In California, housing is the issue of our time.

I was grateful to be invited to speak recently at the recent Housing Security Town Hall sponsored by Associated Students at the University of California, Irvine.

Finding real and practical solutions to the housing and homelessness crisis has been a priority for me, both as a member of the Irvine City Council and as Chair of the Irvine Community Land Trust.

The problem of housing insecurity affects millions of Californians, impacting people of every age group and every background, hitting the most financially vulnerable first and hardest.

One of the groups most affected are students at our public colleges and universities.

The fact is that most students struggle financially with their housing during their time at UCI.  Some are even homeless.

According to a study done at UCI, 53% of students experience anxiety, depression, or severe stress due to housing insecurity, and minority students are more likely to face housing insecurity issues than non-minority students.

As the UCI student newspaper New University has reported, “Housing insecurity has been an increasing burden on UCI’s student population due to rising tuition prices and the growing Irvine housing market. Irvine Company, which owns several apartment complexes near campus as well as throughout the affluent city of Irvine, raises rent prices for students alongside prices for renters throughout the city. Housing insecurity has become such a problem that students are sometimes living in their cars because they are unable to find an affordable apartment.”

At the Town Hall, I spoke about what I’ve been doing to ensure more housing affordability in Irvine and throughout Orange County, including being the only member of the Irvine City Council to vote against the so-called boarding house ordinance — which would make illegal the living arrangements that are an economic necessity for most students and young people — and being the only member of the Irvine City Council to vote to allow incentives to build more permanently affordable housing.

It is time to recognize that the housing crisis will not get better unless we do what it takes to create more affordable housing.

All of us involved in housing — state and local elected officials, real estate developers, labor unions, financial institutions, and community groups — must find ways to work together to create the right legislative and economic environment for building the affordable housing that our state desperately needs.