Keeping Affordable Multifamily Housing

In Iowa City affordable housing is typically discussed in terms of public safety officers and teachers, but the most at risk group of people are those hovering on the edges of poverty. Before homeownership is an option, they need affordable rental housing/transitional housing. But since the late 1980's, there has been a "war on poverty" of a different feather:

u- Nationally, housing prices increased over 20% over past 7 years; wages increased 2% in real terms.

u- More than ½ of our nation’s carpenters, kindergarten teachers, groundskeepers, retail clerks, and other service workers pay more than half of their income for rent, the HUD standard for housing is 30% of your income.

u- The number of apartments affordable to those who earn less than $16,000/yr. fell by 13% or 1.2 million between 1993 and 2003.

u- We lose hundreds of thousands of affordable apartments per year. 300,000 apartments (15% of the total) has been lost nationwide to the affordable housing inventory dedicated to serving poor people since 1995

- According to the National Housing trust, more than 2,500 affordable apartments have been lost from Iowa’s affordable housing inventory between 1995-2003.

At the Iowa City Public Library on 4/24 from 7 to 8:30 pm, Michael Bodaken, president of the National Housing Trust and an expert in the area of affordable multifamily housing will be discussing "Affordable Multifamily Housing: Exploring Solutions". There will be a Question and Answer period after the presentation.

The event is sponsored by FAIR and the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County. It is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.