St Johns County isn’t paradise if you can’t afford housing

Bill Lazar provided local Historic City News reporters with a copy of the recently released “2015 Home Matters” report from the Florida Housing Coalition.

The report is an in-depth look at housing needs for St. Johns County residents that Lazar says is worth the time to reach — for yourself and your family.

“10,000 people a day are turning 65,” Lazar reported.  “One of our community’s growing challenges will be to help our elderly residents to safely age in place.”

Simultaneously, many of our graduating high school seniors are unable to afford a place to live.

“We raise them, educate them, and train them to be part of our workforce,” Lazar observed.  “We need to develop housing to keep them here.”

The report looks at the entire housing continuum; from homelessness, to homeownership, to aging in place.

“We are asking for your help to discover new solutions,” Lazar said.  “To a certain degree, we either plan for it now, or we’ll pay for it later.”