密歇根新闻广播 住房任务组希冀为密歇根北部带来经济适用房

 

Northern Michigan's tourism industry is huge. Likely this summer alone you or someone you know has headed up that way at least once.

At first blush, that sounds as though all that tourism is nothing but great for the economy. It creates a lot of jobs at businesses like restaurants and hotels.

But as more visitors buy beachfront properties and real estate prices rise, it's proving really hard for folks working in the tourism and service industries to find affordable¹ housing.

Leelanau County Commissioner² Ty Wessel is trying to do something about that.

Wessel is part of a newly formed affordable housing task force.

"County government has only a limited role, but we think it's a leadership role," he says. "Our real goal as a housing task force will be to get the right people at the table … and not only educating our community about our needs but working on ways to attract developers to provide more affordable housing."

Wessel says as it stands now, many workers in Leelanau County have to spend up to 60% of their take-home pay on housing and transportation, "and that's just not affordable."

Businesses are having a hard time finding and holding on to workers, but the effects of the housing situation reach further than that, according to Wessel.

Because it's so hard for people living and working in the county to buy homes there, he tells us that school enrollment³ is down 16% in the last decade, and that many families are struggling to afford childcare and are being forced to commute⁴ unreasonable⁵ distances to work.

"It is an issue that our schools and our employers and our families and our churches and our villages and townships are all concerned about," he says.

Wessel tells us the task force plans to work on building partnerships⁶ with businesses and nonprofit organizations, review the area's zoning laws, and work with the Michigan Housing Commission, all to figure out how to create greater incentives⁷ for companies to bring more affordable housing to the area.

There is some concern surrounding the cost of the venture, but the task force is determined⁸ to do right by their struggling workers. Wessel says they're confident that, "if we do it right, we can keep the cost down without compromising on quality, and we think there is a market for that."

- Ryan Grimes, Stateside

1 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

4 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

5 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

6 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

7 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。