Increase in homelessness: affordable housing and jobs

Local, Norfolk 1 Minute

The lastest report on homelessness in Norfolk indicates that the numbers are going up instead of down. One big reason? Lack of affordable housing:

…some of the region’s most affordable offerings – public housing, mobile home parks, and older homes in traditionally low-income areas – are being replaced with more expensive developments…
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“But we keep running up against the same things: we need more affordable housing and better incomes. Until we get that, we will still have homelessness.”

Yesterday, Governor Tim Kaine signed a bill that formalizes an Arlington County initiative to provide affordable housing. From the Governor’s news release:

Governor Kaine also signed Senate Bill 273 (Whipple), which ensures Arlington County’s authority to implement a community compromise on affordable housing. Late last year, the Arlington Affordable Housing Roundtable – comprised of county leaders, housing advocates, members of the business community, and other stakeholders – unanimously approved a compromise plan in which developers partner with Arlington to preserve and create affordable housing throughout the County.

Will we wait until there is no more affordable housing at all in Norfolk before doing something about it?

“It’s housing, housing, housing, but most of us in the room don’t have the power to make that change,” said Trish Manthey , executive director of The Dwelling Place, an emergency shelter for homeless families.

Wringing our hands and bemoaning the demise of housing isn’t going to cut it. Let’s follow the lead of Arlington and get something done.

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2 thoughts on “Increase in homelessness: affordable housing and jobs”

  1. No surprise here. Trailer parks are closed and replaced with condos. Apartments and long term hotels are bulldozed in Ocean View and are then replaced with McMansions, or the apartments are converted into condos, all in the name of “crime prevention”. Low income housing developments are bulldozed and are turned into new single-family subdivisions. No new low-income housing or trailer parks or apartments are even being planned to replace the old units. The downtown housing being built is EXCLUSIVELY high priced condos. Property taxes are going through the roof, with zero support for low income homeowners.

    Simply put, the land owners who can make record profits by booting out renters and converting their properties into condos want the poor to just go away, and move to Chesapeake or Portmouth. The Norfolk councilmen give lip service to the poor but only see dollar signs in the increased property taxes that McMansions or condos can produce.

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