Charlotte in affordable housing crisis

CHARLOTE, NC — Charlotte is a beautiful place to work and raise a family if you can find a place to live. Some who already call the Queen City home are being forced out, and others trying to make a home here are struggling to find one.

"I literally look every day," said Shay Barnes.

Barnes is moving to Charlotte from Greensboro with her husband and two children. Her husband started a new IT job here about a month ago, and since then her family has been in limbo

"We've kind of had to split up our family," she said.

Her budget for a rental home is $1,500 a month which is just a few hundred dollars more than the average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment. That's made her home search a difficult one.

Experts estimate a third of households in Charlotte spend more than a third of their income on housing, which is considered cost-burdened.

"We hear statistics that there are 50-60 people moving to Charlotte every day. That has definitely had an impact on the need for affordable housing," said Red Dodson Jr with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Housing Partnership - a non-profit working to create more affordable housing for low and moderate-income families.

The organization has built more than 2000 units in Charlotte, but consultants say the city currently needs at least 24,000 affordable units.

"In a good year, we're producing maybe 4-500 units of affordable housing. To me, that's a crisis," said Dodson.

It's a crisis leaving the Barnes family - and so many others - struggling to find a place in Charlotte they can call home.

"I feel like I'm at this place now where I'm going to have to settle, just to get my family here," said Shay Barnes.

Cox Media Group