This Page Contains 4 Weeks Data - Click Here For This Week | |||||||||
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Wisconsin Workforce Housing News | |||||||||
Nate Zurawski Marketing and Communications WWHNews.com wwhnews.com[at]gmail.com 715.297.8336 Ken Harwood HarwoodKen[at]gmail.com
This Weeks Articles for 3/15/2024 ...
Community Updates, News Stories, Best Practices, Resources, and other data supporting the development of affordable housing for the citizens of Wisconsin in every city and region in the State. Please consider partnering with us and sharing your story | |||||||||
‘I’m essentially breaking even every month’: Wisconsin renters struggle with rising prices | |||||||||
Report: Wisconsin among top-10 states with steepest rent increases from 2023 to 2024David Rivera-Kohr, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, rents a two-bedroom apartment in the city for roughly $1,200 per month. When his current lease ends, Rivera-Kohr said his rent is set to increase to around $1,500, plus utilities. “Even at my current rent, I’m essentially breaking even every month,” he said. “I haven’t really been able to save money on a grad student income for quite a while.”... Ken Notes: Again, we need to create ownership opportunities to create wealth. Wisconsin could lead the nation with some programing in this area. | |||||||||
City of Beloit announces $6 million investment in affordable housing | |||||||||
MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The City of Beloit announced a $6 million investment on Tuesday aimed at creating and preserving affordable rental homes. The City said it will begin accepting grant applications from housing developers soon. The Affordable Rental Housing Creation/Preservation Fund will provide gap financing to developers seeking tax credit incentives through the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA). The City said the funding will come from the City’s Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) Housing Fund. According to the announcement, the investment comes as the City of Beloit sees a lack of affordable housing while also seeing unprecedented demand. Drew Pennington, Economic Development Director for the City of Beloit, said there is a shortage of affordable housing for the community’s workers. “This new funding program, which exists due to the growth of our business districts, represents an opportunity for public-private partnership that will bring high-quality rental homes to our community.”... | |||||||||
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Madison residents face difficulties as housing prices climb | |||||||||
Housing market contraction due to increase in population, cost of materials during pandemic may see relief soon, UW expert saysA recent article in the New York Times chronicled the journey of a young couple looking to move from Chicago to Madison in search of a more spacious place to raise their two young children at a lower price. The family was able to find a roomy home in a walkable neighborhood near downtown for $350,000, according to the article. ...Full Story HereIn December 2023 the median sale price of a Madison property ballooned to $395,000, a more than 15% increase from the year before, according to realtor.com. By comparison, relator.com says the median sale price of a property in Chicago is $315,000 — a difference of $80,000... | |||||||||
Immigrant Dairy Workers Often Endure Substandard Housing Conditions. The Law Doesn’t Protect Them | |||||||||
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s lawsuit last month against a large dairy farm over alleged labor abuses, including millions of dollars in unpaid wages, was unusual in more than one way. It was his office’s first wage theft lawsuit against a dairy farm. And it put a spotlight on another issue that’s widespread but rarely addressed: substandard housing for immigrant dairy workers. According to the attorney general’s complaint, workers at Evergreen Acres Dairy lived in “squalid” conditions, including in converted barns and a garage, that did “not meet Minnesota’s standards for habitability.” Several living spaces lacked heat. There was no toilet in one barn where workers lived. Photos included in the complaint show bathroom and bedroom walls covered in mold, disconnected sink pipes and cockroach infestations. While the lawsuit targeted a single farm operation outside the Twin Cities, the reality is that substandard housing is widespread on dairy farms across the country. That’s because state and federal laws meant to ensure adequate housing for agricultural workers often exclude those on dairy farms. As a result, employer-provided housing for dairy workers rarely, if ever, gets inspected, certified or even tracked by any government agency... ...Full Story HereKen Notes: Again wouldn`t it be interesting for Wisconsin to be a national model for housing options for Immigrant Dairy Workers. We should also formally recognize that our cows are milked by immigrants who work hard, will get up at 3AM, always show up for work, and contribute to the industry that built and continues to drive the State. We do not need a wall, we need sound immigration policy that matches those who want to work with available jobs. Oh and if you believe they are taking jobs away from our citizens try hiring someone to work 4AM to 7PM 7 Days a week... | |||||||||
Wausau infill housing project inches forward, including Thomas Street properties | |||||||||
Wausau’s Economic Development Committee on Thursday approved seeking proposals to build single-family homes on vacant city-owned parcels, including several on Thomas Street. The matter now goes to the City Council... ...Full Story HereKen Notes: What a great opportunity to build lower cost workforce housing for our retail and service employees. | |||||||||
Wisconsin Workforce Housing Resources | |||||||||
...Full Story Here Nate Notes: to be included as a Workforce Housing resource email us a link and a brief note to: wwhnews.com@gmail.com... | |||||||||
Milwaukee County officials work to find housing for those living at park and rides | |||||||||
What You Need To Know
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Milwaukee wants 1 million people and more housing. One solution is zoning changes | |||||||||
Milwaukee might soon change its zoning code to encourage development of small apartment buildings and apartments in commercial areas ? growing the city`s affordable housing supply. Those revisions, which need approval from the Common Council and Mayor Cavalier Johnson, would be a first step towards Johnson`s vision of eventually increasing Milwaukee`s population to 1 million. Smaller rental developments also will likely need public financing help, housing industry experts say, as well as building code changes. But zoning to promote such projects must happen first, they say. "The deck is stacked against small developers who don`t know how to navigate the process," Milwaukee developer Montavius Jones told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel... SEE ALSO:
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Cedarburg officials weigh Mandel, Neumann proposals totaling almost 800 homes and apartments | |||||||||
Faced with unrelated but neighboring development proposals with almost
800 homes and apartments, Cedarburg officials will convene Monday to
discuss future growth in the community and how to regulate it... ...Full Story Here | |||||||||
Developer to break ground next week on a $40 million housing project in Portage | |||||||||
PORTAGE -- A developer plans to break ground next week on a $40 million transitional housing development, which Portage officials say will alleviate the city’s extreme shortage of affordable workforce housing and grow its industrial tax base. “In my opinion, this is a manufacturing and industrial base protection plan,” said Steve Sobiek, the city’s director of business development and planning. “People are working here, making really good money to support themselves and their families, but they can’t find decent affordable housing in Portage.” “Protecting our manufacturing and industrial sectors (and building this development) is also going to stop taxes from going up and it could lower taxes, because this is a $40 million development — think about the taxes that will be paid from that alone,” said Sobiek... ...Full Story Here | |||||||||
About Wisconsin Workforce Housing News (WWHNews.com) | |||||||||
Across Wisconsin many employees can simply not afford to live where they work. This is true in big cities and small rural communities. Both the availability and price of housing is not in line with the needs of those working in jobs that are vital to the success of our communities. Imagine a firefighter, teacher, city employee, service, or retail worker not able to afford a home in the community they serve. We aggregate news and highlight programs that are working to provide affordable workforce housing in Wisconsin. We advocate for state and local policies that improve the more affordable housing markets. We encourage developers to build new homes that are affordable for those working for Wisconsin while still making a fair profit on the work they do. We encourage communities and neighborhoods to become partners in meeting these needs. We highlight what others have done as a form of "Best Practices" in the State and Country. Finally, we provide direct links to resources and programs in the State. Safe, affordable housing makes a difference in the lives of children and families impacting both education and health. We are supporting affordable housing because it is good for business, good for families, good for communities, and good for Wisconsin. Nate Zurawski Marketing and Communications Director Wisconsin Workforce Housing News 715.297.8336 wwhnews.com[at]gmail.com Eric Giordano Executive Director Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service 715.261.6388 egiordano[at]uwsa.edu Ken Harwood Editor / Publisher Advocating for Wisconsin 608.334.2174 harwoodken[at]gmail.com Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14199454/ Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorkforceHousingNews | |||||||||
List of Housing Resources | |||||||||
WWHNEWS Notes: To add a resource or correct above send data and link to wwhnews.com[at]gmail.com... |