There's something wrong when a $55,000 salary isn't enough to cover a home in a less expensive part of the Fredericksburg real-estate market

Date published: 8/12/2004

The poorest among us aren't the only ones who have problems finding a home

BOWLING GREEN'S recent problems in trying to hire a town manager bring up a sometimes-lost part of the debate over growth in the Fredericksburg area. Caroline's county seat and largest town wanted to hire Gary Elander, who served as town manager in Pulaski in Southwest Virginia from 2000 to 2002. Mr. Elander was champing at the bit to take the $55,000-a-year job.

He spat the bit out once he scoured the real-estate market in these parts. After logging more than 200 miles traveling in and around Bowling Green, he determined that a house comparable to his home in the New River Valley would cost about $50,000 more here.

Mr. Elander didn't think the town's salary offer was too low (those in this community who earn much less would no doubt agree); he rightly deemed the Greater Fredericksburg real-estate market out of control. When the head man of a locality's government can't make enough to live there, we've got a problem. When police and sheriff's deputies, teachers and EMTs can't afford to live where they work, there's a problem. (This argument surfaced in Stafford County during last year's debate over requiring larger building-lot sizes in rural areas.) When college-educated married professionals have to fork out $300,000 or more to move up from their starter home, there's a problem.

One gauge of the size of the problem: Last month, the average home-sale price in Fredericksburg and the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, Caroline, and King George was $279,301, according to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc., which tracks home costs.

What's the solution? If there were an easy one, someone already would have thought of it. Government can't--and shouldn't be able to--simply slam the brakes on the runaway housing train by controlling prices. But government also must make sure that "slow growth" measures don't slow the population boom by forcing area natives to move away because they can't afford to live here--or precluding the immigration of professional people like Mr. Elander. That can be an unfortunate side effect when rezoning is used to counter Gadarene growth. Moreover, casting developers, builders, and real-estate agents as villains is not especially useful. They're not arbitrarily upping housing prices, but responding to market forces and their own costs.

Maybe the myriad "town center" projects patterned after downtowns like Fredericksburg's and slated for this area will offer some housing that's actually affordable for the middle class. Maybe by the time they're built, local economic-development gurus will have been able to attract more good-paying jobs here. Just imagine where Stafford County would be--and where those 3,900 workers would be toiling--if GEICO hadn't opened its doors on U.S. 17 in May 1994.

If nothing changes, and no other solutions present themselves, growth will begin to ebb--but only because young and old, native and newcomer have been priced out of their homes and forced to move. Maybe someone should have asked Mr. Elander directions to the New River Valley.

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Date published: 8/12/2004