Housing in Wake Forest Town: A Need for Affordable Solutions
Housing is one of the most important needs that all human beings have, and hence everyone is entitled to it. According to widely agreed rules, everyone, regardless of where they live on the planet, has the right to adequate housing (shelter). The position of government, both state and federal in the United States, is to ensure that every resident has access to adequate housing at a reasonable cost. However, citizens have frequently expressed their frustration with the cost of housing in various locations, especially in cities. It is in this light that the paper reviews the issue as it has been raised in the Wake Forest Town and Holding Village Homes has been used as an example of the housing development to illustrate how the town has concentrated more on building mostly expensive houses disregarding the needs of low-income earners who also need to be housed.
It has been noted that the town has mainly dwelt immensely on building too expensive houses which majority of people cannot afford hence infringing on their fundamental rights to access affordable housing or shelter for that matter. It is a debatable issue which has both sides, and there is how the town’s administration views it and how the residents who are the occupiers of those houses also view the issue, thereby raising several controversies which the paper attempts to address.
About Wake Forest Town and History of Housing
Wake Forest Town is one of the towns found in the United States of America in North Carolina State and is almost located entirely in Wake County. It is located on the northern side of the state’s capital, Raleigh. According to the census report of 2010, the town had a population of 30, 117, which was almost a 70 percent increase in population if compared to the 2000 census (U.S Census Bureau n.p.). According to that statistics, Wake Forest town is the fourth highly populated town in Wake County and the 28th in the whole of North Carolina State. The town has also been recognized by Forbes Magazine for instance as being among the fastest growing suburbs in the US. The shockingly rapid growth in population in the last decade coupled with the estimated increase even in the coming years as the US Census Bureau projects is enough proof that the town needs more affordable housing to accommodate the population. Swift action must, therefore, be taken, lest the town’s administration gets overwhelmed in their move to put up with the escalating populations. As presented in the same census statistics, as at 2010, more than 79% of people in the town had lived in the same house for more than a couple of years and the most obvious reason for this could be due to the high cost associated with housing which could not allow them to keep shifting houses (United States Census Bureau n.p.).
Wake Forest town has houses for purchase and rent or leasing. Regardless of which method of acquisition of the housing, whether renting, buying or leasing, the cost is still considerably higher and many people do not afford. According to Zillow Incorporation, leading real estate marketers in Wake Forest town, the current median value of owning a home in the town is $283,600 (Zillow n.p.). They incorporation further recognizes that there has been close to 1.8% increment in housing cost in the past year alone and it is a trend which the town has witnessed progressively in the past years and is expected to continue increasing by 2.2% unless action is taken (Zillow n.p.). Today, the mean price of per square foot in Wake Forest is $134, a higher cost than the average $132 in Raleigh Metro (Zillow n.p.).
Although many local reports by business corporations and even government documents show there are high housing costs in Wake Forest, there are other disagreeing reports which show low-income housing are in the town which can be afforded at costs less than $1000. According to a local organization, LowIncomeHousing.us, there are several housing units within the town which are available for individuals who earn lower income at costs of less than $800 (LowIncomeHousing.us n.p.). LowIncomeHousing.us is a non-profit organization which helps low-income earners to access affordable housing and also helps those who are unable to settle their housing debts, to clear their rents especially single mothers with children who are not in formal employment. These are initiatives which help everyone to be housed regardless of their financial muscles.
Neighborhood Description
Holding Village Homes is among the newest neighborhoods in Wake Forest, North Carolina and the first phase of the housing development featured; Drees Homes, Aston Woods, and John Wieland Homes (Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce n.p). Wheelock Communities and Reader Partners are the developers in this neighborhood. The neighborhood is located on a 254 acres piece of land formerly owned by the renowned Holding Family, who played key role in developing Wake Forest town in the 1800s and 1900s (Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commercen.p.).
Background Information
Holding Village Neighborhood is considered the Wake Forest’s housing development which features the ancient neighborhood design (Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce n.p.). The style was chosen by the developers who wanted to establish a close-knit community which is one of the town’s visions (to have many of the conveniences of a growing city) while also maintaining the sense neighborhood within a small town. The homes, as proposed, were to be set near the streets. They also have a garage that is accessed by all the residents in the neighborhood and sidewalks which join the entries to every house such that the residents would be able to say hello to their neighbors (Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce n.p.). The neighborhood also has plans to include; a soccer pitch, golf course, and Elementary school in their future improvements.
Purchasing a Home in Wake Forest Town
Residents who want to purchase a home in Holding Village have to do so through agents (The Ray Realty Group), which guides through the entire process of buying a house. The group ensures that one’s interests as a customer are met before they give out their money. However, one fact is that at Holding Village neighborhood, homes are extremely expensive and it is among the hotly discussed issues among the town’s residents today. At Holding Village, homes are available for purchase from the lowest price of $250,000 to the highest prices of $500,000 (Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce n.p.). These prices are extremely high and may not be affordable to the majority of residents in the town. Holding Village is just but an example. Other housing developments within Wake Forest town also have their prices skyrocketed, for example, Terramor and Cornerstone Homes. All their prices range within the same limits.
Many scholars have explored and conducted research studies in an attempt to explain the possible reason for the expensive house being built in the town. Over the past years, Wake Forest and Charlotte among other towns in North Carolina have undergone both social and economic transformation initiated by the early migration of the Latinos (Brown and Madhuri 5; Jud 144). In fact, Wake Forest and Charlotte have been branded some of the Hispanic hyper-growth towns. In Wake Forest town, the Latino migration disrespected the known traditional model of immigrants which dictates that the immigrants must settle in certain geographical locations of the city (Brown and Madhuri 7-9). However, it is contrary to this scenario since most of the Latino migrants moved to the maturing suburbs of the town (Carrington and Vishwanath 910). What facilitated this was the availability of residential houses in apartment form as well as ethnic self-selectivity in social status and housing location (Carrington and Vishwanath 913). It is thus evident that since the early years there has been the availability of people who could manage to rent or even buy expensive houses in the town’s suburbs. Real estate investors might have found a ground, therefore, to continue establishing expensive houses since they knew there was a ready market from the Hispanics. Things have since changed because of the inflation of population, and different other ethnicities of various economic and social statuses are getting into town.
As already discussed above, there is scholars’ perspective on the matter and the local views also about the same issue. The town of Wake Forest does not host only the high social and economic class residents but rather the poor too who also have a fundamental right to affordable housing. There is how the scholarly research although conducted several years ago, have contributed to explaining the current situation in the town of Wake Forest. Hispanics who migrated into the town several decades ago were of high social and economic statuses. High social class, for instance, dictated that they would only select the best houses in the suburbs of the town while on the other hand being economically able made it possible for them to buy the most expensive homes during their settlement (Smith and Owen 217). Their migration is thus an outstanding theory which can be used to explain the current situations as they are. Although it might be the case, the town’s administration should get off the cage and address the real issue, the problem of affordable houses, which is affecting several non-Hispanics who also live in the town (Smith and Owen 219). The big question here is; how can the state government together with the local administration of the town jointly address it?
There are myriad proposals which the town’s administration has been given as ways to address the real challenge of affordable houses. It is a recognized fact that some of the town’s residents cannot afford houses. According to the president of Habitat for Humanity homes in Wake Forest, Kevin Campbell, close to 3000 people apply for houses, and shockingly 80% of them do not qualify. The big question again remains; where do they go? The CEO of Passage Homes, Mr. Jeanne Tedrow, was worried that affordable homes are leaving the market every day without replacement (Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce n.p.). The low-income earners and even the jobless persons are therefore at high risk of being homeless in the town. Incorporating research to determine the current demographics, the real needs of the people and economy of the County of Wake is one method the government can use to address the issue by setting priorities. Additionally, the government, non-profit organizations, and real estate investors need to sit together to review the current situation as it is to prioritize building affordable houses for the residents. Holding Village Homes, for instance, are unaffordable to many people including those employed such as teachers. They are therefore left to the few who have a lot of money yet the majority in the middle or low class cannot manage to afford them.
Works Cited
Brown, Lawrence A., and Madhuri Sharma. “Metropolitan Context and Racial/Ethnic Intermixing in Residential Space: US Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 1990-2001.” Urban Geography 31.1 (2010): 1-28.
Carrington, Detragiache, E., and Vishwanath, Trenny. Migration with endogenous moving costs. The American Economic Review (1996): 909-930.
Jud, G. Donald. “The effects of zoning on single-family residential property values: Charlotte, North Carolina.” Land Economics 56.2 (1980): 142-154.
LowIncomeHousing.us. Wake Forest, NC Low Income Housing, 2017. Retrieved on October, 24th 2017 from https://www.lowincomehousing.us/NC/wake_forest.html
Smith, Heather A., and Owen J. Furuseth. “Housing, hispanics, and transitioning geographies in Charlotte, North Carolina.” Southeastern Geographer 44.2 (2004): 216-235.
United States Census Bureau. 2010. Retrieved on October, 24th 2017 from https://www.census.gov/
Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce. We know our Chamber Members are the best in Town. Retrieved on October, 24th 2017 from https://wakeforestchamber.org/
Zillow Inc. Wake Forest Home Prices & Values, 2017. Retrieved on October, 24th 2017 from https://www.zillow.com/wake-forest-nc/home-values/
