SRO, the
abbreviation for Single Room Occupancy, refers to housing consisting of a
single room or a studio, typically in a former hotel catering to an earlier era
of travelers. In the late 1920’s there
were many small hotels in urban settings where travelers would stay when they
had business in town or were visiting.
After WWII, with the rapid expansion of
the ownership of automobiles and the Interstate highway system, motels became
the vogue and the traveler inns became a relatively inexpensive (and luxurious)
accommodation for people who wanted to live in town. William Burg, a local historian, wrote an
excellent overview of the history of our downtown hotels that became SRO’s in
his piece about the closing of the Hotel Berry in the online Sacramento Press edition a few years back.
But by the
1970’s and beyond, many of these building fell into disrepair, contributing to
the blight of our downtown. Local
business leaders recognize that to meet their goal of a clean and safe
environment in the Downtown district, the dilapidated SRO’s needed to be
cleaned up along with addressing the issues of homelessness, low income housing,
mental health treatment, and crime. And
they are actively supporting efforts to tackle these problems.
The city of Sacramento
partially addressed the SRO/housing issue by passing an ordinance requiring that
there be a minimum of 712 SRO units in the city but unfortunately the code does
not focus its affect where it should - on
ensuring that the owners/operators of the SROs make the units habitable. (This ordinance is part of the city’s 10-year plan to end
chronic homelessness.)
But the city
has made some progress in addressing the housing needs of homeless and low income
citizens by building and opening the 8 story affordable housing complex at 7th
and H; the result of years of hard work on the part of Mercy Housing, the
Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, and the city of Sacramento. It contains 150 affordable housing units with
on-site medical clinic and comprehensive resident services. Each self-contained studio and one-bedroom
apartment is equipped with a full bathroom and a kitchen. Half of the 150 units are reserved for people
just off the streets.
Slowly but
surely, all of this activity is helping the Downtown district become a viable
community for urban homeowners.
