DREAM HOUSES

September 2002
		Many residents of Burlington, Vermont who earn the median salary cannot afford to buy or rent a median-priced house or apartment -- and the disparity continues to grow with the housing market boom. What does this mean on a national level? Housing experts Wendell Cox and Susan Popkin answer your questions.

Forum introduction Why can't Section 8 funds contribute to down payments? Is there any racism involved? What has been the progress of any trends to revitalize older housing in and near cities? Would it be easier to build affordable housing in more outlying areas, such as beyond the suburbs? Pertinent statistics about substandard housing assessments done in Houston. Why is there such a disconnect between wages in a particular area and housing prices?     Online Special: How We Live

Burlington, Vermont is one of a growing number of metropolitan areas where the median earning household cannot afford a median-priced house. What does this mean for the housing market on a national scale? Is this a trend that can be reversed with the demand for housing growing by leaps and bounds? What does it mean on a national scale? Two experts respond to your questions on the future of the housing market and what it could mean for those earning low- to middle-income salaries. Dr. Susan J. Popkin, a Senior Researcher for the Urban Institute's Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center, is the author of The Hidden War: Crime and the Tragedy of Public Housing in Chicago and a co-author of Crossing the Color and Class Lines: Low-Income Black Families in White Middle Class Suburbs. Wendell Cox is principal of the international public policy firm Wendell Cox Consultancy. He co-authored Smart Growth, Housing Costs, and Homeownership, which was published by the Heritage Foundation. In May 2002, Mr. Cox testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on the dangers of smart growth planning.