美国国家公共电台 NPR The New Housing Crisis: Shut Out Of The Market

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Ten years after the housing market collapsed¹, a different crisis has emerged. Back then, a decade ago, lots of people were losing their homes. Today people who want to buy or in a lot of cases even just rent are being priced out of the market because there just aren't enough places for sale or for rent. So all this week on NPR's news shows we're taking a look at the new housing crisis in the U.S. from coastal² cities to the rural heartland. And we're looking at what's being done to solve it. NPR's Kirk Siegler starts the series in one of the fastest-growing metro³ areas in the country - Boise, Idaho.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE⁴: Jennifer St. John has lived in Idaho's Treasure Valley all her life. The Boise she was born in was a sleepy, tree-lined river town surrounded by farms and mountains. It's hard to recognize today.

JENNIFER ST JOHN: A lot of the areas that were fields and farms are now full-on neighborhoods. And corners that were out in the boondocks and why would you ever go there are now a booming part of town.

SIEGLER: The boom didn't really get personal, though, until last year when St. John decided⁵ she was ready to buy her first house. She's 37. She manages a learning center for autistic kids. She's solidly middle class.

ST JOHN: It's been hard for me.

SIEGLER: Two hundred thousand dollars is as high as she can go. She's in good company. That's the limit for the average buyer here. The problem is the median home price is a hundred grand higher than that.

ST JOHN: I'm single. There's only one income in my home (laughter). And I don't want to share my house with roommates.

SIEGLER: So how did we get here, especially in a city like Boise that's long marketed its livability and affordability⁶? Well, one answer lies in the immediate⁷ aftermath of the Great Recession, when homebuilding ground to a virtual halt. And the rebound⁸ has been slow.

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SIEGLER: Nationwide, new home construction is lower than it's been in four decades. Housing experts tick through a list of specific reasons - there's tougher zoning; there's not enough undeveloped land; lumber⁹ is expensive. And one of the biggest problems - labor¹⁰.

ROBERT DEMARAY: Yeah, there is a shortage. It's been real tough to find help. Thank goodness my two sons work with me.

SIEGLER: On a job site in the Boise suburb of Meridian¹¹ I met Robert Demaray.

DEMARAY: Yeah, we're just getting ready to use a crane to set our trusses here, and...

SIEGLER: He's a contractor¹².

DEMARAY: OK, down.

SIEGLER: A huge crane is swinging each truss over to the skeleton roof where a few men are laying them in place. But because of that labor shortage, it's taking about two to three months longer to build homes than it would have back in 2006 before the recession. Demaray says after the housing crash, a lot of people in the trades left for the oil fields in North Dakota, and many didn't come back. Also, younger people aren't going into the trades like they used to, and those workers who are here and available are hard to keep.

DEMARAY: The guys chase dollars. You know, they - this guy over here, he'll give me a dollar more an hour, so I'm going to go.

SIEGLER: So they can't build homes fast enough to keep up with the demand. When you drive around the Boise area, it seems like every road is lined with for-sale or ready-to-build signs. You see a lot of bright flags and banners advertising¹³ brand-new spec homes, too. But a federal study showed that in Boise there is still a demand for more than 10 times the amount of homes being built right now. This is a nationwide problem, but it's especially acute in cities like Boise that are a draw for people moving from the more expensive and crowded West Coast.

JOE ATALLA: This is just such a great place to live. And people do move here with a certain lifestyle in mind.

SIEGLER: Joe Atalla moved with his wife 13 years ago from the Bay Area to start a family. An architect by trade, Atalla now owns his own building firm. Now, since the recession, he says developers across the country are building more high-end. If land and everything else is so expensive, you've got to make sure you're not going to go underwater.

ATALLA: As a builder, if I'm buying a more expensive lot, I have to build a home that justifies¹⁴ the cost of that lot.

SIEGLER: In Boise, two-thirds of all the new homes and rentals¹⁵ being built right now are on the upper end of the market. Now, Atalla took me to see his new Settlers' Village development, which he sees as one possible solution.

ATALLA: Yeah, we're looking to pave our roads here in the next week or so.

SIEGLER: It's an infill project, smaller homes on denser¹⁶ lots. Now, they'll still sell for probably $275,000 or more, which won't help a lot of people here. But Atalla says it's a start.

ATALLA: I really like these smaller projects. It plays well into some of what we're trying to do where we can bring homes at a lower price point into the marketplace.

SIEGLER: In some ways, Boise is a victim of its own success. Its easy access to hiking trails and trout¹⁷ streams and skiing always puts it high on top 10 lists by outdoor lifestyle magazines.

DAVE BIETER: You know, we'll take these kinds of problems, you know?

SIEGLER: Boise's popular longtime mayor Dave Bieter says a lot of cities and towns would envy being in this position.

BIETER: You know, with 2.6 unemployment - you know, our unemployment's so low here it looks like a typo.

SIEGLER: The only problem is, where is everybody going to live - the teachers, the firefighters, the service workers that make a city tick?

BIETER: Our figures show we need to build about a thousand units a year in the city of Boise to keep, you know, the kind of demand we're seeing.

SIEGLER: And they're way behind in that goal. The city may look to voter-approved bonds to build more affordable¹⁸ housing like one large project that's underway on city-owned land not far from Bieter's office. Now, that could help ease the market, but it's not going to do too much right now. Brock Bridges is 28. He's a bartender at a local brewery¹⁹. His wife is a sheriff's deputy. They've spent the past year looking for a starter home.

BROCK BRIDGES: When a house that's decent pops up, it gets so many offers it's almost impossible.

SIEGLER: Bridges says it's nice to have new people coming in. He's just tired of losing out on all the bidding wars for houses. One they recently bid on got 16 other offers, some all cash.

BRIDGES: We feel priced out. You know, I don't think prices are going to go down anytime soon. So it's the kind of situation where you've got to make more money or live somewhere else.

SIEGLER: So he and his wife are going to keep renting, which isn't exactly cheap anymore in Boise or a whole lot of other places either. That's what we'll dive into in the next story in this series later today on All Things Considered. Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Boise.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRIESEMUT'S "THE BEARABLE")

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

3 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 affordability   

可购性

参考例句：

• Performance-Based Logistics Affordability: Can We Afford Categorical Conversion to Performance-Based Acquisition? 基于性能的后期的可承受性：能否担负得起向基于性能的采办的无条件的转变？
• There would be no crisis of affordability, as't for food or clothing. 就想食物与服装一样，因为供给没有危机。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

9 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 meridian   

adj.子午线的；全盛期的

参考例句：

• All places on the same meridian have the same longitude.在同一子午线上的地方都有相同的经度。
• He is now at the meridian of his intellectual power.他现在正值智力全盛期。

12 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

13 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

14 justifies   

证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• Their frequency of use both justifies and requires the memorization. 频繁的使用需要记忆，也促进了记忆。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In my judgement the present end justifies the means. 照我的意见，只要目的正当，手段是可以不计较的。

15 rentals   

n.租费，租金额( rental的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In some large hotels, the income derived from this source actually exceeds income from room rentals. 有些大旅馆中，这方面的盈利实际上要超过出租客房的盈利。 来自辞典例句
• Clerk: Well, Canadian Gifts is on the lower level. It's across from Prime Time Video Rentals. 噢，礼品店在楼下，在黄金时刻录像出租屋的对面。 来自口语例句

16 denser   

adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• As Tito entered the neighbourhood of San Martino, he found the throng rather denser. 蒂托走近圣马丁教堂附近一带时，发现人群相当密集。

17 trout   

n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)

参考例句：

• Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
• We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。

18 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。

19 brewery   

n.啤酒厂

参考例句：

• The brewery had 25 heavy horses delivering beer in London.啤酒厂有25匹高头大马在伦敦城中运送啤酒。
• When business was good,the brewery employed 20 people.在生意好的时候，这家酿造厂曾经雇佣过20人。