✍️ What I learned Sitting in the Room: Digging into Housing Affordability for Young Professionals and Chula Vista’s Future

Last month I attended a Pacific Coast Builders Conference event hosted by y|GEN, BIA San Diego's Young Generation of Leaders Council. The session was called "The Next Horizon: Exploring Chula Vista's Expanding Landscape," and it looked at the projects reshaping South County, including the Gaylord Pacific Hotel and the master-planned communities of Otay Ranch. But the conversation didn't stop there - it also dug into the bigger question of housing affordability for young professionals across San Diego. On the panel: Mayor John McCann, Councilmember Carolina Chavez, Kenia Zamarripa of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, Chris Foulger of HomeFed Corp., Nick Lee of The Baldwin Company, Sean Kilkenny of Nolen Communities, Alex Baracchini, 2026 Chair of the y|GEN Council and with Ryan Companies, and Angelica Davis, 2026 y|GEN Board Member and with HomeFed Corp.

BIA San Diego treats housing development as one of its top priorities, and groups like y|GEN give young professionals a voice in that conversation, instead of just inheriting whatever decisions are made.

I went in expecting to learn about housing development and the future growth and changes coming to Chula Vista, and I did. But I found myself interested in how young professionals show up, ask questions, and find their place in rooms like this.

Bring a Solution, Not Just a Problem

One of the first things that stuck with me came from Alex Baracchini, who talked about the difference between walking into a conversation with a problem versus walking in with a possible solution. It's a small shift, but it changes everything about how a team receives you. Nobody loves being handed one more thing to fix. But when you show up having already thought it through, even if your solution isn't perfect, people notice. It signals that you're not just identifying issues, you're invested in solving them.

I think about how often, especially early in a career, it feels safer to just flag a problem and let someone more experienced figure out what to do with it. But there's real value in doing the thinking first, even if you're wrong. It shows initiative, and it invites collaboration instead of just handing someone extra work. It's the kind of advice that's easy to nod along to and harder to actually practice. I appreciated that Alex saw the value in saying it out loud to a room full of young professionals.

Curiosity Is a Skill, Not Just a Personality Trait

Angelica Davis spoke about curiosity and a genuine willingness to learn as being one of the most valuable things a young professional can bring to the table. That resonated with me. It's easy to think of curiosity as just something you either have or you don't, but that's not true. It's something you choose to practice, especially in rooms where you don't yet have the experience everyone else has.

That same idea came up again when the conversation turned to mentorship. Both Alex and Angelica talked about how valuable it is to have a mentor, even one who isn't in your exact field. There's always something to gain from someone else's experience, and there's something freeing about being able to ask questions of a mentor without the pressure that comes with asking your own boss. Even if you have the most understanding, amazing boss in the world, there can still be that underlying pull to prove yourself, to seem like you have it all figured out. With a mentor, you get to be curious without the fear of it costing you anything.

The Bigger Picture: Building More Than Buildings

Chula Vista's growth was also a big part of the conversation, including the projects and plans behind the region's next phase. A good portion of the panel focused on how that growth isn't just about adding housing, it's about building a lifestyle people really want. Angelica pointed out that ten years ago, something like the Gaylord Pacific Hotel didn't exist in the area, and now it's becoming part of what draws people there. With rent as high as it is, amenities and lifestyle additions like that matter more than ever. Alex added that in Otay Ranch specifically, developers are thinking not just about housing units, but about what people will actually do with the outdoor spaces and amenities surrounding them.

Mayor McCann added an interesting perspective here too: a lot of the negative perception people have about Chula Vista comes from people who've simply never been there. He mentioned that the people who do visit are often surprised by what they find, and that new draws like the Gaylord are helping shift that narrative and bring people down to see the area for is the great opportunities it can offer.

The Housing Affordability Conversation

But none of that growth means much if young professionals can't actually afford to be part of it. This is exactly where the conversation went next. Mayor McCann spoke candidly about how much fees and permitting costs contribute to the overall price of housing. When discussing possible ways to cut costs and make housing more affordable, he talked about using AI to help catch errors before submission, so projects get permitted correctly the first time instead of getting kicked back for revisions. Fewer delays mean lower costs in the long run. He also pointed to the reality that Sacramento adds more regulations every year, and San Diego has to absorb all of them, which keeps driving building costs up. If the state could slow that pace, or at least keep new regulations reasonable, it would go a long way toward helping affordability.

There was also a question asked directly about what young professionals should think about their odds of ever owning a home here. Alex's answer wasn't especially comforting, but it was honest: if you're planning to stay in San Diego, you'll likely need to stretch to make it work, and prices aren't going to get any lower while you wait. You may have to look at areas you hadn't originally pictured yourself in. Angelica shared that she had the same fear back in college, and what helped her get through it wasn't having all the answers herself, it was leaning on mentors, having humility, and having friends in finance who could point her in the right direction. She compared it to how they say raising a child takes a village, stating: "it really does take a village, and maybe it doesn't stop there."

Why This Matters for Young Professionals

I didn't walk away from this event with a clear answer on housing affordability, because there isn't one simple answer. But I did walk away with something else: a reminder that you don't need to already have expertise to be in rooms like this one. You just need curiosity, a willingness to learn, and enough courage to ask the question that's on your mind.

If you're a young professional in San Diego who cares about where this region is headed, groups like y|GEN exist so your voice is part of that conversation, not an afterthought to it. You don't have to wait until you feel ready. Show up, ask the honest question, and be present in the room to explore the answers.