The Affordability Problem Of Washington State

Americans across the United States search for the perfect home, location and square footage of course a great price to pay for their castle. Finding an affordable place to live is ideal, and necessary for survival in this day of age. As the years go by the cost of living increases but Americans do not receive a cost of living raise. The demand for affordable housing is on a all time high, but so is the cost of housing in the metropolitan areas across the United States. America must take care of its citizens and should provide affordable housing programs, to assist Americans to either purchase or rent a home.

Many advocates and policymakers of housing for the poor believe that to achieve optimal human development of low-income households the location of the housing must be considered as well as the quality of the housing unit (Newman, 2008).

When the recession happened, and the housing market crashed in Los Angeles a few years back many people lost their homes. The foreclosure crisis displaced many homeowners, drove up demand, and rental prices increased. Now, it is almost two years later, and the dramatic rent increases continue to soar. There would be no issue with cost of living increase except; the increases in income have yet to make the same shifts. “In many cities, rent is rising out reach of

The Lack of Affordable Housing in California Lowers the Quality of Life for its Residents

What is known about the dearth of inexpensive living spaces in high-cost, heavy populated areas is its scarcity is a function of supply. Demand remains a non-issue for policy makers as demand has

One of the causes of homelessness in Baltimore City is lack of affordable housing, this includes subsidized housing from the state. Lack of affordable housing in Baltimore City is due to an increase luxury housing and Baltimore’s decrease desire for rental housing (Mayor’s Office of Human Services, 2013). Available housing is not proportional to the wages of people living in Baltimore City. Nearly half of renters in Baltimore spend 35% of their income or more on their rent. The waiting list for Baltimore City opened in 2014 and 74,000 households applied for 25,000 available slots for up to six years to own a voucher (“Homelessness in Baltimore,” 2017). For the extremely poor population there are only 42 available homes for over 100 people who identify with the population (Public Justice Center, 2015). Therefore, Baltimore needs to make affordable housing for their population or there should be an increase in jobs and wages. However, the private sector is not interested in developing houses for the low-income population because it is not profitable compared to selling a building to a company to make luxury housing (Richman, 2015).

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that housing is a fundamental component to a decent standard of living, yet few city governments--even in the most developed economies--have proven themselves capable of ensuring such a basic right to their constituents (United Nations, General Assembly). Ranked 49th among the 50 U.S. states for its number of housing units per capita, California has notoriously struggled with chronic shortages in its urban housing market. With 118,142 homeless people recorded in 2016, California holds almost 22% of the nation’s homeless population (Fact Sheet: Homelessness in California 1).

Washington has the nation’s highest minimum wage at $9.19 per hour. Seattle is set to raise the minimum wage even further, to $15 per hour. More than fifteen millions people work for a minimum wage, which lead to about

The mean yearly pay of a breadwinner in Bellingham is $37,990, which is beneath the Washington State normal of $44,710. Benefit situated occupations now constitute no less than 77% of all non-agrarian work in Whatcom County. In the vicinity of 1989 and 1999 middle family pay grew 41% in Whatcom County while lodging costs grew 108% over a similar period. In every year 1998–2000 the normal wage in Whatcom County was insufficient to bear the cost of a two-room rental unit. For the year 2005, the middle cost of all homes sold in Whatcom County was $259,000 while the middle cost of homes sold in the Bellingham range was $269,000.This contrasts and an extensive middle home cost of

While California enjoys a booming tech industry, surging tax revenues, decreasing unemployment and overall wage increases, some residents of the state are struggling. They are struggling to find affordable housing. When factors such as cost of living are considered, California has the highest poverty rate in the nation. Evidence of this can be seen by an increase in residents living in RV’s and vans in some of the larger cities. Even some high wage workers are unable to live in the cities in which they work and have to commute hours each day. The lack of affordable housing in the state is at disastrous levels.

How many houses would it take to help put a decent dent in the Washington DC affordable housing crisis. It would take 1,000 houses to help the Washington DC affordable housing crisis. That mean you would have to build 125 houses in the eight wards to even put a dent in the Washington DC affordable housing crisis. The problem is that housing cots a great deal of money. Middle class and lower class can barely afford food and clothes also on top that having to find affordable housing. In result, low-class and middle class face a high risk of being evicted and move often or even become homeless. There are only 39 homeless shelter in the DC area with a population of 672,228. Most families spend about $ 150 less per month on groceries because they

Multiple reasons exist for the the lack of affordable housing. On the demand side these include population growth and increased migration to urban areas, easily accessible housing finance, tax incentives and a “strong cultural preference for owner-occupied detached houses”. On the supply side, affordability problems are exacerbated by inflexible and slow responses to the need for new housing stock, lack of infrastructure and generally inefficient planning processes and development assessment by local governments.

The social problem being discussed in this section of the community study is affordable housing crisis experience by community residents. Housing affordability can be defined as where the occupant is paying less than 30% of their income on the cost of housing (Hud.gov, 2015). US Census measures housing data by the size, age and type of housing. This include renters and owner occupied housing. When looking at housing affordability one must also consider the financial characteristic of the housing industry. These characteristics include value, cost utility, real estate taxes, rent and rent mortgages. A review of the US Census data states the following regarding an analysis of 27,164 occupied housing units in zip code 11203. In zip code 11203:

The lack of affordable housing in the United States is a problem that doesn 't receive nearly the attention that it necessitates. This absence of affordable housing became especially prevalent following World War II when suburbanization spread across the country like wildfire. Although the sheer number of homes increased, Jim Crow segregation influenced housing policy, meaning that white institutions prevented blacks from obtaining the mortgages needed to afford such homes. Therefore, rather than accept subprime loans, which often result in foreclosure, many black people have been pigeonholed into paying exorbitant rates for dilapidated rental properties located in inner-cities, thereby creating the affordable housing problem. Although the situation seems bleak, with careful planning and execution, we can solve the affordable housing problem. Specifically, my proposal involves the following two components: the government must first revise and draft three forms of legislation that create strict yet concise standards that landlords must follow, and then allocate federal funding to health and wellness programs within poor communities. By examining the contributing societal factors to the lack of affordable housing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then implementing the proposal mentioned above, one could potentially solve the affordable housing problem there and transpose the plan to other impoverished cities across the country.

Affordable housing is where it all begins, it is important to have affordable housing in nicer neighborhoods, like McKinney in