Mount Pleasant Magazine 6.4

By Bill Farley

epending upon your personal

point of view – and where you live in

town – the two-word phrase “affordable

housing” can be as welcome an expres-

sion as “summer breeze” or as off-putting

as “tornado warning.”

That’s because this seemingly innocuous label says

all the wrong things to many people. Calling it “work-

force housing” puts a more positive spin on the concept,

although that characterization makes it sound like some-

thing out of the old Soviet Union.

In point of fact, despite what fears some might have,

affordable housing does not mean big-city-style, govern-

ment-funded “projects.” Nor does it signify low income

shelter prone to gangs, drugs and crime.

There are several ways to define what constitutes

housing that is affordable, and one handy criterion is the

federal government’s standard – that which can be rented

or owned with a monthly payment that amounts to 30

percent or less of a household’s gross income.

Home

for

Where the

Heart

AffordAble Housing in Mount PleAsAnt