September 2018 Archives
EDITORIALS
Editorial: Rising costs should force action on housing affordability
September 30, 2018 | Palm Beach Post
All is not sunshine and beaches with the Florida economy. At least not when it comes to housing affordability.
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OUR VIEW: Floridians face housing crunch
September 29, 2018 | The Daytona Beach News-Journal
The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently released its 2018 state of workforce housing report, and it’s no surprise that overall the gap between wages and rental housing is widening.
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Editorial: Housing costs outpace wages
September 26, 2018 | Gainesville Sun
The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently released its 2018 state of workforce housing report, and it’s no surprise that overall the gap between wages and rental housing is widening. The report is based on what it calls a “Housing Wage.” It’s the hourly wage a full-time worker requires to earn to afford a rental home. The equation is based on the premise that the worker spends no more than 30 percent of his or her income on rent and utilities.
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Editorial: Lakeland should continue the discussion of downtown homelessness
September 16, 2018 | News Chief
Seemingly leading with his heart, Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz is advocating more action by the city to address the intractable problem of downtown homelessness. It’s an issue he understands first-hand.
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RECORD EDITORIAL: The chasm between a living wage and living
September 15, 2018 | The St. Augustine Record
The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently released its 2018 “state of workforce housing” report and it’s no surprise that overall the gap between wages and rental housing is widening.
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THUMBS & QUOTES
September 14, 2018 | The St. Augustine Record
THUMBS … DOWN: For rising residential impact fees, which are making construction of workforce housing nearly impossible in St. Johns County. Neighboring counties have residential impact fee rates of as much as 60 percent less than St. Johns. Here there’s as much as a $12,000 fee for a modest two–bedroom, home or apartment. While residential rates skyrocket here, commercial rate and concurrency requirements have been slashed.
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Editorial: A living wage, a living reality
September 14, 2018 | Ocala StarBanner
The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently released its 2018 “state of workforce housing” report, and it’s no surprise that overall the gap between wages and rental housing is widening.
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NEWS ARTICLES
Homeownership shows flip side to Gov. Scott’s economy
September 22, 2018 | Daily Commercial
TALLAHASSEE — While Gov. Rick Scott campaigns on the strength of Florida’s economy, there is no mention of a bleak milestone the state just reached — a record low homeownership rate. From the soaring pre-recession days, when easy credit pushed housing numbers to new highs, the percentage of Florida households owning homes has now plunged to its worst level ever seen, with data going back more than three decades.
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Puerto Rican community remembers Hurricane María victims at Orlando vigil
September 21, 2018 | Orlando Weekly
A year ago, Jarlier Figueroa Sevilla remembers looking up at the calm sky from his home in Manatí, Puerto Rico as the eye of Hurricane María passed over his home. “It was so peaceful,” he recalls in Spanish. “Just before, I had seen roofs fly. I had seen my son’s face, terrorized before the storm.”
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Polk Commissioner George Lindsey criticizes legislators for raiding affordable housing trust
September 18, 2018 | News Chief
From his seat in the County Commission’s chambers Tuesday, George Lindsey urged state lawmakers to stop raiding the affordable housing trust fund to balance the budget.
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FEMA Won’t Foot the Hotel Bill for Hurricane Maria Evacuees Any Longer
September 14, 2018 | WFME
Freddie Agrait entered into the Ramada Inn in Kissimmee before the rest of the team of case managers from the Hispanic Federation of Florida. A Hurricane Maria evacuee and tech start-up owner, Agrait transformed the motel’s sparse activity room into a pop-up center for housing and cash resources. Over 60 families from Puerto Rico have been living in the Ramada Inn and in neighboring hotels on the outskirts of Central Florida’s tourist industry.
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