An update on the housing crisis

Are we really short on housing?

Nov 3, 2022

At this moment in time, per Zillow, there are 76 homes for sale $500,000 and under in Eden Prairie. 28 of those are $300,000 and under. So the majority of houses for sale in EP under $500k are between $300 - $500k. There are 65 homes for sale over $500,000.

There are almost as many homes over $500,000 as there are under. Wow. When I was looking for my first home in 1997, I thought $150,000 was a lot of money. The median home cost about $149k according to HUD.

Also according to Zillow, there are 27 one bedroom apartments for rent under $1400 a month. 3 bedrooms seem to be renting for $1700 - 2000 a month. And that’s just the ones they list. When I was renting, I would ask about a listing online and behind that listing was at least 3 other rentals that were available if not more. All the apartment complexes in Eden Prairie have availability.

This housing crisis interests me. I don’t think it’s one of availability. It is one of jacked up housing costs. I know several young people age 30 and under that are going hungry before they get their next pay check because of the rental rates going sky high. If you make $17/hr and work a full-time job with benefits you are making $34,000 a year. If housing is $1300 a month, that’s almost half that person’s salary for the year. The best option is to split a 2 or 3 bedroom and room with someone - which is a challenge all in it’s own. Even then, the rent is still so high that people on the lower end of the pay scale can’t get ahead. With rent vouchers from Hennepin County, a person or small family could make this situation doable.

Then you have couples or young families that may not have built up their credit or savings to buy a home, they can combine income and afford a little more. This cycle has been going for decades now and something has to give.

If the Federal Government is offering affordable housing grants, why are so many people struggling? Who is struggling to make ends meet - what is the demographic?

If there are programs to help people, why do the people not know how to access them or why aren’t they using them?

Someone told me I wouldn’t be a good mayor because I ask too many questions and don’t have answers. Well, that’s why I want to be mayor. To get access to things to help people get these answers. Programs to help people shouldn't be so hard to find.

Hennepin County offers a program you can apply to for rent vouchers. I heard the waiting list is 2 years out. How can people access more HRA funding? It’s out there. Eden Prairie has their own Housing and Community Services staff. Here’s a report on the demographics of the peopled helped in 2020. I’d like to see a report for 2021. And why are there so little hispanic people being helped? Do they not know about the program? Are East Indian people included in the Asian demographic, because they aren’t listed either. And why so little Asian population using the program? Again lots of questions. I may have to do a data request to find out more details and when I do I will post them here.

I do think certain people are very pride-minded and may not want to ask for help. How do you reach people with that mindset in order to help them? There are many people working more than one job to make ends meet instead of asking for funding, this I know first hand. And I do not think this is a bad thing - but people shouldn’t HAVE to work more than one job and they shouldn’t be in a position at all of even needing assistance. But this is where we are at today. I think one answer is to put a cap on rent for sure. Certain cities surrounding us have done this, and I think we could really drive a competitive market if we didn’t allow these building owners to get carried away with their rentals costs.

PROP is another great source for people in need. People Reaching Out to other People. It is a food depository where people can shop and get basic foods items along with a lot of other things for free. They have a great thrift shop where you can find reasonable and very nice clothing. I’m a HUGE advocate for reusing clothing, handbags, shoes and more. Almost all my clothing is recycled and repurposed along with my handbags. Very rarely do I buy new. I do buy certain shoes new, but my boots and fashion shoes I buy used as well. There are lots of stores that recycle these items for resale and if you dig just a little you can find some real gems.

The issue to delve into isn’t getting more housing built, it is getting the pricing down so people can buy groceries and all their money isn’t going towards housing. But that’s the goal right? To keep people ON government programs. It makes them much easier to keep under control. Let that sink in.

Getting people help for temporary lapses is important. We should not be making it a lifestyle. When I was in college studying social work, my teacher was a Cuban immigrant. She was building programs in Florida that were meant to be temporary. It was triage for the financially challenged and then she was building it so people could step off in increments - not be totally cut off once they make a certain amount of money at their job. That’s what Minnesota does and always has since I’ve been here. They hand out checks but have no programs to help people get back on their feet. They just keep people on the programs forever keeping them dependent on the government for everything.

Seems defeating doesn’t it? Welfare.

wel·fare

/ˈwelˌfer/

noun

the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group.
"they don't give a damn about the welfare of their families"
Similar: well-being, health, good health, happiness, comfort, security, safety, protection, prosperity, profit, good, success, fortune, good fortune, advantage, interest, prosperousness, successfulness. Opposite: hardship
- statutory procedure or social effort designed to promote the basic physical and material well-being of people in need.
  "the protection of rights to education, housing, and welfare"
- NORTH AMERICAN
  financial support given to people in need.

Why is it the NORTH AMERICAN definition only that seems to be the one that keeps people dependent? Welfare in all other terms is a positive word. But it’s come to have a negative connotation because of the stigma of having to ask for help. This needs to change. We need a change in how we help people. People don’t need hand OUTS, they need a hand UP. Help someone up out of their troubles so they can stand on their own. Handouts just perpetuate the problems. There may be some people that are fine with getting handouts. That’s ok. But for most, people want a sense of purpose and want to be self-reliant.

The etymology of ‘welfare’:

welfare (n.)

c. 1300, from Old English wel faran "condition of being or doing well," from wel (see well (adv.)) + faran "get along" (see fare (v.)). Similar formation in Old Norse velferð. Meaning "social concern for the well-being of children, the unemployed, etc." is first attested 1904; meaning "organized effort to provide for maintenance of members of a group" is from 1918. Welfare state is recorded from 1941.

Learning where words come from really help you see the intent behind them. Let’s stop being a welfare state, and start being a state of well being. Welfare state is basically saying it’s good enough. Let’s get people thriving, not just barely surviving.