BETHLEHEM, Pa. – It’s a problem our entire nation is facing, but the lack of affordable housing has become a crisis in the Lehigh Valley.
“It doesn’t take an expert to realize we’re in an affordability crisis. People can’t afford to live in the Lehigh Valley and the houses that is being built are out of people’s price range,” said local organizer for Lehigh Valley Stands Up, Gillian Wenhold
Finding a solution is not easy but, Lehigh Valley Stands Up is trying. On Saturday they held an in-person event – Community Visions of Housing: Everybody Wins!
“Talk about affordability and what local governments have to do to make real sustainable investments and affordable housing, not just building new housing, but making sure that anything we build is going to be affordable and that people are not going to be put on the street because they can’t afford the rent,” Lehigh County Commissioner and Lehigh Valley Stand Up Member, Jon Irons.
There are already too many people out on the streets. “The most emerging examples – we have encampments in Allentown and one in Bethlehem that are going to be forced to be cleared in the next couples of months,” said Irons.
Lehigh Valley Stands Up believes there are ways to fix the problem.
“The solution to that is social housing,” said Wenhold. “So, we’re here to talk about how that looks and what we can do to bring people into the movement with us.”
“We’ve talked about different zoning changes, inclusionary zoning, and we believe in bringing it together for conversation,” said Irons.
A conversation Lehigh Valley Stands Up says is far from over.