Hatcher 1

Jarron Hatcher

Professor Whittingham

English 2010

Apr 6 2023

In the modern day world which we live in today, we have never been more populous as a

whole as we are right now. Year after year, the planet grows closer and closer to the 8 billion

people mark, with no signs of slowing down. While having such a booming population comes

with a multitude of problems and concerns, one aspect of these problems is that with not only

more people living than ever before, causing strain on the planet's available land and resources

needed to sustain life, people are living longer than ever before. Once upon a time, dating back a

few thousand years, the average life expectancy was a mere 30 to 35 years. In today’s modern

world, we see an average of 78 years, which is a significant increase. However, due to rapid

advancements in food, science and technology, experts believe the average age of humans in the

not too distant future could reach as high as 115 years old (Stinson).

This brings up a very important question. With so many people, and with so many people

living increasingly longer and longer lives, how do we ensure everyone has a place to live?

Looking at things on a smaller scale, in the United States alone, many people see homelessness

as one of the biggest issues we deal with today. If we do continue to see a population increase,

and the cost of most things continue to rise due to lack of resources to meet demands, the

problem only risks spiraling even further out of control. The issue of finding a reasonable

solution that can get as many people as possible into places to live and keep them there has never

been more important than it is today.

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While when you do look around, there are a ton of new homes and apartments being built

to try and help with this issue, one thing you’ll see is that in a lot of places once construction is

finished, a lot if these new homes and apartments sit empty for very long stretches depending on

the locations of where these places are built. There may be a plethora of people out there willing

to move in, however they sit empty due to the fact that for a lot of people, these new places have

monthly mortgages and rents that are just far too high for some. Year after year we see the

housing market climb in price while people’s income for the most part remains the same. Of

course this doesn't apply to everyone, there will always be exceptions and people unaffected by

these increases, but as a whole it's never been harder than it is right now to comfortably afford

housing. For example, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for housing are

921.90% higher in 2023 versus 1967. Which correlates to a $921,903.30 difference in value

(Webster).

With such a jump in prices today compared to the past, it’s easy to see why people are

living at home or with family members longer now than they have in decades. High prices make

it next to impossible for the average person to be able to afford to move out and live completely

on their own. In a lot of scenarios, it requires the incomes of at least 2 if not more people to meet

monthly requirements while still having enough money left over for their other basic needs and

wants in life. While it may be easy to say, “just get a few people together and live together and

the issue of affordability stops being a factor”, which is true, not every single individual out there

will have this ability available to them. Living situations are exactly that, situations, and not all

people are in the same place in life, or know the same people, or have the same incomes or

opportunities that someone else might have. While individuals who already have a safe and

stable living arrangement may not ever feel the effects of poverty or ever need to concern
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themselves with this issue, the problem is real and has drastic effects on many aspects of our

communities. The problem of affordable housing is something that plays some sort of a role in

every community, city, state, and country whether that role is big or small.

Affordable housing as a whole is largely misunderstood by communities. The term

“affordable housing” brings with it many negative myths and misconceptions rooted in fear of

what communities might look like taking on active affordable housing developments. In reality,

more affordable housing can greatly improve communities. High prices can slow down

economies, leaving many empty jobs and meaning communities as a whole have much less

spending power. While on the other hand, if housing is readily available, there are increased

opportunities for many more people at any given income level, meaning communities gain back

that spending power making it easier for more meaningful change to take place down the line

and making changes that stick for longer.

Another positive to affordable housing is less evictions. Approximately 108 million

Americans live in a rental home or apartment and about 25% of these individuals use over half of

their monthly income on rent (CommonBond Communities). This is incredibly scary because

these people are only one small inconvenience or unexpected expense away from not being able

to meet one month and they can find themselves without housing at all. Evictions start a cycle of

instability in a families and communities' social and economic well-being. Another benefit would

be that more people in homes would mean a healthier population and a healthier economy. A

person’s housing is a huge factor in a person’s physical and mental health. Poverty greatly limits

a persons’ access to healthier foods and doctor visits get farther and farther out of reach leading

to more sickness and chronic health issues for children, families, and seniors, which come at
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enormous and preventable cost to both the residents and their greater communities

(CommonBond Communities).

However, like almost any argument, affordable housing has two sides. The biggest and

most common argument against affordable housing is that with an increase in people living in a

given community, many feel that the crime rate will increase and the sense of safety begins to

decline. While this argument is concerning, there isn’t really any data available that supports this

claim (Clark). Another main argument against it is that affordable housing would increase traffic

in our communities. While at first glance this would make sense since more people equals more

cars on the road, the reality of it is actually the opposite. Traffic in most areas would see a

decrease. Reason behind this is that if there was more affordable housing, people would tend to

live closer to their place of employment, greatly lowering the amount of commute traffic.

Second, households near transit have been found to drive significantly less than those living

further away (Clark). The final main argument I’ll address is the belief that affordable housing

would be terrible for public schools and would lower standardized test scores. It’s believed that if

we make communities more dense,it would place burdens on school systems that they wouldn't

be able to manage. However, research shows that on average, adults of the current generation are

having fewer kids than previous generations and due to this factor, schools over time would be

able to handle the influx of children that could result from affordable housing. As for the

children, there are very clear educational benefits. Frequent moves due to instability of housing

greatly impacts a students ability to keep up in school. With more stability and living in a given

place longer promotes long-term relationships with teachers, peers, and mentors, molding them

into successful and contributing community members.(Clark).

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The issue of affordable housing is very complex, and while I’ve addressed a few pros and

the believed cons to it, this is by no means even close to everything. There are countless more

arguments made by those who may oppose it and many many more benefits to it. However, in

the grand scheme of things, I think it is without question that the pros greatly exceed any sort of

con that would come about from increasing affordable housing and as years go by and global

populations continue to rise, I think it’s essential to get in front of this issue and get solid plans in

place to combat housing shortages and high housing prices before it’s too late.
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Works Cited

Clark, Kylie. “Affordable Housing: Myths and Realities.” West Valley Community Services, 6

December 2021,

https://www.wvcommunityservices.org/post/affordable-housing-myths-and-realities.

Accessed 6 April 2023.

CommonBond Communities. “6 Ways Affordable Housing Can Boost Local Economies.”

CommonBond Communities, 29 September 2020,

https://commonbond.org/economic-benefits-of-affordable-housing/. Accessed 6 April

2023.

Stinson, Liz. “Our Average Life Expectancy Could Increase to 115 Years Very Soon.” Allure, 18

August 2020, https://www.allure.com/story/the-future-of-aging. Accessed 6 April 2023.

Webster, Ian. “Housing price inflation, 1967→2023.” Inflation Calculator,

https://www.in2013dollars.com/Housing/price-inflation. Accessed 6 April 2023.