Advocating for Housing Affordability in Ann Arbor
Advocating for Housing Affordability in Ann Arbor
Advocating for Housing Affordability in Ann Arbor
Program: Dow Sustainability Fellows Program
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Image by Tom Rumble of Unsplash
(Dow Fellows Program 2016)
Washtenaw County’s housing market is becoming increasingly unaffordable for both owners and renters. According to a 2014 Needs Assessment Report funded by the Office of Community and Economic Development (OCED), housing costs in Washtenaw County are on the rise and are expected to continue to increase and outpace income gains, making affordability a significant challenge for the county. The result, according to the report, will be “a county decreasingly affordable and out of balance and, eventually, unsustainable.”1 In response to the 2014 county report, in early 2015 Ann Arbor City Council adopted 20 year affordable housing (AH) goals, voicing their commitment to working with partners to create nearly 2,800 new affordably priced rental units in the city by 2035.