Eich on Affordable Housing

Affordable Housing has been an issue for a very long time.  That’s why:

• The county’s CDBG funds have been devoted to rebuilding water systems in existing communities for the past 20 years – to keep existing housing livable.
• The county created a First Time Home Buyers Program a decade ago.
• The county created a Home Repair Program five years ago.
• The county sponsored a housing rehab program in Monument and Orviston.
• That’s why the county – through a housing authority – provides public housing for families and seniors, and helps several hundred families pay their rent.

We need MORE affordable housing because we have a strong economy based on a major employer that pays relatively high wages – Penn State.  As a result, the housing market in an ever widening circle around the University is being driven by households with six figure incomes.

County government needs to help create additional affordable housing.  But the location of that housing is important.  Sites need to be fully served by infrastructure to be truly affordable.  They need to be located inside of the existing growth boundary of our communities, with easy and efficient access to employment and services.

The Affordable Housing Coalition and the Affordable Housing Cabinet have done admirable work in identifying the need for affordable housing, coordinating the availability of existing services, encouraging municipalities to address hurdles to affordable housing, and raising public awareness.

But, unless we are ready to go to the next level, there is a real danger that their efforts will lose momentum.  The county needs to obtain funding so the findings of Centre County Affordable Housing Survey can be implemented by the newly created Centre County Housing and Land Trust.

That means actively pursuing the money to purchase land, purchase and/or construct homes, and secure development rights from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.