Opinion: I own a Clairemont condo. Others deserve the same opportunity.

When you hear “Clairemont,” what comes to mind? For many San Diegans, the name evokes images of sprawling suburbs, winding streets and lush canyons. But there’s an important part of Clairemont’s housing history that’s not so well known.

In 1953, a new project added 1,024 homes to Clairemont. It was the largest housing development of its kind in the country. The people who lived in those apartments paid $66.45 monthly for a one-bedroom, about $800 in today’s dollars. Today, those same apartments rent a one-bedroom for about $2,000 per month. Even after adjusting for inflation, that’s a 150% increase. But while the housing crisis has magnified, Clairemont’s solutions to it have stalled.

When my spouse and I bought a condo in Clairemont two years ago, it was a step towards building our future. But this opportunity is becoming less realistic for many as home prices hit over $1 million and people are priced out.

On Tuesday, the City Council is expected to vote on the Clairemont Community Plan Update, which would address the housing crisis by allowing up to 17,000 new homes over 30 years. This is necessary for the neighborhood to address how our city has changed over the past decades. If Clairemont doesn’t allow more homes, thousands who need to live near jobs in UTC and Kearny Mesa will compete for the existing homes, driving up prices even more.

How did a community once known for innovative development become so unaffordable? Exclusivity. Many have chosen to fight against new housing.

Consider the Blue Line trolley extension — a $2.1 billion investment that brought three new stations to Clairemont. Yet the Clairemont Drive Station has the lowest ridership on the line because zoning rules from 1988 banned apartments near the station. We built transit while outlawing the housing that makes it work.

The opposition continued in a 2014 town hall on allowing apartments near the new trolley. Some 300 people filled an auditorium waving “No to Towers of Terror” signs. When a 23-year-old Clairemont resident said, “I feel like this room doesn’t want me to live here,” the crowd booed, yelled “Come back when you have a mortgage!” and chased her off stage. She no longer lives in San Diego.

In 2019, a developer proposed a project with 404 affordable apartments with 55-year affordability restrictions. Many residents spoke out against it. That project provided less than half the homes of the 1953 project, even though San Diego’s population has grown dramatically since then. In a neighborhood where only 3% of homes are affordable and the median home price has passed $1 million, residents still fought against affordable housing.

As a homeowner, I want more San Diegans to stay here and become homeowners. But that won’t happen without more housing. Affordability doesn’t improve by accident  — it improves when we build and create opportunities.

The community plan update thoughtfully focuses new homes near trolley stations and aging commercial corridors while preserving winding streets and canyons. At intersections like Balboa and Genesee, where three 1970s shopping centers sit surrounded by half-empty parking lots, the plan allows for mixed-use development: supermarkets on the ground floor, four or five stories of housing above. Residents could walk to get groceries instead of driving long distances. Without meaningful change, more young people will leave — just like the young resident from the 2014 town hall.

Some oppose growth to preserve Clairemont’s “character,” but even the “character” some claim to protect is relatively recent. The 30-foot height limit dates back to 1972 and was created largely to protect Mission Bay views for homes miles inland. We’re limiting housing for many so a small number of homeowners don’t lose their view.

In the 1950s, Clairemont was built for aircraft workers, Navy families and everyday people earning modest wages. That is the real character of this community. Supporting the community plan update is an opportunity to build on that legacy.

DeMarcus is the vice president of YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County and resides in Clairemont Mesa.