A report last week noting Carroll's perpetual dearth of housing rental units isn't anything we haven't heard before, but shifting demographics, changes in the housing market and other considerations would suggest that finding solutions to this problem that has long plagued our community should be a higher priority for elected officials.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition's Out Of Reach 2014 report looked at housing costs as related to income levels. Ideally, a person or household should spend about 30 percent of their income on housing and utilities. But in order to reach the 30 percent level renters in Carroll on average would have to make $24.08 an hour.
The report says an average two-bedroom apartment in Carroll rents for $1,252, meaning they would have to make $50,080 to reasonably afford it.
Through the years, Carroll has focused more on single family residential dwellings. Over the decades, farmland has been paved over for mirror image developments. The economy, housing and lending trends in recent decades made it attractive for families to purchase their dream home in Carroll's rural setting, with many workers taking on long commutes to metro areas for higher paying jobs.
The recession and bursting of the housing bubble, however, have changed the landscape. For many young families, owning a home is out of their reach as banks require more substantial down payments and getting financing is more difficult. Growing debt burdens from college graduates mean they have to spend a bigger chunk of their income paying down that debt, if they are lucky enough to get a job. Many have to settle for lower paying jobs outside their career field.
The housing market is recovering, slowly, but in many areas home ownership growth is taking a back seat to rental growth.
Without a lot of rental units, young people hoping to get a start in Carroll or settle in the area where they grew up find themselves hard-pressed to find a place to live that they can afford.
Many communities have found successes in encouraging mixed use developments which feature single family homes, townhouses and rental units. Such an approach provides opportunities for community growth. County government should take a fresh look at housing trends and the needs of the community, and from there define specific strategies to help ensure tomorrow's homeowners have a place to rent today.
