Housing has become increasingly expensive in recent years, and Kansas City isn't immune: Rents here are among the fastest rising in the country, and housing stock is scarce, making for intense competition for prospective buyers.
Part of the reason is because there's just not enough houses to begin with, says Jenny Schuetz, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro and the author of "Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems." And on top of that, constructing new housing can be hard because of zoning regulations and the the way cities propose changing them, which often involves community feedback.
For example, say that developer wants to build an apartment building. "It turns out that people who live in the neighborhood often don't want their neighborhood to change, which is not that surprising. People are attached to their homes," Schuetz told KCUR's Up To Date.
"But that means that people who don't live in the neighborhood, or don't yet live in the city and would like to move there, don't have a voice in being able to say, 'I want those apartments.'"
Schuetz says part of the solution will include efforts at all levels of government. But it's also about breaking down misconceptions and myths people have about affordable housing.
"We really are often talking about your teachers, your nurses, the barista who works at Starbucks," Schuetz says. "Why should those people not be allowed to live in the communities where they work?"
Schuetz will speak at the Kansas City Public Library on Wednesday, July 24 at 6 p.m. as a part of the "Making a Great City" series.
- Jenny Schuetz, senior fellow at Brookings Metro and author of "Fixer Upper: How to Repair America's Broken Housing Systems"
