CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Once again, Wausau is showing that it’s less than serious about affordable housing.
What we consider “affordable”, isn’t. Affordable housing units are still much too expensive for many people.
Consider a small project on Wausau’s west side. What had once been a parking lot is being turned into a small six-unit apartment complex. This project is being built in my neighborhood. When the construction is finished, these will be nice places to live – near Marathon Park, schools, and within walking distance of shopping.
All six of the units will be priced as affordable housing for at least the next decade.
To qualify for a one-bedroom unit, a family can have income of no more than $36,000 a year. Rent; $800. For a three-bedroom unit, a family’s income must be below $50,000. The rent would be $1,500 a month.
Both of the “affordable” rents are more than what I pay for the mortgage on my house a few blocks away. And I own the place. The renters own nothing.
And here’s the shame of making affordable housing unaffordable. The family that rents the three-bedroom apartment could own a home of their own. A $1,5000 mortgage payment is what it costs to buy a $250,000 home. A home at that price point is probably a newer, nicer place with a garage, a yard, and a white picket fence. The problem is the family needs to come up with a downpayment, about $50,000.
Even if they could save $5,000 a year, that’s about $200 out of every paycheck for a decade, the dream of homeownership would still be a long ways off. And that assumes no financial emergencies, no illness, no job loss.
The working poor will never get there if the affordable housing we offer them is unaffordable.
We’re still not serious about solving this problem.
Chris Conley
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