Duluth Struggling To Keep Pace With Affordable Housing

Harvard University recently did a study on the "State of the Nations Housing" which examined a number of Metro areas across the country including the Twin Ports and found that the availability of lower cost housing has shrunk not only here but around the country.

With the colleges in the area we all know that puts a tight squeeze on what housing is available, but fortunately for the students at least in Duluth their are quite a few options for them with roommates, and some of these apartment complexes are very high end with lot's of amenities. I know when I went to college in Winona if we wanted to live off campus it was usually in a dilapidated house with at least 3 roomates.

So what about the single person who is under 65 and just wants a one bedroom, or you have a pet ? My personal experience is it is pretty grim with not much out there to rent and it is expensive considering the area and population of Duluth.

According to the Duluth News Tribune " From 2011 to 2017, the number of rental housing units offered at rents of less than $800 per month slipped by 6.6 percent in the Duluth-Superior metropolitan statistical area — including St. Louis, Douglas and Carlton counties."

In a housing report in Duluth published in 2017 over half of renters living in the Twin Ports were using 30% or more of their income to pay for housing which can be devastating financially. Jeff Corey who is executive director of One Roof Community Housing, describes housing challenges for low-income residents in the Twin Ports.“The Minnesota Housing Partnership identifies our MSA (metropolitan statistical area) as being — for the incomes that we have — among the highest rent-burdened parts of the state,” he said.

Adam Fulton, manager of Duluth’s community planning division said “That is something that as we’ve embarked on this discussion related to the mayor’s task force on housing, we recognize that one of the greatest needs is in the construction of new affordable units.”  For these types of projects the city of Duluth relies heavily federal low income housing tax credits and the city has a number of good applications this year that will hopefully help fund future projects.