SAN DIEGO—If successful in November 2018, a $900-million housing bond could provide as many as 2,500 units of permanent supportive housing for people currently living on the streets, San Diego Housing Federation's executive director Stephen Russell tells GlobeSt.com. According to the organization, a new poll conducted by EMC Research shows that a strong majority of City of San Diego voters support a general-obligation bond to provide housing for homeless individuals and low-income families, seniors, veterans, and people living with disabilities.

In the poll which surveyed 600 voters in the City of San Diego between November 1 and 6 and has a margin of error of +/- 4%, 73% of likely voters stated that they would support a measure authorizing $900 million in bonds for the creation of affordable housing. Also, nearly 90% of voters support providing affordable rental homes for low-income families, seniors, veterans, and the disabled. Voters showed similarly strong support for providing 3,000 homes for those experiencing homelessness.

The poll also showed that even when informed the cost for such a bond would be $19 per $100,000 of assessed home value, well over 2/3 of respondents said they would support such a measure. “The most significant advantages of this approach are that it provides adequate funds to make a significant difference in addressing this problem, similar to initiatives in Los Angeles, San Mateo and San Francisco counties approved by voters last year, and it eliminates the risk of litigation and delays associated with unorthodox approaches proposed by other housing advocates,” said Russell in a prepared statement. He added that the polling was commissioned to help advance the community's dialogue about how to solve the homelessness and affordable housing crisis.