Note: This story is part of Squeezed Out, a series from Lee Enterprises that focuses on the escalating housing crisis in the West. Across the region, costs associated with renting or buying property have skyrocketed, forcing many individuals and families to redefine the meaning of home. More than one dozen reporters, photographers and editors across the West contributed to this project.
As renters are priced out, they are forced into dilapidated apartments or shabby motel rooms — or they fail to find stable housing at all and end up homeless, according to interviews with more than a dozen renters in six western states. Across the West, rents have been skyrocketing, with some places seeing payments from new residents soar by 30% or 40% since the start of the pandemic, according to Apartment List. As of July, Idaho had seen the largest statewide jump in the nation — rents are up 45% since March 2020.
After a $200 rent hike a few weeks earlier, car troubles, inflation and losing their access to food stamps, money was tight. Too tight. ‘We can’t afford the rent’Idaho resident Marj Hayfield, 50, has been searching for a new apartment since May. They also still have to worry about car payments, medical bills and day care for Hayfield’s grandson. They’ve started relying on local food banks to get by.
The changes mirror the COVID-19 pandemic, which sparked more remote work and prompted people to rethink where they live. Starting in March 2020, Apartment List data shows a trend of people moving inland from the coast or moving from the heart of major cities to the outskirts, Warnock said. In the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, rent has increased 42% since the start of the pandemic, putting the median price of a two-bedroom on par with Phoenix at $1,500, according to the same data. Over that time period, rents increased 41% in Tucson and 40% in Mesa and Avondale.
Perry White wasn’t so lucky. The 65-year-old Army veteran has lived in a homeless camp in Elko, Nevada, for the last five years. He’s growing weary of the wind that batters his tent and the temperature extremes. Reno renter Laura Getchell, 57, said she got a letter from her landlord in May stating rent was increasing from $939 to $1,560 a month — a more than $620 hike.
Just like our newspapers are being displaced by owners who have no interest in the community. Shipping customer service over to Manila. Transferring printing to the hell that is Phoenix. Copy & pasting stories from the wire services & firing local reporters
I interviewed with one of the newscasters for a TV channel here in Tucson and the very same day they went to talk to the property investors, who sent a policeman to my door to threaten me to get out, or face the consequences. I'm still here. So, good luck.