Wanted: 1BR or Studio in Orlando for 40 y/o Male. Non smoker. No Pets. Very clean, very boring, aside from occasional shouting of profanity at sporting event on television.
That’s roughly what my ad would look like if I posted my current housing needs online. I’m unfortunately back in the market after a long stay at my current location. While affordable housing in the greater Orlando area is currently on the radar of local leaders as one of the biggest challenges in the region, I’m currently experiencing it first hand.
And goodness, the price of housing in Orlando is insane!
Housing in Orlando is not “pricey”. It is not “steep’. It is expensive to beyond the point of being reasonable. If it had to be illustrated, it would be a picture of a house wearing a strait jacket with dollar signs on it.
It’s a couple of thousand dollars to move in, and we’re not even counting the costs of utilities and moving expenses. You can wander outside of the tri county area but you’d better have time and money to get to work with the current Ultimate I4 situation.
“How do families do this?” was a question I asked myself with brand news eyes on the subject.
Seriously. Even if you cloned me and multiplied my income, the monthly expenses would still be a battle.
Then children? Food, daycare, expenses to education and health care, on top of this price for housing?
You can’t be serious.
Then there are still barriers to being accepted by some landlords. You’d better inspire some confidence or you’re not moving in. Blogger/Photographer doesn’t exactly inspire confidence and most political analyst is more likely to start a debate rather than a signing for keys. Nobody knows who I am anyways.
Now, I’m going to be okay. I’m an old soldier and could live out of a walk-in closet. This post is here as a first hand account of what’s going on out there and a very real reminder to all who read it that we need real progress on the issue.
We don’t need task force meetings that go nowhere. We need solutions in place yesterday that will keep individuals and families from slipping into homelessness.
I can’t imagine the despair of looking at your children and packing them into a car or hotel room at night, with no real place to call home.
Let’s stop talking and start acting. Now.
