Bellwetherhousing.org

Today was an important and memorable day for Housing Resources Group supporters, staff, residents and donors. We not only raised $110,685 at this morning’s event, but we unveiled our new name. Housing Resources Group is now Bellwether. The name changes, but the focus remains: to lead the region in solving its most pressing housing affordability issues. Learn more and see results from this event>

Do you know that working people in Seattle need affordable housing? Here’s an unavoidable reality: many people with full-time or part-time jobs – or more than one job! – face a growing gulf between what they earn and what it costs to rent a place to live. Minimum wage is simply not enough to afford to pay market-rate rents. 

Let’s consider an example of someone you may not think about – but someone we rely on every day in this city—a hospital custodian. A full-time custodian (40 hours/week, 52 weeks/year) at a medical center such as Harborview, near downtown Seattle, earns about $11.50 per hour, for a yearly income (before taxes) of $23,920. For this custodian, the cost of rent and utilities should be no more than $598/month to be considered affordable. If you’re from the area, you know that finding a safe, clean and quality apartment for $598 (including utilities!) in or near downtown Seattle is next to impossible. If the custodian wants to live close to the hospital, in a clean and safe apartment, it’s more realistic that he/she will end up paying around $900/mo for rent and utilities. That’s nearly half of the custodian’s income! After modest withholding, the custodian ends up with about $200 a week to pay for groceries, clothing, insurance, medical bills, etc. There’s certainly not enough left over to save for the future.

As you can see, the people who work in our hospitals, restaurants, schools and local stores are often one paycheck away from financial crisis – perhaps homelessness – unless there are affordable places to live in our cities. Without that affordability, the individuals and families that help sustain our cities are pushed out.

Thursday morning’s Seattle Times reported the results of a study that ranks Seattle as the 10^th-worst city in the US for traffic delays. Based on 2009 data, the delay alone cost car commuters more than $1000 per year in extra gas and lost time! That doesn’t take into consideration the total cost of commuting. And with the rising cost of operating a car, it’s probably much higher in 2010!

So, why do people live so far away from their jobs? For some, it’s a choice based on the lifestyle they want. But for many people, it doesn’t seem like much of a choice – we have to live where we can afford the rent. And without enough affordable apartments and homes in the city, where most of the jobs are located, many working people spend hours commuting from far away.

Living far from a job often means spending less money on rent, but more on transportation. For working people in the Seattle area, the total cost of housing and transportation averages more than 60% of household income! That doesn’t leave much for other necessities.

The money is a big concern for people who live from paycheck to paycheck working at jobs that we all rely on (health care support, child care, retail, janitorial, hospitality, and so on) – and so is the time that working people should be able to spend with their families, instead of commuting.

There are other impacts of long commutes, too – like environmental quality. More on that in a future post.

People should have choices to live close to their jobs, to services they need, to their schools and communities. We need more of those choices that are affordable for everyone!

How would you spend an extra $11,000 per year? Our last article was about the time and money people can save by avoiding the gridlock that goes with commuting. And about the social, environmental and economic importance of affordable places to live, near jobs, services and transportation.

In the past couple of weeks, with gas prices skyrocketing, the subject of commuting and money has become even more urgent. Last Friday, the American Public Transportation Association published a report about how much money people can save, on average, by taking the bus or train to work. In the Seattle area, the average savings is $973 per month. That’s a LOT of money!

You may ask yourself what this has to do with affordable apartments. So here it is, again: when we live far from work and services, we may save money on rent, but we spend more to commute. Think how much more of a home or apartment I could afford if I could save $973 per month on my commute!

But what about people who struggle to find the time or the money for the commute at all? How can people who work as cleaners, retail clerks, or child care givers, pay rent and transportation costs and have enough left over for other necessities? For many people the costs are unmanageable. 

The answer? Affordable apartments close to jobs, services and public transportation.  Ask Joel M., who lives in a Housing Resources Group apartment building in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood, which made it possible for him to accept a job in Queen Anne – he couldn’t have afforded to commute from where he used to live in Everett. Or talk to Kim D., a retired nurse whose HRG apartment is in the Denny Triangle neighborhood – she can walk everywhere, to the grocery store, to the library, to the doctor’s office…

Sounds good, doesn’t it? But too many people still pay more than they can afford for a place to live and the transportation they need. So how can we create and preserve affordable apartments in the city? How do communities make affordability happen? What are the challenges? Stay tuned.