlike Orinda which is primarily suburban residential.

Though data does not indicate that overcrowding is a problem within Orinda’s boundaries, it is an obstacle to fair and affordable housing regionally. Additionally, the high costs of housing in Orinda may exclude larger households from securing housing in the city, forcing these households to seek accommodations elsewhere in the region. In order to help reduce rates of overcrowding regionally, the City has included Action 1.A, 1.B, and 1.E to support the development of more housing units, relieving pressure on the regional housing market, as well as accommodating more multifamily development, in order to make Orinda a more accessible environment for larger households.10

Overpayment Each year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) receives custom tabulations of American Community Survey (ACS) data from the U.S. Census Bureau. These data, known as the "CHAS" data (Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy), demonstrate the extent of housing problems and housing needs, particularly for low-income households. The latest available CHAS data related to overpayment for the City of Orinda covers the 2014-2018 ACS 5-year estimate period. A household is considered to be overpaying/cost burdened when 30 percent or more of household income is spent on housing costs (rent, mortgage payments, etc.) Households spending more than 50 percent of their income on housing costs are considered to be severely cost burdened. Cost burdened/overpaying households are at an elevated risk of displacement.

Overpayment is an issue in Orinda for both homeowners and renters. 23 percent of households in Orinda are cost burdened – this rate differs between homeowners and renters, with 22 percent of homeowners and 33 percent of renters overpaying. Regionally, 36 percent of households in Contra Costa County overpay, with 30 percent of owners and 50 percent of renters and overpaying. This data indicates that households overpay at a lower rate in Orinda than the average in Contra Costa County and is consistent with the regional pattern of renters overpaying at a higher rate. Owner-occupied units comprise an

10 ACS 2019 5-year estimate, HUD CHAS 2018, CHHS

overwhelming 89.7 percent of households in Orinda which drives the citywide average downward, but data indicates that the relatively fewer renter households in Orinda face elevated rates of cost burden. Additionally, 10 percent of renters and 11 percent of owners are severely cost burdened.

Cost burden is distributed highly unevenly by income – while 23 percent of overall households are cost burdened, 60 percent of low income (<80 percent AMI) households are cost burdened, while only 15 percent of households above AMI are cost burdened. Moderate-income households are cost burdened at a rate of 48 percent. This data indicates that, even among households with relatively high incomes, finding affordable housing can be a challenge in Orinda. Among moderate and low-income households, those who do find housing in Orinda must commit a large portion of their monthly income toward housing expenses. Cost burden is also unevenly distributed spatially. As shown in Figure 4-19, renters in El Toyonal/Claremont overpay at a rate of 65 percent, while renters in the Wilder/Lost Valley area overpay at a rate of 18 percent. Overpayment by owner households is more evenly distributed with owners overpaying at rate of 31 percent in El Toyonal/Claremont, and 35 percent in Wilder/Lost Valley. Of owner households, 49 percent in the Alice/Ivy Drive neighborhoods overpay, the highest rate citywide. This area of owner overpayment is also relatively more diverse in terms of race/ethnicity, suggesting that nonWhite homeowners may be cost burdened at a higher rate than White non-Hispanic owners in Orinda. 68 renters (0.9 percent) in the city use Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs), all of which are found north of State Route 24 and east of Camino Pablo, in the census tract covering the Charles Hill/Sleepy Hollow/Orinda Downs neighborhoods. While this tract includes the city’s least diverse, consistently affluent areas, it also includes the downtown area, which likely accounts for HCV utilization.

Cost burden in Orinda is less severe than in other parts of Contra Costa County, although the relative lack of income diversity and large proportion of homeowners in the city may indicate that Orinda’s regionally low rates of cost burden are not a reflection of housing affordability within the city, but of a lack of housing affordability regionally, with housing in Orinda among the least affordable. Lower- and moderate-income households which are cost burdened may not seek or secure housing in Orinda but are forced to look elsewhere in the county or region. In order to actively protect residents from displacement, reduce cost burden on renters and owners, with particularly attention to owners of color in the Alice/Ivy Drive area, the City has included Actions 2.B, 2.C, 3.A, 3.B, and 4.A which includes rehabilitation programs for seniors, expanding the allowed housing types permitted in Orinda (include single-room occupancy uses), and partnering with fair housing providers to increase services and outreach to Orinda residents.