Today’s blog is by Hannah Jarrett, Community Impact Associate, United Way of the Piedmont.

Tomorrow, Spartanburg is hosting a Housing & Real Estate Summit at The Hangar. The Summit provides community leaders, service providers, and neighborhood associations an opportunity to learn about the state of housing in our community, who is most affected by housing affordability, the impacts, and some potential solutions. The Summit is a successful first step towards a more strategic, county-wide collaboration to develop an affordable housing plan.

At the Summit, the Spartanburg County Housing Affordability Assessment will be presented. The assessment provides comprehensive data surrounding demographics of County residents, housing markets, select economic characteristics, and other considerations that impact housing market affordability. Based on the findings of the report, housing is mostly considered affordable in Spartanburg County based on median income and median costs, but there is a clear housing affordability gap between homeowners and renters in the County.

Shirley Franklin, former Mayor of Atlanta and founder of Purpose Built Communities, is the keynote speaker, and session topics include housing policy, housing services, and housing for special populations, such as the homeless and veterans.

The Summit was made possible through a partnership between the Christmas in Action, City of Spartanburg, County of Spartanburg, First Baptist Spartanburg, Habitat for Humanity of Spartanburg, Spartanburg Association of Realtors, SC Community Loan Fund, and United Way of the Piedmont.

Link to Housing Summit website: http://www.uwpiedmont.org/housingsummit/