(RECAP: The Charlottesville region faces a serious affordable housing crisis, one that threatens the well being of the community and leaves too many hardworking local families and individuals like Trisha without access to simple, decent affordable housing. The numbers are staggering: 50 percent of Charlottesville residents spend more than one third of their income on housing alone. Based on affordable housing deficits identified in key city, county and Thomas Jefferson Plotting District Commission studies, we find we have a regional deficit of about 16,000 safe, decent, affordable units. As a community, we can do better. And confronting this crisis starts with land.)

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(RECAP: The Charlottesville Plotting Commission has recommended that the Cherry Avenue corridor be selected for a small-area plot to help its neighborhoods cope with looming development. “I agree with Cherry Avenue being the higher priority … not only because of the pressures, but combined with the derelict buildings and open lots that are there just waiting for redevelopment,” Commissioner Jody Lahendro said at a recent meeting. Other areas considered by the panel for the next small-area plot were Woolen Mills and the intersection of U.S. 29 and Hydraulic Road. The city’s 2013 Comprehensive Plot has a goal to “enhance the sense of place throughout Charlottesville” in part by making these small-area plans.)

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(RECAP: How widespread is the affordable housing crisis? Well, not a single county in the U.S. has enough affordable units to go around. Constructing more housing is vital (albeit not simple), but we can’t just build our way out of the problem: In some cases, the cheaper, better option is to simply preserve the existing affordable housing stock, instead of allowing it to get swept away by development. The need to save housing that’s affordable right now is growing in urgency: Rents have been rising for more than a decade, as have the numbers of renters. According to a previous analysis by the Urban Institute, there are only 28 affordable units for every 100 renter households with incomes at or below 30 percent of area median income. Saving those properties holds significant advantages.)

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