Upstate Forever’s Conference on Affordable Housing

     On September 16, Upstate Forever and the Home Builders Association of Greenville presented a one-day conference entitled “Affordable Housing in the Upstate: Building for the Future” attended by about 130 people. It is a massive topic and we knew we could not cover every important issue or describe all of the wonderful people and organizations working in this field in one day. The goals for our conference were to offer an overview of the subject and to spark an ongoing public discussion about affordable housing in our region that would lead to other conferences and workshops to consider specific issues in more detail.

An outstanding agenda included discussions on financing, “green” building, regulations and obstacles, and a glimpse of some successful Upstate projects. Dr. Robert Lang of Virginia Tech’s Metropolitan Institute delivered the keynote address entitled “If You Don’t Build It, They Will Come Anyway” urging Upstate leaders to address the need for affordable housing sooner than later.

Upstate Forever’s Director of Education and Advocacy, Diane Eldridge, began the conference with an overview of Housing Affordability in the Upstate and presented data on housing prices and income levels in Anderson, Greenville, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg Counties. Some of that information is presented in the preceding article.