Affordable housing remains a challenge in Durham as thousands of luxury apartments remain empty

The first day of autumn brought enthusiastic crowds to downtown Durham for Centerfest.

It happened in the literal shadow of a new residential construction that's happening across the Bull City. The activity is a barometer of Durham's rapid growth at a time when city leaders are hearing from people who are having difficulty as they search for affordable housing.

"It has gotten a little bit more expensive," said Amit Narawane, a Duke University graduate student. "Our program is trying to hopefully change our stipend a little bit, to account for the cost of living."

Many of those new apartments downtown are vacant, as even more residential buildings are under construction. First responders, teachers, and other potential tenants wonder now; how much must they pay for housing that's considered affordable?

'That's a good question. I do see a lot of the new buildings are pretty luxury apartment style. So hopefully they have some different, more diversity in options for different range people who live in Durham," Narawane said. "I guess the percentage of income, as long as it's not getting to 40 or 50 percent, then something more reasonable before that would be fine with me."

Durham is moving forward with the construction of modern public housing, but the challenge for people with modest incomes is the wait for those units to become available.

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