COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — A housing shortage in the metro area and southwest Iowa is a barrier for many neighbors at any income level who want to find a place to live. It's especially tough for people like Kevin who lives in a tent in the woods, even though he and his wife both work.
WATCH HERE
- Kevin says he's been waiting for house for two years.
- Sgt. Dan Stuck with the Council Bluffs Police Homeless Outreach Program told me that's not uncommon. It's especially tough if neighbors want to stay in Pottawattamie County because of a housing shortage.
- Blake Johnson from Habitat for Humanity Council Bluffs said there's a need for housing at all levels: "Housing, in general, is a vital need to, not only Council Bluffs, but the metro and all of southwest Iowa and areas that we serve."
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Kevin: "My wife and I work for a living, we're not addicts. We're just screwed."
Last week during the depths of the winter cold, I met Kevin.
I'm Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel.
Kevin and his wife live in a tent not too far from here because they can't find housing, despite the fact that they both have jobs.
Katrina: "We're right on the River now...."
Sgt. Stuck: "We are right on the river..."
Sgt. Dan Stuck with the Council Bluffs Police Homeless Outreach Program told me that's not uncommon. It's especially tough if neighbors want to stay in Pottawattamie County because of a housing shortage.
"And then sometimes, there's, they just don't meet a certain criteria or they're not as high risk maybe, something like that, so they're lower on the list. And because of the shortage it just takes a long time to get to them," Stuck said.
"I've been on the housing list for over two years,” said Kevin.
Blake Johnson from Habitat for Humanity Council Bluffs said there's a need for housing at all levels.
"Housing, in general, is a vital need to, not only Council Bluffs but the metro and all of southwest Iowa and areas that we serve," he said.
I talked to Council Bluffs Community Development Director Courtney Harter over the phone. She described housing as a spectrum.
If there's a shortage of new homes for sale, it also means shortages throughout the rental market because neighbors stay put and can't move up the housing ladder.
That means neighbors like Kevin are literally out in the cold, but the community is working on the problem.
"There are a lot of units being built in Council Bluffs right now,” Johnson said. “A lot of its multi-family, apartment-style, which is just as much needed as the single-family homeownership opportunities."
Eight-hundred multi-family units are currently being built in Council Bluffs. Two-hundred of those homes are considered 'affordable.’ That's 80% of the median household income for the area or $87,600 for a family of four.
