Merc shocked to find that people recruit roommates to lower living costs

In its July 30 issue, SJ Merc pulls a curious sleight-of-hand trick to misdirect readers about a legitimate issue—the high cost of local housing. It’s an exaggeration that complicates and confuses the issue and potential solutions. To receive daily updates of new Opp Now stories, click here.

All good-faith observers of local politics agree that local housing costs are ridiculous—mostly because of misguided government permitting, over regulation of current housing stock, zoning, and land use policies. Why, then, does the Merc stoop to strange data manipulation to make the legitimate point?

In its July 30 issue, the Merc runs a story based on a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which points out that a single person employed at a minimum wage job is likely to be priced out of a median-priced 2-bedroom apartment in the Bay Area. 

Let that sink in: Not somebody with roommates. Not a studio apartment. Not a one-bedroom apartment. Not one of the many a below-median priced apartments. Not an apartment along the ACE line in the Central Valley. The Merc assumes that in a free market, a single occupant will take up much more resources than needed.

This curious, dramatic exaggerated formulation allows the Merc to portray the situation as "alarming." It is alarming, but not because of the data analysis the Merc provides. Rather, the Merc's example undercuts its point by offering an apples and oranges comparison. This is an ongoing problem with modern media in that they single-source many of their stories and in doing so, accept at face value dubious or misleading claims.

Read the whole Mercury News article here.

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