Pomona is undergoing a major housing transformation driven by new state mandates, affordability initiatives, and zoning reforms that reshape the landscape for property owners, investors, and renters. Recent zoning code updates now support higher-density and mixed-use developments, unlocking opportunities for increased housing supply and greater investment potential. This means more flexibility to develop or repurpose land for property owners, and for renters, it promises a wider range of housing options in diverse neighborhoods.
Pomona now requires new developments to include affordable units or contribute to a housing trust fund through its Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. It directly addresses rising rental costs and expanding moderate-income rental availability. Furthermore, state legislation like SB 684 empowers small-scale developers, fueling accelerating housing growth and local investment by streamlining the approval process with up to 10 units. Besides growth, Pomona’s approach ensures inclusivity and equity.
The city is fostering community-driven development that prioritizes fairness and long-term stability by reassessing outdated land-use rules and addressing the legacy of exclusionary practices. Whether you’re looking for rental property, investment, or property development, Pomona’s pro-housing policies are creating a future where affordability, opportunity, and equity go hand-in-hand.
Why Is Housing a Critical Issue in Pomona?
Pomona is facing an unparalleled housing crisis due to years of underbuilding, rising living costs, and soaring demand that is felt across the state, where many struggle to find stable and affordable housing. Located in eastern Los Angeles County, Pomona stands as a clear example of this growing crisis. Pomona, with its diverse working-class population and increasing number of cost-burdened renters, highlights the affordability challenges faced across urban and suburban California. Moreover, outdated zoning laws, limited housing stock, and the legacy of exclusionary policies have long constrained the city’s ability to meet the needs of its residents.
Pomona has become a testing ground for pro-housing policies aimed at reshaping the city’s housing landscape. Through zoning code updates, alignment with state reforms like Senate Bill 684, and inclusionary housing mandates, the city is taking a multi-pronged approach to expand supply, correct historical inequities, and promote affordability in land use. These efforts are laying the groundwork for more inclusive and community-driven growth. Despite this, risks around displacement and gentrification remain. As new development projects accelerate, policymakers must balance growth with protections to ensure long-term residents are not priced out. In the city of Pomona, housing remains both a challenge and an opportunity to model fair urban transformation.
What Does Pomona’s Housing Landscape Look Like Today?
Pomona, California, is a diverse city where people from all around reside and has a population of 148,391 as of 2023, with a median age of 35.4 years. The majority of the residents are from Other (Hispanic), i.e 38%, 18.2% as two or more races (Hispanic), 12.7% as White Hispanic, Asian (10.9%), and White (10%) communities. The median household income is around $78,869, with a 7.28% increase from 2022. Despite this, the city of Pomona has significant income disparities. The city has several housing challenges, and affordability remains a pressing issue, with many residents allocating a substantial portion of their income to housing costs.
Likewise, aging infrastructure requires modernization to meet current standards, and gentrification poses risks of displacing long-term, lower-income residents. In terms of economics, Pomona is reinforced by sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, and education, and has institutions like California State Polytechnic University and Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center serve as major employers. This helps drive local economic growth and provide employment opportunities for the community.
How Are Pro-Housing Policies Transforming Pomona?
Pro-housing policies in Pomona are fundamentally reshaping the city’s approach to housing by targeting goals like streamlining development, advancing equity, and expanding housing supply. These efforts aim to prevent decades of underproduction, zoning barriers, and income-based displacement. This is to pursue the city’s intent to meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) targets, create housing options that cater to the city’s growing and diverse population, and support a broader range of income levels. Similarly, Pomona has passed zoning reforms that allow for higher-density and mixed-use developments in previously restricted areas, which enables more flexible land use.
Additionally, the city encourages the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) by streamlining regulations and providing incentives to homeowners. This is implemented to address the long-standing shortages in moderate and lower-income housing options. Likewise, to speed up building timelines, Pomona has implemented fast-track permitting processes for eligible housing projects. These efforts are regulated by statewide laws like SB 35, which mandates ministerial approval for projects that meet zoning requirements and meet affordability, and ensure cities like Pomona accelerate housing that aligns with local as well as state goals. Altogether, these policies are working for a more inclusive, sustainable, and responsive housing future in Pomona.
What Impacts Are These Policies Having on Pomona?
Pomona’s pro-housing policies are making measurable impacts across the city, especially in accelerating housing supply. With the fast-tracked permits and zoning updates, homeowners or developers can build more units in transit-oriented and mixed-use zones at a quicker pace. Furthermore, these efforts aim to enhance affordability for vulnerable groups by requiring a percentage of new developments to be designated for moderate-income households and establishing a local housing trust fund. The housing surge is stimulating growth in construction, support services, and local retail, furthering revitalisation in underserved neighbourhoods. However, not all responses have been favourable, and some residents and stakeholders are concerned about the increased density, fears of gentrification, and potential strain on infrastructure.
Accelerating Housing Supply
Pomona is making steady progress in boosting its housing supply through a mix of local reforms and state-backed strategies. Since 2020, the city has permitted over 300 Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), easing the pressure on single-family housing shortages. These units provide flexible and affordable living options for extended families and low-income renters. Similarly, mixed-use zoning, especially along underutilised corridors like Holt Avenue, is reshaping the urban landscape by permitting the development of multi-story buildings that combine residential units, enhancing both economic activity and housing availability. In addition, Pomona has seen a 24% increase in multi-family housing starts since 2002, which demonstrates the effectiveness of updated zoning codes and expedited permitting in attracting developers and facilitating new construction.
Improving Affordability for Vulnerable Groups
The city of Pomona has implemented several initiatives to enhance housing affordability for vulnerable groups by developing multiple subsidized housing units, like the Heritage Park Apartments, to provide affordable housing options for low-income residents. Similarly, the city has enacted rent stabilization policies, capping annual rent increases at 4% or the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), safeguarding multiple households from significant rent hikes. Furthermore, Pomona has introduced eviction diversion programs aimed at reducing homelessness filings. However, the specific percentage reduction during the period from 2020 to 2023 has not been detailed.
Driving Economic Revitalization
Pomona is undergoing a significant economic revival fueled by strategic investments and development projects. For example, Siemens’ $95 million expansion of its Pomona facility is projected to create 123 jobs, thereby enhancing the local employment landscape. Likewise, CapRock Partners secured $50 million in constrPomona, California, is a diverse city where people from all around reside and has a population of 145,502 as of 2024uction financing for a nearly 270,000 sq ft. industrial development, further restoring job creation and economic growth. Moreover, the renovation of the historic YMCA building into The Village Pomona plans to attract businesses and organizations to the area, with plans of reducing vacancies and reviving the local economy. Furthermore, transit-oriented developments like The Station at Pomona are also contributing to economic revitalization. Such developments improve transportation as well as attract businesses and residents, further improving the city’s economic landscape.
Addressing Equity Gaps
Pomona is actively addressing equity gaps in housing through several targeted initiatives, like the allocation of affordable housing in historically redlined neighborhoods, Community Land Trusts (CLTs) preserving ownership for low-income families, and tenant education programs empowering renters. The city directed 40% of the 2020 Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) to the East End Village project with 123 units designated for families earning less than 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Likewise, CLTs maintain permanent affordability and prevent displacement by retaining ownership of the land and selling the housing to low-income families at affordable prices. Moreover, Pomona offers tenant education programs to inform renters about their housing responsibilities and rights with workshops covering topics such as fair housing laws, disability accommodations, protections for families with children, and landlord-tenant rights and responsibilities.
Sparking Controversy and Challenges
Pomona’s pro-housing initiatives have encountered their fair share of controversies and challenges. In 2023, community opposition, referred to as “Not In My Backyard,” led to delays in three proposed high-density housing projects. Likewise, residents expressed their concerns about increasing traffic, changes to neighborhood character, and environmental impacts, which resulted in extended approval processes and project postponements. In addition, fears of displacement have intensified as neighborhoods adjacent to new developments experienced rent increases. The trend has raised alarms about the possible refurbishment and the displacement of long-standing, lower-income residents. Despite implementing California’s Senate Bill 35 (SB 35) aimed at streamlining housing approvals, permitting delays persist. The delays have prolonged project timelines by several months, highlighting the challenges of balancing accelerated development with regulatory compliance and community concerns.
What Challenges Do Pro-Housing Policies Face?
Despite the promising pro-housing policies in Pomona, they face significant challenges, among them being community resistance. Oppositions like “Not In My Backyard” arise when residents fear increased density could lead to overcrowding, strain on public services, and traffic congestion. Similarly, concerns over changing the character of long-established neighbourhoods led to pushback against higher-density zoning and multi-unit developments, although the project aligns with city-wide goals.
While these policies are designed to boost supply and affordability, they also raise the risk of displacement, if not carefully managed. As most property values rise in response to new developments, long-time residents, renters, and lower-income families may be priced out of renewed areas. Finding the right balance between growth and protection requires strong tenant protections and targeted support. Pomona faces hurdles such as limited funding for affordable housing initiatives, navigating complex state and local regulatory requirements, and administrative delays. Without ongoing investment and effective governance, even the best policies may not achieve their full potential.
What’s Next for Pomona’s Housing Future?
Pomona’s housing future is poised to focus on resilience, inclusive growth, and protection with upcoming policies to incorporate climate-resilient housing standards, ensuring new developments can withstand environmental stresses such as droughts and heatwaves. Similarly, enhanced tenant protections are implemented, particularly in rapidly changing neighbourhoods, to safeguard renters from unjust evictions and steep rent increases. To sustain this policy, experts and community leaders are recommending tools like CLTs to maintain long-term housing affordability by keeping land in community ownership.
Similarly, anti-displacement strategies, homeownership support for low-income familines, and strategic upzoning in already-developed areas are also key to sustain this. Pomona aims to become a model for equitable and sustainable urban development where economic growth, social equity, and environmental responsibility go hand-in-hand. If the policy is successful, Pomona will become a blueprint for similarly sized cities seeking to tackle the housing crisis without sacrificing community values.
How Can Pomona Property Management Help You Navigate These Changes?
As the city of Pomona undergoes a housing transformation driven by pro-housing policies, property owners and local landlords face new regulations aimed at preventing displacement and ensuring housing equity. Pomona Property Management, in collaboration with firms like Skybridge Property Group, plays a crucial role in helping landlords navigate these changes. We provide tailored guidance on how to comply with city ordinances, while still maintaining profitability through tenant retention strategies, efficient operations, and market-aligned property upgrades. Property owners can gain access to resources that simplify compliance with anti-displacement policies, lawful eviction procedures, and fair tenant screening practices while working with us. With our expert management and strategic insight, landlords can grow in this changing landscape while contributing to a more stable and impartial housing market.
