AFFORDABILITY: The new buzz word

Affordable housing is a joke and all the talk about it is useless print.

Let’s take just 3 bedrock occupations of any city, teachers, police and fire department. In CDA a teacher can make about 45-64 thousand a year, police about 60-79 thousand and fire about 58-77 thousand.

The median price of a home in CDA is anywhere from 575-625 thousand dollars. To qualify for a loan of this amount you need around $150,000 yearly income, with about $30,00 down payment. These are just figures from online inquiries, so don’t hold me to these figures.

Now let’s take all the other workers to make any city run. Hotel workers, restaurant workers, city workers, coffee stands, grocery workers and the list goes on and on.

Now I just choose 3 groups to highlight the absurdity of what they call affordable housing. Did you notice that none of them could afford a house on their own, which means if you’re married your wife has to work, while someone else raises your children.

I am old enough to remember saying, if I could just make a thousand dollars a month, I would be rich. Do I have the answer, sadly no I don’t. 

Any government or city officials claiming to offer affordable housing is just blowing smoke and just trying to get your vote.

Especially city planners, because when they get in, they will keep allowing all the homes and high risers to be built. They do not care about the new schools needed, wider roads, more stop lights, more water needs, sewers, more taxes, etc.

They just care about getting elected.

GEORGE SILVA

Coeur d’Alene