Diego Villegas had no illusions that leaving Mexico City to pursue a graduate degree at University of California-Berkeley would be easy. But he was unprepared for the harsh reality of finding safe and affordable housing in a college town struggling to accommodate its growing student population.
After a faulty air conditioner set fire to his first rental, Villegas slept on couches for months while frantically searching for a new place to live. The school helped by getting him into scarcely available student housing, but he could barely afford the cramped studio apartment. He’s since moved to a shared house in Oakland where the $1,000 monthly rent is over three-quarters what he earns grading papers for university classes.
“It has not been, as they say in Mexico, through a path of flowers,” Villegas said. “It’s been through a path of pain and stress and lots of economic uncertainty.”
