The National Low Income Housing Coalition has put out their annual report
"Out of Reach 2004" for those interested in affordable housing issues. If you were listening to NPR yesterday you may have heard reference to the release of this report. The report's introduction states:
"Out of Reach 2004 provides a side-by-side comparison of wages and rents in every state, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), and county in the United States. Based on the federal affordability standard of paying no more than 30% of income for housing costs, the report calculates the amount of money a household must earn in order to afford each area's Fair Market Rent (FMR)"
This report is a great tool for anybody who needs to document affordable housing concerns in their community. You can for instance show what percent of income a family with two minimum wage earners would have to put up to rent the median two bedroom home/apartment in your county.
I've used it for the last few years for my county and it has always worked quite well. I still get amazed by the information revolution that the internets make possible. Ten years ago we would have to order a hard copy of a report like this and it would be all big and clunky and have tons of information that we weren't particularly concerned about. Now we can zero right in on our specific concern. Thanks Al Gore for inventing the internet and thanks George Bush for inventing the internets.