{"id":1193,"date":"2018-03-15T22:23:51","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T22:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/community-relations\/2018\/03\/15\/examining-californias-housing-and-homelessness-crisis\/"},"modified":"2018-03-15T22:23:51","modified_gmt":"2018-03-15T22:23:51","slug":"examining-californias-housing-and-homelessness-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/community-relations\/2018\/03\/15\/examining-californias-housing-and-homelessness-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Examining California's Housing and Homelessness Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

California\u2019s housing crisis and its consequences for low-income families, the homeless, municipalities and the economy will be explored in a daylong conference at Chapman University on Thursday, April 5<\/strong>, in the George Bush Conference Center on the fourth floor of Beckman Hall.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s theme at the fourth annual Local Government Conference<\/em> will be \u201cWill California Ever Figure Out How to House Itself?\u201d<\/a> <\/strong>The free conference is designed for anyone interested in learning more about this critical and timely issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to overstate the challenges posed by today\u2019s California housing crisis. The average price of buying a house is now two-and-a-half times the national average, rents are at historic highs, and the state\u2019s homeownership rate is the lowest it\u2019s been since the Second World War. But this crisis is even worse, as it impacts virtually every institution in the state,\u201d says Fred Smoller, Ph.D., an associate professor of political science in the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.<\/p>\n

The conference will offer both a pragmatic and scholarly conversation about a range of potential solutions. Among the speakers will be policy makers, homeless advocates, journalists and researchers. The schedule includes the following four panels:<\/p>\n