Hello, my name is Tony Bonitati, and I'm a half back. To all my Carolinians, I'm sorry. Please forgive me and my wife, born in Connecticut and Boston respectfully. Between 1995 and 2006 we lived in Orlando, Florida before moving "half way" back to the Northeast; landing in the Carolinas. Hence the term half back. Don't get me wrong we loved Orlando. With it's homogeneous look and feel, and the home of a famous mouse, Orlando was a great place to live. We even enjoyed going to Sea World every once and while, back when people still went to fish prisons. After a while we just missed things like Fall foliage, hills, and brick buildings. I've recently read an article that central Florida had the most severe affordable housing crisis in the nation, wow. I would have never guessed it, given the mess we have in California.
But according to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition listing the least affordable places to live, Orlando tops the list? "The report shows the Orlando, Kissimmee and Sanford regions at the top of the list, just above Las Vegas and the Los Angeles metro area. The report says Central Florida only has about 13 affordable units per 100 families who need them."
"Shelley Lauten said although it's great we have such a growing economy, wages have not kept pace with the cost of living."For people who make $30,000 or less here in Central Florida, we need around 115,000 units of housing just to break even," Lauten said."
[The full story here: https://www.wftv.com/news/local/central-florida-has-most-severe-affordable-housing-crisis-in-nation-report-says/931087814]
When you dig deeper, it's not housing prices per se, it's wages not keeping pace. Also, it is about the lack of affordable housing. Just as in many other places in the country, the only dwellings being built today are too expensive (for many reasons) compared to the wages earned in a growing service economy. Orlando's main job creator is tourism. As I said, it is a great place to visit/live- unless you happen to make the average salary in this country. No, this is not an article about $8 sodas, or $20 balloons, it is a blog on a uncontrollable affordable housing crisis.What do Portland; Seattle; Las Vegas and Phoenix have in common? They are all cities California's have fled to in the past few decades to escape high housing costs. Denver's massive growth can also be partially contributed to this California out migration pattern.
So, what do Charlotte; Atlanta; Nashville and Greenville, South Carolina have in common? A eerily similar migration of Floridians moving north away from you guessed, high housing costs. There are other factors too; hurricanes; sink holes; and love bugs in the Spring. To be fair, Florida has some very affordable places to live, which was why I was a bit shocked to see this story. Florida is also a great place to live. But I'm pointing out something bigger here, the correlation between a large, populate state with a growing lack of housing affordability, and the cities those former residents flock to.
If we follow the same line of thinking, housing affordability in these southern cities could end up looking like the cities Californians fled too. In fact, it is already happening. Cities like Charlotte, Nashville, and Raleigh have some of the highest growth in housing prices. Do these cities suffer the same fate as Las Vegas and Portland? Unless we make radical changes in housing availability and affordability, I say yes. Go to www,radicalhousing.com to find out how we can avoid this rerun. After all, people move for many reasons. Shouldn't we at least attempt to keep the South affordable?