{"id":112102,"date":"2026-02-12T15:22:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/112102\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:22:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:22:07","slug":"philadelphia-seniors-see-housing-affordability-as-a-top-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/112102\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia seniors see housing affordability as a top issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

A majority of Philadelphia seniors are homeowners<\/a> \u2014 about 69% \u2014 while a smaller percentage rent, research shows.\n<\/p>\n

But more than a third<\/a> of the city\u2019s 65 and older population live at or below the federal poverty line, according to data from the Pew Charitable Trusts, which can make it difficult for homeowners and renters alike to find affordable housing on limited fixed incomes.\n<\/p>\n

Some seniors are turning to each other for support while city and state leaders try to increase awareness about programs that help aging residents<\/a> stay in their homes and communities.\n <\/p>\n

Seniors, aging advocates and policy makers discussed these challenges and potential solutions during a WHYY Bridging Blocks community event at the Parkway Central Library.\n<\/p>\n

A Pew report<\/a> released in November found that the level of housing cost burden was \u201cfar higher\u201d for older renters compared to homeowners. But Edward T. Johnson, 66, said it can still be tough for seniors who\u2019ve purchased homes.\n<\/p>\n

Johnson lives in the Cecil B. Moore neighborhood in a townhouse he bought in 1999.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your house is paid for, that\u2019s one half of the battle. The other half is the upkeep,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they own a home, they can\u2019t pay for repairs, they cannot pay even if they have equity in their house, they cannot pay back the loans, then they are cash strapped.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Now retired, Johnson is living off a pension and Social Security income. He can afford the costs that come with being a homeowner, but said he knows that\u2019s not the case for many others.\n<\/p>\n

Recently, he invited a longtime friend who had suffered from a stroke to come live with him. They now share some of the expenses of daily living.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re both retired, so I don\u2019t charge him hardly nothing to pay,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHe can save some money, and I can save some money, OK. That\u2019s the whole idea.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5766,69,71,70,28949],"class_list":["post-112102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-growing-golden-aging-with-purpose","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-senior-citizens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}