Page Al8
Çortlanh (Observer
May 18, 2011
Pressure Builds for Higher Rents
co n tin u ed
fr o m fr o n t
G reg Frick, who has w orked at
H FO N orthw est A partm ent Invest­
m ents since 1993, said from an apart­
ment standpoint, Portland has w eath­
ered the housing crisis well. But with
the low rate o f rental vacancy through­
out the city, people will have less
choices o f where they can live.
“C onsequently, there is going to
be m ore upward pressure on rent,”
said Frick.
A lthough rent could becom e in­
creasingly expensive, he said what
Portland really needs is jo b grow th
and increased wages.
“ You c an ’t just all o f a sudden
rocket your rent prices when people
aren’t m aking m ore m oney,” he said.
“ If we d o n ’t get any w age inflation,
there is going to be a dam per on what
we can pay for rent.”
The post-recession return to rent­
ing, m ixed with high unem ploym ent
rates, falling w ages, and low rental
vacancy rates, has catalyzed hous­
ing stability to rem ain even m ore out
o f reach for low -incom e fam ilies
throughout Portland and the coun­
try.
Ari R apkin, a co-director o f the
C om m unity A lliance o f Tenants lo­
cated in Portland, explained the hous­
ing crisis drew attention to the lack o f
affordable housing in the region be­
cause there is now, m ore than ever, a
higher level o f com petition for the
few er places available.
“People with m oderate incom es
are being forced to m ake decisions
that low incom e families have been
forced to deal with for a long tim e,” he
said. “People are being forced to
choose betw een buying medicine,
groceries and rent, and that is not a
choice that anyone should have to
make.”
According to the National Low
Incom e H ousing Coalition, a unit is
considered affordable if it costs no
m ore than 30 percent o f the renter's
income.
The C om m unity Alliance o f T en­
ants has a hotline for people with
housing questions, concerns and pre­
dicam ents. ‘ ‘A lot o f our m em bers and
people we talk with on the hotline are
paying 50 to 60 percent o f their in­
com e, o r even m ore, for rent,” said
Rapkin. “A nd that’s a very precari­
ous situation.”
W hile a lot o f people can afford
rent on a day to day basis, this is
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presum ing nothing will go wrong, rental markets on the W est Coast for needs. Rapkin explained, “This means
but Rapkin recognizes that this is not m ajor markets, Byrd explained that it’s a lot easier for a landlord to say, ‘if
reality. “W e know that people get low incom e families are being forced you d o n ’t like it, then m ove.’”
sick and things go wrong, and that is now m ore than ever to look even
He added that in situations like
what m akes people hom eless,” he harder for apartm ents they can af­ these, he sees time and tim e again,
said.
ford.
tenants living in unsafe and unhealthy
A ccording to Janet Byrd, the ex ­
A lthough there are m ultiple av­ housing because they d o n ’t have
ecutive D irector o f N eighborhood enues for funding and subsidies to any other options.
Partnership, affordable housing is help families find affordable housing,
“People have to sacrifice a lot to
really the key to increase the quality Rapkin explained that there is a lot o f stay in housing,” Byrd said. “W hen
o f life for m any fam ilies w ithin the difficulty even to get on the w aiting food banks survey w hy individuals
need food baskets, the price o f hous­
ing is som ething that continuously
com es up.”
" ...Affordable housing is really
the key to increase the quality
o f life fo r many families within
the city.
— Janet Byrd, Executive Directorof Neighborhood Partnership
city.
list, which often only opens up a
W ith the apartm ent m arket boom ­ w eek out o f every other year.
ing, higher prices in the rental market
“The waiting list for affordable
co n tin u e to force O regonians to subsidized housing can be years
choose betw een paying rent, putting long,” he said. “So it’s not an im m e­
food on the table, and paying utility diate solution to the housing situa­
bills— and the num bers are projected tion.”
to only becom e higher.
Low vacancy rates also create in­
W hi le Portland is historically con­ creased pressure on tenants to ac­
sidered to have one o f the lowest cept housing that doesn’t m eet their
N eighborhood Partnership along
with H ousing A lliance m akes sure
m oney is invested to protect re ­
sources that build m ore affordable
housing, as well as m ake sure there is
preservation o f existing affordable
living opportunities.
A lthough residents will have to
wait to see how m uch rental prices
will truly rise, Rapkin explained there
is still hope for the future.
“A big part o f w hy we ’ re here as an
organization is that tenants can have
a voice, and we can im pact the deci­
sions that affect us,” he said. “T hat is
w hy we are here, and that is w hy we
are w elcom ing tenants to get in ­
volved.”
African American Men Speak Out
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3
c a lly h a v e no t b een e n g a g e d by
th e ir e le c te d o ffic ia ls ,” she said
a fte r th e m e etin g . “ I am g o in g to
let th em k n o w I w as se rio u s, and
th e re w ill be th in g s d o n e b e c a u se
o f th e ir c o u ra g e o u s c o n v e r s a ­
tio n s .”
E ven as the m eeting had to com e
to a c lo se , a lin e o f th o se w h o felt
c o m p elled to sh are th e ir situ atio n s
ran lo n g w ith in th e b o a rd ro o m .
A lth o u g h this w as the first m e e t­
ing h eld fo r A frican A m erican m en
at a to w n h all e v e n t. S m ith e x ­
p la in e d th is w ill n o t b e th e
last.
“I heard them loud and clear,”
she said. “ W e can turn this thing
a ro u n d .”
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