The price of real estate in California has risen so high, reports the Los Angeles Times, that housing perks once reserved for senior executives are now becoming more routine for mid-level employees. That’s the only way that employers can attract the workers they need when the median home price in the region hit $480,000 in February, up 13 percent from the previous year.

And the other big issue for police, firefighters and healthcare workers is that they are needed close to their work. The traditional solution to affordability - the long commute from the Simi Valley - is not viable in an emergency. “We want police living in the city because if there’s an earthquake or fire or flood, we don’t want them commuting 60 miles or more from Lancaster and being stuck in traffic,” a spokesman for Councilman Greig Smith tells the paper.

Most of the schemes involve low-cost loans from $25,000 to $50,000 to subsidize buyers but hospitals and universities are also offering rentals and land leases to keep housing for employees below the market value. They’re all creative solutions that the employees appreciate and say made the difference in hiring and retaining them.

Of course, all of this is the price of doing business in California. And the employers wouldn’t be doing it if it weren’t worth it. They’re not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. As a Korn/Ferry executive tells the paper: “There’s incredible opportunity in the Golden State but there’s a price to be paid for paradise.”

And that’s an issue we’re facing now whether we like it or not. The only people who think we’re still affordable are people bringing a large amount of equity from really high-priced markets like California or New York.