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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] We Can’t Afford to Live Here
  • Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 08:05:57 -0700


2 articles

http://naturalbuilder.org/afford.html
POSTED DECEMBER 11, 2003
We Can’t Afford to Live Here
By Kathleen McFadden

Watauga County has a shortage of affordable housing Jerry Moretz told the
Watauga Board of Commissioners on Monday. Moretz, representing the Watauga
County Affordable Housing Task Force, presented the results of a housing
survey conducted in April 2003 with the employees of 14 major Watauga County
employers. May through September were devoted to tabulation and analysis of
the results, with the final report delivered in December.
The overall results — based on 1,539 responses out of a total distribution of
6,010 surveys — provide statistical confirmation of what everybody already
knows, as the following conclusions from the report show:
• An affordable housing problem does exist in Watauga County.
• This problem impacts both home renters and homeowners and it crosses income
levels.
• The nexus of wages and housing costs is an issue of concern to many
respondents.
• The affordable housing problem is complex and consists of many issues that
are both persistent and beyond the ability of most individuals to address
without external policy intervention.
Moretz told the commissioners that 82 percent of the survey respondents live
in Watauga County and that 80 percent of the respondents are homeowners.
Homeowners identified the top three most important issues affecting their
choice of housing location as the price of housing, cost of land and
proximity to the workplace. However, because 80 of the respondents to the
survey already own their homes, the survey does not provide a focused picture
of the factors preventing renters from becoming homeowners, a deficiency that
Commissioner Keith Honeycutt addressed during the discussion period.
Honeycutt said that he would be interested in obtaining a more complete
statistical picture of the reasons why local renters — excluding the
university student population — are not purchasing homes in the county.
“Those are the ones we need to target,” Honeycutt said. Commissioner Allen
Trivette suggested scheduling a joint meeting between the board of
commissioners and the task force to more fully discuss the issues and “make
sure we’re on the same page.” Moretz said he would relay Trivette’s
suggestion to the other task force members.
Moretz also called the commissioners’ attention to the compilation of
comments in the report’s appendixes, with multiple respondents pointing out
that if they had not inherited land and homes or bought their property more
than a decade ago, they would not be able to afford to live in the county.
Several comments from respondents who identify themselves as teachers and
working professionals point out that they rent because they cannot find homes
that they can afford, even on two incomes.
The comments of one respondent are representative of many similar sentiments
among homeowners: “I don’t feel this survey adequately addressed the high
cost housing problem. Yes, we live in Watauga County, but we can only afford
a very small home because of the cost. For the same money in Ashe or Wilkes,
we could have a much more adequate home. My husband and I are both
professionals, but with 3 children, we have to choose a low-end residence.”
On the renters’ side, this comment is representative of several others: “I
would prefer to own my home rather than rent. The price of owning in this
county (Watauga) is too expensive for us at this time. This is sad to say
since my spouse and I are both working professionals.”
Moretz said that the survey report indicates that the affordable housing
problem is “a little deeper than we thought,” but admitted that the report
“does nothing” to address the problem. However, he pointed to the recently
approved Carefree Properties development that will include a mix of housing
types (where the prices of condos and “affordable single-family homes” are
anticipated to range from $120,000 to $200,000) and to the townhomes being
constructed across from Green Valley School as promising indicators that
developers are becoming interested in the affordable housing market
potential. However, Moretz suggested that “it takes a governmental-private
partnership to make this work.”


The following is the letter that I wrote as a follow-up
Posted December 25, 2003
The article on affordable housing in the December 11th edition pointed out a
lot of issues that make it difficult for the average person to find housing.
Some of what was not addressed wouldn't normally be considered as answers to
the problems that face residents of the High Country. Consider these
suggestions;

*
Build a home only as big as you need. Few people rarely need more than
1500 square feet!
*
Build mortgage free by building only what you can pay for out of normal
income.
*
Build your home a little at a time by building only the space you need
to live in and then plan to add more space as time and money allow.
*
Build naturally (cob, strawbale, cordwood etc.) using the materials
found on site (clay, rock and timber) and plan to be an owner-builder.

Building alternatively will still incur costs. You will likely need an
engineer or architect to help with the plans so that a building inspector
will allow your building to proceed. Other costs are fairly standard
(electric, plumbing) but even there you have options worth exploring.
Finding affordable housing in the High Country can be difficult. As a caring
community, we need to start looking for affordable and environmentally
sustainable options. We cannot wait for the government to provide subsidies
which may never come. We need to take charge of our own living environments
and our own well-being.
Phil Hawn
President
The North Carolina Natural Building Coalition




  • [Livingontheland] We Can’t Afford to Live Here, Tradingpost, 02/06/2004

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