With rents rising faster than wages, affordable housing around Baltimore is out of reach for many working people. While thousands of new housing units have been built across the city over the past decade, fewer than 40 of them have come from the city's inclusionary housing program. The city has also exempted the planned Port Covington development - which is asking the city for more than half a million in bonds - from inclusionary housing requirements. The developer has set a goal of setting 10 percent of its units at below market rates. In the County, the Council just rebuffed a bill to keep landlords from rejecting housing vouchers. We discuss the struggle for affordable housing.
Our guest is Patrick Maier, executive director of Innovative Housing Institute, a national non-profit that offers consultation to communities and developers on affordable housing, and one of the leaders of the Opportunity Coalition, a group of representatives from local governments, state agencies, universities and nonprofit organizations. The Opportunity Coalition is meeting September 13th in Baltimore. More info here.
