It’s getting expensive to live in Charlotte and the city’s most vulnerable residents, including working families, are having a hard time finding safe, affordable housing in the Queen City because rents and home prices continue to increase faster than wages.
“Charlotte must improve the quality of affordable, workforce housing, and address the economically and racially segregated housing patterns that deepen these inequities,” said Fulton Meachem, CEO of the Charlotte Housing Authority.
October is Housing America Month, a national campaign launched by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officers (NAHRO) to raise awareness of the need for and importance of safe, quality, affordable housing.
According to the Charlotte – Mecklenburg Planning Commission, 1 in 3 households in Charlotte now pay more than 30% of income on housing costs (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission) and 34,000 affordable housing units needed in Charlotte, per recent HUD estimates
The Charlotte Housing Authority recently built an affordable senior living complex called The Landing at Park Road and has several additional projects in the pipeline, but the organization believes it will take a dedicated community-wide effort to tackle this issue on the local level.
“Our city is facing a housing crisis and our organization is committed to doing our part, but this is a big problem that require big ideas and collaboration between government ad the private sector to solve.”