A San Diego Must: Single-Room Occupancy Hotels
Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels in San Diego offer those close to, or currently experiencing homelessness a safe place to sleep. However, San Diego’s inventory of SRO’s is depleting, and people are being forced back onto the streets. I have gotten the privlege to speak with UCSD’s SRO Research team to hear their first hand account of how much SRO’s can truely impact those experiencing homelessness, and why San Diego must increase the supply of SRO’s now more than ever. Follow along as we go over how SRO’s impact San Diego, and the efforts being made to keep them in high supply.
Recently converted SRO in El Cajon
What is an SRO?
SRO’s, as classified by UCSD’s SRO Research team, are single room housing units that will typically rent for about $750-1300 a month. This of course will vary with the ammeneties provided and the age of the building, but typically SRO’s will cost significantly less to rent than the average rental. This being said, Dr. Newton, a researcher at UCSD, reports that despite this low number, SRO costs are at a historical high, and continue to be overpriced and out of the budgets of the people who need the housing the most.
Amenity wise, SRO’s will function like an apartment building, offering very little amenities. Mrs. Tran, a undergrad researcher at UCSD, found that despite SRO’s advertising simple amenities like elevators for multi level buildings, these services are often not well managed, leading to residents stuck in their housing, facing hunger, or worse.
Most SRO property managers intentionally leave these services unusable, as they make substantionally less profit from running a SRO’s then if they were to instead manage a Niche upscale hotel.
Why should we save them?
Despite a lack of care, SRO’s remain a middle ground for those both in homelessness, and those on the brink of it. UCSD’s research team has reported to me that SRO’s are the easiest way for those experiencing homelessness to put themselves back on their feet. This works the same way for those on the brink of homelessness, as they are able to live in a cheaper housing option while they get their financials in order.
SRO’s are the middle point between stability, and homelessness
To conclude, perserving SRO’s in San Diego can help those experiencing homelessness transition back to a stable lifestyle. In order to do this, however, we need to convince the landlords of the importance of SRO’s. We also need to show the public just how vital SRO’s are to the homeless population, as public funding for SRO’s are decreasing to a critical level, leaving many who had a home, back on the streets, with absolutely no way to return back to their stable lifestyle.