Conversationsabout affordable housing are often dominated with the question of how to get lower-income residents in expensive cities—like New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco (and their surrounding areas) safe, affordable places to live. Thatmakes sense: Often urban hubs are a good bet for jobs and economic vitality, but they're also prohibitively expensive for many—creating well-known affordable housing problems. But cities aren't the only places that are lacking when it comes to adequate housing at affordable prices. In rural America, it's both prices and the terrible condition of existing homes that are problematic.
Few people think about rural communities—not only when it comes to housing issues, but at all. It's mostly a numbers game.According to data from the Housing Assistance Council (HAC), in 2012 only about 21 percent of Americans lived in rural areas, which means that not many people outside those areas—or about 80 percent of Americans—probably feel much association with rural issues. And that can make it difficult to shed light on the problems that happen there.Making the case to divert funds and attention to partsof the country that house a mere 20 percent of the total population can be an uphill battle, especially in difficult economic times.
[For more of this story, written by Gillian B. White, go to http://www.citylab.com/housing...using-crisis/384906/]
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