July 2018 Housing Update
Hope you are enjoying those first days of summer! Here is the Homes Update for July 2018.
- How much do you have to earn to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Minnesota? Do you think it’s $8 per hour? Nope. How about $10? $12? Not even close.
The answer is $18.22 an hour. Can someone working for minimum wage (which in Minnesota is $9.65 per hour) afford that? Hardly. That’s the sobering reminder from a recent report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition: there is no place in the United States where the minimum wage can pay for a 2-bedroom apartment at market rates. The Route 50 blog speaks to the head of the NLIHC, who gives some solutions that could make housing more affordable for low-income Americans.
- Another study from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies shows the loss in affordable housing in recent years. Homeownership among millennials is lower than previous generations and those paying rent are cost-burdened, paying more than the recommended 30 percent of household income toward housing. The Huff Post and Slate have great summaries of the Harvard Report.
- Local affordable housing developer, Aeon, purchased the Provinces, a 118 apartment complex in Little Canada. This is good news to the nearly 300 people who live there, but the shortage of affordable housing still remains.
- Speaking at a recent forum, Minnesota Housing Commissioner Mary Tingerthal suggested using nearly-vacant strip malls for affordable housing projects.
- James Garrett believes low income housing should be aspirational – reflecting the people who live there. Garrett is the founder of 4RM+ULA, a St. Paul-based architecture firm, one of only a handful of architecture firms led by an African American. 4RM+ULA is involved with Beacon’s Great River Landing as well as other projects, such as the St. Paul’s Farmers Market. Learn more about Garrett and 4RM+ULA.
- YouthLink and Project for Pride in Living came together to provide needed youth and young adult housing in downtown Minneapolis. Called Downtown View, it will provide youth with stable housing and needed support services.
- Across the nation, communities are struggling with how to best pay for much-needed affordable housing. One approach was recently tried in Seattle. CityLab explains the rise and fall of Seattle’s take on funding affordable housing.
- CityLab reports that instead of finding ways to house and shelter people experiencing homelessness, more and more cities in the United States are criminalizing homelessness.
- Finally, we look at supportive housing. CityLab writes about the Sundowner Motel in Albuquerque, New Mexico, famous for being the temporary home of Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen as they tried to get a business off the ground in the 1970s. Over the years, the Sundowner declined and finally was shuttered in 2009. In 2013, the Sundowner was reborn when a local non-profit developer purchased the old motel and transformed it into a 71 room apartment complex with supportive services. The article talks about a trend taking place in the Southwestern United States where closed hotels are being renovated for supportive housing.
That’s the Homes Update for July. See you next month.
