A new report concludes: The Charlottesville area has a shortfall of affordable housing, low-wage workers have a difficult time finding affordable rentals, a lot of people commute to work in Charlottesville and Albemarle, and college students drive up rental prices.
Pretty obvious stuff for any working person who’s tried to find housing recently in the area. But the data behind these findings bring much needed quantification to a topic that has often relied on anecdote and speculation when brought before public boards and commissions.
In the report, compiled by the Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech (www.vchr.vt.edu), the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission makes a number of recommendations—many are already underway in the area, such as encouraging more mixed-use development and creating down-payment assistance programs.
“We knew the problem existed, but inevitably the discussion came up, what is affordable housing?” says George Krieger, executive director for the Nelson County Community Development Foundation. “Then the main point of the discussion was lost as you pursued a definition.
“Getting the market to go along with what we perceive as the problem is essentially I think going to be the solution to the problem, but that’s one that people are struggling with all over the United States.”
AFFORDABILITY WOES
Some findings and projections from “The State of Housing Report,” issued by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. The report examines the housing situation in Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Nelson and Louisa.
—The Top Five occupations for the Charlottesville area earn less than $25,000 a year.
—The poverty rate in the Charlottesville area increased by 16 percent between 2000 and 2005.
—Approximately 70 percent of UVA students live off campus.
UVA students occupy 53 percent of the rental stock.
—For those earning 50 percent or less of area median income ($28,500 in 2005), the affordable rental market is deficient by 4,182 units.
—A net total of 4,746 people commute to work in Albemarle, while 14,379 commute into Charlottesville.
