A yearlong study by The Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty concluded that one McHenry County homeowner in three, and more than half of renters, do not have affordable housing

From Northwest Herald:

McHenry County officials in September 2008 received a report confirming the conventional wisdom that affordable housing in the county is hard to find.

That month, the circuit clerk recorded 228 foreclosure filings, at the time the largest monthly total since at least 2000. The situation has not improved – a record 282 foreclosures were filed in the county in September 2009.

It is against this backdrop that the county is seeking to create a housing commission to address the need for more diverse housing opportunities.

A housing commission is the natural progression of conversations that officials and organizations have had since receiving the eye-opening 2008 study, said County Board Chairman Ken Koehler, R-Crystal Lake. If approved by the County Board, the advisory commission would explore ways to make county housing more affordable, meaning that homeowners and renters spend no more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs.

"The biggest thing would be to bring together community leaders, along with the people who have been in the trenches day to day dealing with the need for housing," Koehler said.

The County Board on Tuesday placed the ordinance creating the commission on 30-day review, meaning that members likely will vote on its creation in January.

The 2008, yearlong study by The Heartland Mid-America Institute on Poverty concluded that one McHenry County homeowner in three, and more than half of renters, do not have affordable housing. While the study identified the county's median income at $72,000, about one household in three earns less than the $50,000 that the study's authors estimate it takes to make ends meet in McHenry County.

The study identified about 21 percent of county households as "very low income," or earning less than $35,000 a year. That population includes the working poor, senior citizens and people with serious physical and mental disability. But the study concluded that there is enough affordable housing in the county to accommodate only 16 percent of them.

A 2002 housing study by Chicago Metropolis 2020 warned that such trends could decrease economic development if housing is too pricey for the workforces of potential new businesses, and therefore increase traffic congestion and sprawl. The study also warned against pricing teachers and emergency personnel out of the communities they serve.