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THE LACK of affordable housing has been a re- gional issue in the Fredericksburg area for several years. Ironically, the region's population and housing growth, which have led the commonwealth over the last 20 years, have been largely because of the relative affordability of local housing compared with housing costs in Northern Virginia.

The region's strong population growth and the rising affluence associated with the higher salaries of many area workers who commute daily to jobs in the Washington and Richmond metro areas have spurred local employment growth in retail, personal and health-care services, and government sectors, creating jobs for many school teachers, policemen, firefighters, retail clerks, bank tellers, restaurant and hotel workers, etc. These local workers generally earn considerably less than those who make the long commute to high-paying jobs elsewhere.

Local workers still share the "American Dream" to own their own home (or rent a reasonably priced apartment), to live comfortably and "affordably" within their means, and to pursue their ambitions.

DEFINE 'AFFORDABLE'

"Affordable" housing is usually defined as housing that costs--either in mortgage or rent payments--no more than 30 percent of a householder's income. While Spotsylvania and Stafford counties enjoy higher incomes than the state or national average, local work-force housing affordability in 2007 was much lower--particularly for owner-occupied households--than for that of the state or the nation.

In 2007, 57.3 and 55.6 percent of owner-occupied households with incomes below $75,000 a year in Spotsylvania and Stafford counties, respectively, had mortgage costs at 30 percent or more of their household incomes. This is compared with 42.7 and 42.8 percent for the state and national average, respectively.

Also in 2007, local elected officials serving on the George Washington Regional Commission recognized the importance of housing affordability and established a regional Affordable Housing Task Force to address regional housing needs. This included local affordable-housing and real-estate experts who had begun meeting in 2002 to study this issue.

Picking up on the work of the earlier group, the new task force has proposed a housing program to acquire, repair, and re-sell bank-foreclosed homes.