Sunday, February 15, 2015

March for Renter's Rights

Over two hundred people marched through suburban Redwood City on Valentine's Day to demand that the town, neighboring jurisdictions and the whole of San Mateo County take action to ensure that the people who do the work can afford to live nearby. Just as in San Francisco, middle and working class people are experiencing a deluge of displacement.

The march followed a rally at the Redwood City City Hall on Thursday at which residents told their stories according to The Daily Journal.

Led by the nonprofit San Francisco Organizing Project/Peninsula Interfaith Action, the group held the rally to highlight the need for tenant protections as rents in the area continue to climb.

“In the past, residents of all incomes were able to live in Redwood City,” said Diana Reddy, with Redwood City Residents for Housing Security. “People lived in their apartments for decades because those apartments were affordable.”

But skyrocketing rents have priced out seniors, individuals with disabilities who live on fixed incomes and young families who earn low wages, Reddy said.


Marchers were greeted by enthusiastic honking. Apparently they are not the only ones feeling squeezed.

The short procession on concluded on the steps of the old courthouse, now the San Mateo County History Museum.

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