Like most major cities, Kansas City has an affordable housing problem. As we continue to see rising prices at the pump and grocery store and wages that aren’t rising fast enough to catch up, families are feeling the crunch more than ever. To meet this challenge, we need a comprehensive plan with innovative solutions leveraging a public-private partnership approach that provides relief now with an eye on the future because we don’t want the next generation to have to deal with the same problems.
But affordable housing is more than just affordable rent. We need to provide low-income families with access to weatherization programs, incentivize alternative energy sources and require developers to build energy-efficient housing to lower utility costs as well as ensure landlords provide healthy homes free of mold and other potentially dangerous environmental hazards.