The Housing Situation

A Micro-Community Assessment on the State of Housing in West Virginia and Appalachia

Quick Facts: Wheeling, West Virginia

• Population: 27,790• Demographic: 90.6% White (not Hispanic or Latino)• High school graduate or higher (persons 25+): 90.6%• Homeownership rate: 64% • Median household income: $35,651 (national: $53,657)• Persons below poverty level: 18.7% (national: 14.8%)

United States Census Bureau 2014

Poverty in Appalachia• Known for economic hardship• LBJ focused War of Poverty (1960s) on Appalachia• Currently, “the focus has shifted to large urban areas…where social and economic

problems tend to be more visible on a daily basis” (Mather 1).• Improvement in large metropolitan areas and bordering counties• Problems persist in central Appalachia: low job opportunity, high poverty rates,

social/economic isolation• Welfare reform created “problem of ‘spatial mismatch’ between the locations of new

jobs for entry-level and low-skilled workers and the residences of poor people” (Mather 1).

Housing and Commuting Problems in Appalachia by Mark Mather (January 2004)

Rural Housing Problems in Appalachia

1. Homeownership and affordability2. Quality of Housing

Housing and Commuting Problems in Appalachia by Mark Mather (January 2004)

Homeownership and Affordability

• *High homeownership in most distressed Appalachian counties: indicates low level of mobility capability

• Job influx in metropolitan areas vs. means to commute/relocate

• Low-income families lack ability to relocate closer to jobs• Note: increase in mobile home ownership boosted

homeownership rates in poorest communitiesHousing and Commuting Problems in Appalachia by Mark Mather (January 2004)

Continued

• Development in Virginia and West Virginian northeastern panhandle for commuting jobs in Maryland and Virginia

• “Drive-to-qualify” commuters: “those who accept long commuting distances sufficient to reach homes they can qualify to purchase” (Koebel 3).

• Huge racial gap in homeownershipHousing and Commuting Problems in Appalachia by Mark Mather (January 2004)

Grown Patterns and Rural Housing in Appalachia by Theodore Koebel (Summer 2016)

Quality of Housing

• Incomplete Plumbing• Crowding• Mobile Homes• Housing Vacancy