According to this story from The Atlantic‘s Citylab, a new report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition has found that the hourly wage needed to afford even a modest apartment in America has risen considerably in the last year—and in Oregon? If you were looking to rent a two bedroom apartment, you’d probably need to be making $19.38 per hour. (By comparison, if you wanted a two bedroom in Multnomah County last year you’d need to be making $18.15 per hour.) But let’s just say you’re looking for a one bedroom. A minimum wage employee would need to work 68 hours per week just to afford it.

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So is raising the minimum wage the answer? Not according to this report. The best thing a city could do to help these people—those providing the necessary services we take for granted every day—is to build more affordable housing. In other words, DENSITY. And not just upscale apartments favored by the take-the-money-and-run developers who have zero interest in the sustainability of a livable Portland.

It’s a super interesting and fact-packed article. READ IT HERE. And read the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s full report HERE.

Also of extreme interest: Housing activists show up at a Portland landlord gala, and raise all sorts of hell.

Bang bang, choo-choo train, let me see you shake that thang. Wm. Steven Humphrey is the editor-in-chief of the Portland Mercury and has held the job since 2000. (So don’t get any funny ideas.)

4 replies on “Forget $15 Per Hour—Oregonians Now Need More Than That to Afford an Apartment”

  1. Banks hoard foreclosed realty to keep prices high. Taxpayers bailed out these banks. If houses cost less, then mortgage payers would owe more than their homes are worth. However, banks could manage the properties for the benefit of qualified low income renters without affecting real estate values. Since there is a shortage of rentals, there ought not be any adverse effect on the rental market.

  2. Banks have an obligation to either rent these houses out at affordable prices or else sell them at auction. Otherwise, pay back the money they got from the taxpayers for the bail out.

  4. Thing is, banks have lent out 95% of deposits to entities that have speculated on oil futures, while at the same time, have been making home loans to risky buyers again. Banks were decreed to be too big to fail, but now there is going to be another real estate bubble bursting, along with a commodities bubble burst. This time, there will be no bail out.

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