140- Now It Is Saugerties' Turn

By now you have heard that RUPCO wants to build "affordable housing" in Saugerties. Why? Is there a need? No, not according to the landlords in Saugerties who are sitting with empty apartments that seem awfully affordable. No, not according to real estate rules of thumb about the split between rental and owned households.  Saugerties is already tipped a little heavily towards the rental side of the balance. So then, why must RUPCO build affordable housing in Saugerties?  Because Saugerties is in Ulster County and that is where RUPCO operates, and there are tax credits to be had.

In a recent article, http://www.saugertiesx.com/2013/01/22/saugerties-rents-expensive/2/ Kevin O'Connor explains that people are spending more than the recommended 30% of their income on housing, therefore housing is not affordable.  Well, who says 30% is the right number?  It used to be 20%, then 25, then 30, so why not higher now?  In some places in the world that percentage is 40.  As people move out from the cities, work at home, real estate costs in the outlying towns, like the towns of Ulster County with great transportation service to NYC, become more expensive.  That means housing becomes a higher percentage of income.  Also, there are more single person households as a percentage of all households, meaning that people must spend more on their households since they are carrying the full costs of the household by themselves.