Rising rents impact homelessness and health

A pair of recent news articles shed some light on the impact of rising rental prices in our community on homelessness and on the minds of those who are worried about being able to afford housing.

Kate Martin writes in The News Tribune today about How big are the rent increases here? Big enough to put Tacoma at the top of one list, in which she notes:

“Rents are rising all across the Pacific Northwest, as more people move here. Developers are not building enough housing units to accommodate them, hence the rise in housing prices.”

Meanwhile, in an article on the Citylab website titled Are we worried sick about the rent?, writer Candace Butera notes new research that finds that housing instability can impact the mental and physical health of all members of a family. She writes that a new study at Boston Medical Center finds that “housing instability, including chronically late rent payment, can affect the mental and physical health of family members of all ages.”

This adds even more weight to the connection between housing and health.