Most people who live or work in Sonoma Valley, except the relatively wealthy, are being harmed by our high housing costs, directly or indirectly:
Residents like teachers, doctors, and “essential” workers trying to pay rent or a mortgage
Small business owners and tradespeople who can’t afford to operate here
Anyone who relies on tradespeople or likes to go to restaurants
Anyone trying to hire employees, including business owners, local government, and nonprofits
Children who can’t do their homework or get enough sleep because their home is too crowded and noisy
Teenagers who realize they probably won’t be able to live in their hometown once they graduate
The Springs neighborhood in Sonoma Valley has the largest share of overcrowded households in the county and Latino households continue to experience the highest rate of overcrowding in Sonoma County, nearly ten times the rate of White households countywide.
Nearly 6 in 10 seniors over 65 experience housing cost burdened, higher than non-seniors. Nearly 1 in 5 individuals experiencing homelessness in Sonoma County are 55 years or older.
Sonoma Valley lacks the housing to support its workforce which includes teachers, nurses, hospitality industry and farmworkers, elderly and disabled residents. While this has taken years to develop, the current situation is significantly and negatively impacting our community and economy and the future vitality of the Sonoma Valley. The current situation and its evolution are described in Generation Housing's 2025 State of Housing in Sonoma County. The bottom line is that housing that supports these residents has been “hollowed out”.
When Sonoma Valley workers cannot secure housing, we all lose – on diversity, a skilled, dynamic workforce, and community. Our economy will not thrive if the people needed to drive it are living far outside of our community or great talent cannot be attracted to our community. Increasing affordable, workforce housing stock is the foundational component of maintaining our essential workforce, climate resilience, economic resilience and quality of life.