Housing Watch: Tulare seeing big boost in housing developments

TULARE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Some of the new home construction we're now seeing in Tulare is going up in areas where neighborhoods were planned a decade and a half ago but were never built.

"After the 2008-2009 housing crisis, subdivisions had previously been entitled or approved," says Tulare Senior Planner Steven Sopp.

City leaders are encouraged to see new development happening in all parts of the city.

This map shows you how many projects have either started construction or are planned.

"What's exciting is that it's not just happening in one particular area of town, so that you don't have this perception that there's one side of town over the other," says Tulare Mayor Dennis Mederos.

Mederos says over 2,500 homes are either under construction, approved or are in the process of grading.

The uptick in building is important for a city that has seen significant growth since the 2010 census.

"We've increased in population somewhere between 17% and 20% and over the course of the next decade, we expect even more," Mederos said.

Sopp says developers have been able to see the new homes quickly.

He adds new multi-family complexes and affordable housing are also planned.

"We see the same thing the state kind of points out, that there's a lot of pressures on housing in the Valley and a lot of need," he said.

Tulare is a city of 70,000 people but only about 20,000 houses, so the building needs to continue.

Mayor Mederos expects Tulare's population to grow to 90, even 100,000 people in the next decade.