Making Workforce Housing Work

6 April 2004 - 6:00am

As officials grapple with how to address workforce housing issues, moderate income families continue to be priced out of the housing market.

"Around the Baltimore and Washington suburbs, young professionals, teachers, police officers and firefighters are struggling to find homes they can afford. Many are forced to move out of the state or relocate to traditionally rural sections of southern and western Maryland and the Eastern Shore." According to a housing expert at ULI, "rapid population rise and stagnating salaries for the middle class have made workforce housing a national problem." The implications of the problem include having law enforcement employees and firefighters, with long commutes, who are not quickly accessible in times of emergencies. Many solutions are being considered in Anne Arundel, including "the idea of enticing developers to build cheaper unites by offering bonus lots."

Source: The Baltimore Sun, March 31, 2004
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Maybe we should blame Thomas Jefferson. He was the godfather of the urban sprawl racket in America.