ON THE DOORSTEP OF A CRISIS
For politicians and developers, affordable housing is a complicated issue buried under layers of funding sources, income level cutoffs and the influence of supply and demand.
For people like Yvonne Heads, it’s a basic need.
The 51-year-old is grateful for her job at Yusen Logistics in Sumner, where she works four 10-hour graveyard shifts a week. Heads landed the position three months ago after leaving a drug treatment program — her 14th attempt at getting sober.
“I used to live outside in a tent,” she says. “I just got so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I don’t want to die a drug addict, and if you’re living out there like that you are going to die.”
For the last two months, Heads has been sleeping on the couch at her son’s Tacoma apartment that he shares with his wife and young son. Though Heads is on affordable housing waiting lists, she hasn’t found a place to call her own. With an income of less than $48,000 a year, Heads qualifies for low-income housing, which is designated for those who make less than 80% of Tacoma’s area median income (AMI).
For Heads and others, apartments at that price range are scarce in the Puget Sound region. Affordable housing advocates say demand is high and rapidly increasing, but addressing that need poses a risk most developers aren’t prepared to accept. To mitigate the risk, several cities are offering tax incentives to developers who build multifamily projects.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2022/01/14/affordable-housing-shortage-in-seattle.html
