There are many issues threatening the vitality of our region's economy. Housing prices are so high that only 24 percent of average wage-earning families can afford to buy a home. Electricity and gasoline prices are so bloated they have become more than just incidental items on the budget sheets of most businesses. The region's leading index of economic indicators, from the University of San Diego, has been flat or negative for five months. The leading local stocks are struggling, which could trigger any number of cost-saving actions by the companies.
Water is in critically short supply, and as demand grows a water crisis becomes a possibility.
Imagine the challenges to be faced when the economy turns sour. But of all the issues facing our region, none threatens our prosperity like our worsening public transportation and commuting systems, because they strike at the very foundation of our economic system and every industry involved, from tourism to manufacturing. As bad as things get, people with jobs can save enough money to buy some kind of home. They can conserve electricity, gas and water if economic forces demand it. They can support hamstrung social services and ride out a recession.