{"id":290413,"date":"2026-09-20T18:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T18:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/290413\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T18:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T18:34:12","slug":"erie-area-residents-urged-to-voice-housing-concerns-at-sept-22-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/290413\/","title":{"rendered":"Erie-area residents urged to voice housing concerns at Sept. 22 meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Erie-area<\/p>\n

Erie-area citizens have identified housing affordability as a key concern in the Erie region.<\/p>\n

KEVIN FLOWERS\/ERIE TIMES-NEWS<\/p>\n

USA TODAY Network, Reuters<\/p>\n

Residents will soon have another opportunity to share their views on the various housing challenges facing the Erie region.<\/p>\n

The city of Erie and representatives of Erie County government, among others, will host a Sept. 22 town hall meeting on the issue at East Middle School, 1001 Atkins St. The event will begin at 6 p.m. <\/p>\n

City officials said the event will give residents and opportunity to speak directly with various people working on housing-related issues in the region, express concerns, and ask questions about plans to improve housing in the area.<\/p>\n

Before the event begins, a housing resource fair will take place starting at 5:30 p.m. Those who attend can find information from area organizations about housing resources and services available in the Erie area.<\/p>\n

Various housing studies underway<\/p>\n

The Sept. 22 meeting has been scheduled at a time when at least three ongoing initiatives are addressing housing affordability and related issues in the region.<\/p>\n

The city is currently conducting a long-term affordable housing plan and has hired Pittsburgh-based Mullin & Lonergan Associates to conduct the housing study. It is examining homelessness, workforce-related housing, the city’s market-rate housing needs and other issues. <\/p>\n

Mullin & Lonergan are expected to present recommendations later this year; its research also includes a gaps analysis that will determine how much quality owner-occupied and rental housing is available for people of various incomes. <\/p>\n

Infinite Erie, a group that has created a strategic playbook designed to push community and economic development on various fronts – has also unveiled a regional housing plan.<\/p>\n

Infinite Erie’s Housing Accelerator plan seeks to create 250 new housing units in the region and permanent supportive housing to the homeless.<\/p>\n

Analysis related to that plan examines the supply and quality of housing in the Erie region; the cost of rent; blight; and a variety of other factors.<\/p>\n

Further, an initiative called “Ideas for Change,” a city partnership with change.org, the online petition website and technology platform that allows users to create, sign and share petitions on various issues, identified affordable rental housing emerged as a top citizen concern. <\/p>\n

Ideas for Change results can be viewed at www.ideasforchange.org\/erie. <\/p>\n

Affordability a chief concern <\/p>\n

City officials have said previously that there is a significant need for quality, affordable housing for both renters and homebuyers in the city, and the amount that residents are spending on monthly housing costs is increasing. <\/p>\n

Housing affordability, especially rental housing, has been a significant concern in Erie for years. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 48% of the city’s nearly 45,000 housing units are rentals and more than 25% of the city’s residents live below federal poverty guidelines.<\/p>\n

Further, according to census data, the average city renter spends nearly 40% of his\/her income on housing expenses, which exceeds the national average of 25%. The median monthly rent for an apartment in Erie is currently $838, according to Zumper.com, a nationwide real estate platform.<\/p>\n

Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on X at@ETNflowers.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie-area residents urged to voice housing concerns at Sept. 22 meeting<\/p>\n

Reporting by Kevin Flowers, Erie Times-News \/ Erie Times-News<\/p>\n

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

\"Gary Gary Horton, center, starts a public listening session for citizens to provide input on a new housing affordability strategy in Erie, Pa., on March 14. The session was held inside the Urban Erie Community Development Corporation, where Horton is CEO\/President. GREG WOHLFORD\/ERIE TIMES-NEWS USA TODAY Network, Reuters \"Housing Housing First Erie, a project supported by Infinite Erie, plans to develop housing units here at the former Erie School District administration property at 148 W. 21st St., Erie. ERIE TIMES-NEWS FILE USA TODAY Network, Reuters <\/p>\n

Copyright Reuters or USA Today via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

This story was originally published September 20, 2026 at 4:30 AM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Erie-area citizens have identified housing affordability as a key concern in the Erie region. KEVIN FLOWERS\/ERIE TIMES-NEWS USA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-290413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290413","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=290413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}