With housing construction in Paso Robles in a free-fall, the city’s growing populace may soon have to look elsewhere for a place to call home.

Residential building permits have come to a virtual standstill. And although the population is still growing at 1 percent annually, the days when Paso Robles dreamed of surpassing San Luis Obispo in numbers have long passed.

“The depth and rapidity of the housing permit decline has been breathtaking,” said Bill Watkins, associate professor of economics and executive director of California Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting. Watkins was the keynote speaker at the Paso Robles Economic Forecast held in early June.

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