Wilmington leaders talk affordable housing

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Mayor’s Roundtable on Housing Affordability was held this morning featuring discussion by a number of Wilmington leaders from diverse backgrounds.

City officials, business leaders, educators, and members of the community met to talk about ways to help the people of Wilmington afford homes for themselves and their families.

One point that came up time and time again was changing the Wilmington community’s perception of the phrase “affordable housing.” Leaders spoke today about how the phrase sometimes holds a negative connotation in this area, but they say that it also applies to folks like teachers and law enforcement officers.

City Council member Earl Sheridan said that it means different things for different people, and the community needs to start talking about changing that negative perception of the term.

“It’s not just the subsidized housing, or not just what people perceive as public housing or the barrack-style housing kind of thing. It’s making sure that people of various income levels can afford a decent place to live,” Sheridan said.

Sheridan added that the city might want to consider a task force to help move things forward.

Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said that this is a problem that transcends the city.

“It should not be only a City of Wilmington issue, it’s got to be a county of New Hanover, it’s got to be a county of Brunswick.Because we see people now that are going into Pender county and Brunswick county to look for affordable housing. They’re going to be running into the same kind of problem there,” Saffo said.

All the panelists today agreed that there is a long road ahead, but the time to start taking action is now.