Housing Downturn Hurting Wallets of Local Residents, Governments

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published February 18, 2009 at 5:26 AM PST

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Cities throughout San Diego County were riding the wave of the real estate boom during the first half of this decade. Houses were being built, people were busy working on new developments, and the ci

Maureen Cavanaugh: The Commerce Department reports today that nationwide construction of new homes and apartments fell in January to a record low.

Here in San Diego it seems like only yesterday areas of the county looked like one big construction site. That boom in real estate and building fueled a lot of plans and projects by local governments during the early part of this decade.

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Now that things have slowed down in the construction industry, and those housing developments are not springing up like they used to, local governments are finding out just how much they relied on the housing boom.

As part of our series, Rough Water: Navigating San Diego's Economy , KPBS Metro Reporter Katie Orr talks about the consequences of the slowdown in construction - on workers and on our whole community.

Guest

Katie Orr, metro reporter for KPBS News.