I have known since Day One At Rock Spring that “affordable housing” was a great community concern for the members of Rock Spring; it has taken me eight months to begin to discover what that really means.
Since my arrival, I have been keeping my eyes and ears open for information about this issue. From individuals pointing out new developments to me to learning about the wide range of organizations in Arlington that are focused on this issue, it quickly became clear that that there is much focus on this issue. Yet it wasn’t until the first week of May that I began to realize what a challenging issue this is.
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| Bill Bozman, president of AHS |
That first week of May I attended “The State of Affordable Housing in Arlington” sponsored by the Alliance for Housing Solutions. I had known that Bill and Ellen Bozman had long been very involved with the community, but I had not realized until I got there that evening that Bill not only helped found AHS, he has been and continues to chair the AHS board for the past twenty years.
At that meeting, we heard reports from several different developers about projects that have been done and projects that are in the works. All sorts of development is in the works! There are efforts to “lock in” housing rates over a number of years which is also good. I heard Nina Janapaul from APAH talk about how they are working to lock in 6000 units around Columbia Pike so that the rental value will not go over 80% market index for something like 60 years. Sounds good.
As I drove home, I thought a little more about those numbers. The median income in Arlington is $104,000. Eighty percent of that about $80,000! Could that be right?
The next day I sat around the table with some VOICE leaders and suddenly it was like a light bulb went off and I started asking questions. How do we define “affordable?” Most of the developers define affordable as 60% of the medium income, $104,000. The starting salary for a teacher in Arlington County is $43,000. There is a five-year wait list for section 8 housing. I now understand that housing grants are available in Arlington but only if you have secured a lease and you make less than $30, 183 year.
Perhaps it has taken me so long to get my head around this issue because every time I have been hearing the term, “affordable housing” I thought about what affordable housing is in Columbus, Ohio (from where I have recently moved). Affordable housing in Columbus, Ohio provides an apartment for an 82 year old man with a monthly SSI check of $851. Affordable housing provides for those who really can’t provide for themselves. There is a whole other spectrum of housing available for teachers and firefighters, clerks and administrative assistants!
I think I have finally discovered why “affordable housing” was the number one issue Rock Springers indicated in the Search profile was a major community concern. My question now is: what are we going to do about it? Gathering together around the table for problem-solving is one step in the right direction.
Note: I talked about this issue in more depth during my May 8, 2011 sermon.
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