Affordable housing: State program now targeting suburban and rural areas

By Ryan Briggs – WHYY June 3, 2019

Spiking housing costs are creating a shortage of affordable options in Pennsylvania’s suburbs and rural areas, state officials said this week as they announced $3.4 million dollars in new grants to preserve affordable housing units outside of the state’s largest cities.

“Across Pennsylvania, the need for what we would consider affordable, safe, decent housing exists regardless of your ZIP code, regardless of where you’re located,” said Kathy Possinger, director of the state agency that oversees community and economic development. “This is one of the tools we have in our toolbox of resources to be able to assist our smaller boroughs towns, townships and counties to address the growing need to preserve and grow affordable housing.”

Projects in 10 jurisdictions across PA will receive the grant funding, ranging from suburban Montgomery County to rural Indiana County.

Possinger said this latest round of grants is reflective of the broader nature of what is sometimes thought of as a primarily urban issue. She said the problem of burdensome housing costs were the same for city and country residents, although the nature of these costs sometimes varied. In some growing suburbs, rising tax bills and larger homes can make upkeep costs burdensome for seniors.

Our news partner WHYY has more on this story.

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