Review of first public meeting for Huntington Housing Authority

The Huntington Housing Authority, as well as other organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, met Wednesday in the city council chambers. The course of action was to talk about the five year plans for these organizations and if they were consistent with the city's consolidated plan.

For most of the meeting, the topic was focusing on big issues the organizations were facing. William Dotson from the Huntington Housing Authority proposed triple A housing, meaning adequate, affordable and available. It was stressed that there needed to be more descent, affordable housing available.

The number of sold homes going down was also brought up. Up until 2009, 20 to 25 homes were being sold each year. However, last year only saw seven houses sold and the projected number is even lower for this year. The housing authority plans to build six single family homes but didn't want to start until buyers were found. So far, no buyers have been found, so the authority will continue and lease without buyers. The area where this construction is happening is Artison and 10th Avenues. This area has had trouble finding homeowners but isn't the only one having problems. Apparently no one wants to buy a house right now because the market is so bad.

At the same time, there is no problem finding people who want to rent. A waiting list has 1,600 people on it and a lot want one bedroom places. The demand for rented places has increased, but there are still problems within that area. Sometimes the housing organizations don't have enough money to pay developers to build the apartments because the low rental prices. But on the other hand, if the rents are raised than the people cannot afford the houses.

Another problem that needs to be addressed is that people aren't being properly counseled on finance for home buying or renting. The organizations thought it would be a good idea if schools had classes to teach their students in those areas. They wanted students equipped with this information before they graduated high school. Adding to this, the people in the meeting thought banks should reach out more in the community and help to teach people about finance.

Another problem is vacant dilapidated housing. A lot of people hold onto houses because they have family history in those places, but yet don't have the money for upkeep. Pretty soon those houses get too old and decrepit for living and they are disregarded and can't be used. The organization's are aware of this and want to stop it but don't know exactly how. They don't have enough money to tear down the houses and make new ones.

Housing services and not just the houses are paramount as well. People who don't have means of a car or other vehicle, need to have grocery stores and other shops close by their living quarters. If not, then they have to spend money to get to those places and then they don't have enough money to pay rent. Also, the mentally ill only have a little haven to go to, but that doesn't serve the need of the ones who aren't included in that area. There is a big waiting list of mentally ill looking for a place to go where they can be taken care of properly. The aging population also needs help. They need support to upkeep their houses and support for their daily life.