On Tuesday afternoons, half a dozen residents at Citronica II, an affordable housing development for senior citizens in Lemon Grove, make their way into a recreation lounge for bingo. They collect singles and coins, and discuss the building-wide recycling efforts that fund their annual Christmas party. Some have called Citronica II home since it opened its doors a decade ago.
The 80-unit building and its sister development, the 56-unit Citronica I, are entirely affordable housing. They were already in the planning process at the start of the last eight-year housing cycle, which paved the way for Lemon Grove to become the only San Diego municipality to meet all of its affordable housing demands.
"When I found this place, it was like, 'Wow, this is the place,' " said Mearl Willis, who has lived at Citronica II since it opened and doesn't intend to move any time soon.
Despite modest rent increases over the past 10 years, which the building's developer said are designed to help to keep up with the cost of managing and maintaining the building, Willis said it has remained within her budget.
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“I would say that the reason that this project was a success is because it was a very cooperative effort," said Ginger Hitzke of Hitzke Development Corporation, which worked with the city of Lemon Grove to build the affordable housing.
Part of the promise of the Citronica complexes was accessibility and a low carbon footprint. The Trolley stops right behind the buildings, and downtown Lemon Grove is walkable.
“The freeway, the trolley, the grocery store,” said Willis, adding the convenience for people without vehicles is one of the assets that makes her living situation so desirable, on top of the affordability.
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However, additional affordable projects in Lemon Grove may pose more of a challenge in the current housing cycle. Hitzke said the lack of state redevelopment funding is keenly felt, leaving Lemon Grove to compete with bigger, higher-resourced cities for money.
“It would be a lot more difficult," Hitzke said. "There just aren’t the resources out there that there were at that time. So small towns are definitely at a disadvantage when it comes to producing new affordable housing."
The mayor of Lemon Grove, Racquel Vasquez, is still determined to bring more affordable housing to Lemon Grove, although she concedes it is an uphill battle. She believes her city has the potential to be home to more such apartments and homes, which will continue to revitalize the downtown area.
"For most spaces and places, there's a waiting list," said Vasquez, adding that Lemon Grove has thus far been a success story in the affordable housing space, "but it's a true reflection of the need here in San Diego County."
Linda Robinson, another resident at Citronica II, one who has lived there from the start, is on a fixed income. Although her rent remains remarkably low compared with the market rate, she said increases over the past decade have given her pause and is concerned about getting priced out of San Diego altogether.
“California is expensive, but, you know, I love it here,” said Robinson while showing us her cozily decorated one-bedroom unit, which is filled with pictures of her family. “It's tough. Like with life right now, it's really hard. So they need more housing for people like myself.”
