ARLINGTON — “Housing insecurity can have a lasting effect on families,” said Kristina Gallant, housing affordability analyst for the Housing Authority of Snohomish County.
“We know that being homeless for any length of time can have a profound impact, especially on children,” she said. “But even if you’re not homeless, if you have to sacrifice other essentials to afford to stay that way, it has a destabilizing influence on the community.”
Gallant informed the Arlington City Council May 9 of the barriers that lower-income residents often face in finding housing.
“There’s no one magic bullet,” she said.
Gallant defined housing insecurity by warning that families shouldn’t be spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent or mortgage. This is why she advocates for housing options for those who would otherwise have to do so.
The spectrum of housing that Gallant identified ranges from emergency shelters and transitional housing for those with the lowest incomes, to federally subsidized housing that helps moderately higher-income residents make up the difference of what they’d be paying in the open market.
“The income levels of Arlington track pretty closely to those of Snohomish County as a whole, except there’s a little bit more of a low-income percentage in Arlington,” Gallant said.
She cited hypothetical examples of two families on the housing spectrum – one a retired couple making $21,000 a year who can afford $530 a month in rent, and another a single mom with three kids who’s making less than $59,000 a year.
Because the average apartment rent is $825, and the retired couple doesn’t drive and suffers other physical limitations, their options for housing are narrowed. Likewise, the single mom needs a place that’s near her job and her kids’ schools.
“We try to avoid easy simplifications of those who have housing insecurity,” Gallant said. “Some have been homeless, but others are teachers, childcare workers and blue-collar laborers.”
Although Gallant has seen a rise in multigenerational housing, she also reported that more seniors and residents with disabilities want to be able to live independently. However, housing is already scarce in Snohomish County, even for those who don’t require such accomodations, and federal funding is on the decline.
“Snohomish County has less funding for affordable housing than its neighbors,” Gallant said.
Chris Young, director of community and economic development for Arlington, suggested the city could facilitate Gallant’s goal, of minimizing barriers to affordable housing, by utilizing underdeveloped land, creating a greater supply of housing, and by fostering mixed-use development, to help put living and working areas within walkable distance.
