Charlottesville City Councilman Dave Norris spoke at the University Democrats' meeting yesterday and discussed the council's efforts to rectify the perceived disparity between affordable housing and wages.
"A huge proportion of people who work in Charlottesville cannot afford to live here," Norris said. "More than half of them are paying more than 30 percent for their mortgages, and they are getting second or third jobs to pay for housing. Some of them end up in homeless shelters, and a lot of them have to move 20 to 40 miles away to commute into Charlottesville everyday."
Norris stressed that until the Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce provides more funds to rectify the housing issue, the problem will continue to worsen.
"My philosophy is that you can talk and talk about it, but until you bring dollars to the table you will not be able to produce much affordable housing," he said. "You can put incentives in place for developers, you can help with Habitat for Humanity, there are other things that can be done, but it comes down to dollars, resources and subsidies."
Norris cited students' decision to move off-Grounds as a factor creating pressure on the local housing market.
According to statistics on the U.S. NewsWorld Report Web site for 2007, 45 percent of University undergraduates live in on-Grounds housing.
University Democrats Vice President Sarah Buckley said she hopes Norris' visit will promote more awareness at the University regarding affordable housing.
"Because the University is such a big employer and big power in Charlottesville, it's really important to have greater support for these issues than what we've had in the past," Buckley said. "If enough students show their support for issues such as affordable housing and [the] cost of living conditions, then the University will have to start changing its approach to the issue"
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