Blog Post 3
This last blog post was dedicated to describing how rapidly cities and small towns have been growing. North Carolina and other states need to find a way to deal with the problem of a community growing rapidly and faster than they can keep up. Whenever a city or town experiences rapid growth, it becomes hard for the residents of that community to find an affordable place to live. Problem is that Wilmington, North Carolina, and many other places are having issues with affordable housing.
A community like Wilmington, North Carolina, is experiencing rapid growth. With newly developed parts of the land being built on, newly built schools, redeveloping neighborhoods, and other industries it is nearly impossible to keep the prices down for people to move into that community. Wilmington is dealing with issues in the housing market, the global pandemic, and several hurricanes that are affecting housing prices. This crisis is growing each day and something needs to be done before it gets out of control. Cape Fear Housing Coalition chair Katrina Knight states “This issue doesn’t just affect the very lowest economic residents, it increasingly affects more and more of our middle-class and in some ways, it affects all of us when people can no longer afford to live in the communities where they work, and that’s teachers, firefighters, our service sector employees.” The housing market is booming and other costs for housing have made it out of reach for some middle-class workers and challenging for people to live close to things they love and work
There is another problem that occurs because of this issue, and that is a decrease in individuals that are self-sufficient and keep their heads above water. It is extremely difficult to pay rent or mortgage because people are not self-sufficient. People in larger households or situations with limited housing resources have a hard time providing for themselves and ensuring they have a roof over their heads. The housing component is the largest component of income for many people. For some people, housing is not what they want to be focused on if they have a family to feed and keep a happy and healthy lifestyle.
There was a meeting held for the community of Wilmington to find some solutions to solve the affordable housing crisis. Some solutions and ways the companies are helping are keeping the gap of funding from private and non-profit companies to keep and open up new units to help keep the houses affordable in the community. “About $100 million, in terms of what our focus should be, in a commitment this year of how we are finally going to move beyond discussion, move beyond throwing our hands up over the seriousness of this issue and once and for all decide we have the political will, the stomach and the commitment to do something about it,” said Knight. The action plan is taking the crisis head on and wanting the issue to go away. A housing bond is being created to help the problem in a small way but, showing the community that steps are being taken by authorities to keep affordable housing in the picture. Another solution that has been brought to the table is more investment in housing in the community. Make sure that taxes are not going up to cause another crisis in the community.
From a personal experience, It was hard for us to move here and keep our house affordable when building. Prices were going up each day and it was hard for us to find a neighborhood that would fit my family’s price range and be in a location that we were happy with. We moved here at the start of the crisis, so I can only imagine what the problems are now for new families wanting to come into the community. So from personal experience that my family went through, I feel and want the solutions to this crisis to be found.
Overall, Communities need new changes that could be anywhere from new buildings, to new routes, to new neighborhoods to have the community thrive. The affordable housing crisis is a big problem in Wilmington, North Carolina, and in other communities that hinder the thriving of expanding the community. Make sure citizens of the community are at ease living every day so that they will be able to keep a roof over their heads or their family's heads. With the call to action meeting that authorities had, solutions are being implemented and trying to find all new ways to keep this flourishing community able to have new members join.
Sources:
https://www.wilmingtonbiz.com/real_estate_-_residential/2022/02/18/at_affordable_housing_event_leaders_call_for_action/22892