Good luck finding a one bedroom apartment in Manteca that has adequate living space for less than $1,000 a month.

The city’s four largest complexes that offer one bedroom options all have topped $1,000: Paseo Villas at $1,350, Laurel Glenn at $1,195, Stonegate at $1,035, and Fairway Estates, $1,050. Even Parkwood Estates — Manteca’s only one-story apartment complex — has topped $1,000 for a single bedroom as units are going for $1,075.

Little wonder there is a renewed interest from developers to build apartments in Manteca. There are two projects before the Manteca Planning Commission tonight with a combined total of 384 units.

But before you start thinking it’s an aberration consider this: Sycamore Village on Central Avenue in Tracy is getting $1,320 for a one bedroom. Across town on Midfield Drive Tracy’s Waterstone Apartments are commanding as much as $1,820 a month for a one bedroom unit and $2,935 for a two bedroom unit.

They make Paseo Villas — Manteca’s highest priced address at $1,350 for a one bedroom and $1,750 for a three-bedroom — look like affordable housing.

The reason for double digit rent increases in the past two years can be summed up in two words: Bay Area.

Saybrooke Point Apartments on Blossom Hill in San Jose gets $2,295 for a one bedroom unit and $6,749 for a three bedroom.

An average apartment in 10-mile radius from San Jose is now renting for $2,829 a month. One bedroom units are at $2,343 up from $1,395 a decade ago.

A growing number of renters in Tracy are people who work in the Bay Area and are getting squeezed out of the rental market. Apartment complexes in Manteca are starting to see the same trend as well.

For the long-run, that means the transformation that happened in Dublin of becoming a major hub for condos and apartment complexes due to its proximity to major freeways accessing various job markets could happen somewhere in the Northern San Joaquin Valley as the years roll on.

In other words, up until now it was only those looking to buy or rent a home that fled eastward over the Altamont Pass. Now it is apartment renters as well.

That will have major ramifications for workforce and affordable housing in Manteca that has traditionally meant apartments. Someone commanding $25 an hour can squeeze out people who are earning $10 an hour.

In a nutshell, many Manteca renters may ultimately be squeezed out of Manteca.



Victor Gully among

dedicated volunteers

for EU Cemetery

Several readers noted that a letter to the editor listing volunteers who helped keep East Union Cemetery going over the past years after it ran into trouble with the state failed to mention one gentleman who devoted a significant time to keeping the historic cemetery in shape — Victor Gully.

Gully passed away last summer at the age of 79.

He was a tireless volunteer for organizations such as the Manteca Historical Society and the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Department STARS volunteer program. And, as the love of his life Maria can attest, he was always ready with a helping hand and a smile for anyone who needed either.