What does “affordable” housing mean?
According to data from affordablehousingelpasoco.org, 32% (82,235 households) are “cost burdened” with the price of housing, meaning they’re paying more than 30% of income on rent or a mortgage.
The problem predictably gets worse as people make less money, with 85% of extremely low income (less than $25,100) cost-burdened. Sixty-four percent of those households pay over half of their income in housing.
Fifty-six percent of low income ($25,101-$46,620 in household income) households are cost-burdened, with 13% of them paying over half their rent.
“That means they have no flex in their budget for an emergency,” Stegner said. “When they’re paying so much of their income just to be housed, it’s not sustainable for a family to be able to do that.”
Stegner sees the affordability and accessibility of housing as an existential threat to the city, if prices keep climbing at the current rate.
“When corporations look at moving their company to Colorado Springs, they’re going to look at what the housing stock is, what our housing rates are and can they pay their workers enough to live here. So, it’s crucial for the health of our community that we keep an eye on this,” she said.
To read the full article by Brendan Thompson at Fox News, visit here: https://www.fox21news.com/news/in-wake-of-attainable-apartment-project-what-does-affordable-housing-mean/
