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🏡 Five eye-popping stats on Orlando housing
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🏡 Five eye-popping stats on Orlando housing

Thanks to Steven Madow for always tagging us on Instagram and letting us see Orlando through his eyes.

🏡 FIVE STATS TO USE NEXT TIME YOU’RE TALKING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

It’s no secret that Orlando is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis and has been for a long time. But even just the phrase “affordable housing” has become so commonplace that it’s easy for us to assume we know what we’re talking about. That’s why we’re digging into what exactly “affordable housing” means for Orlandoans, starting with this list of the most eye-popping stats that help add context to our housing debate.

So the next time you find yourself talking to someone about this booming city of ours, the increased rent, and the lack of income growth, think about throwing one of these five stats into the conversation.

  1. Rent for homes and apartments in the metro Orlando area is rising faster than any other big city in the country, according to this December Zillow report. The average rent increase across the U.S. was 0.5 percent over the last year, while Orlando-area rent increased by 4.4 percent during the same time. Why? Fewer homes and apartments are available for rent.
  2. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is now $1,339 a month, according to internet listing service company RentCafe. Essentially, this means a minimum wage worker with a family needs to work almost three jobs just to afford their two-bedroom home.
  3. The average Orlando renter spends 31.5 percent of their income on rent, according to Zillow. And a household that spends more than 30 percent of its gross income on rent and utilities is considered cost-burdened, according to federal guidelines. If you spend more than half of your income on rent, you are considered extremely rent burdened.
  4. Despite these sobering statistics, fewer affordable housing units are being built. The Orlando metro area is just as bad as Los Angeles when it comes to the availability of affordable housing, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual report. Both are tied for second worst in the country, offering only 17 affordable units per 100 extremely low-income renter households.
  5. The state receives money that they are supposed to spend on building more affordable housing. But the Orange County government received only $1.8 million of the $14.4 million promised from the federal housing trust fund to spend on affordable housing for its low-income residents, according to the Florida Housing Coalition.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking into how the shortage of affordable housing in Orlando impacts our quality of life and identify potential solutions to fix this serious problem.

As always, we encourage you to share your questions and concerns about housing in Orlando. What do you want to know? Head here to tell us what’s on your mind. Next week we’ll put a few of those questions up to a vote, so you all can decide on what we’ll dig into on this topic.

🎯 WE’VE GOT A WINNER

Congrats to member David B. for getting the right answer in our member trivia challenge this week about Orlando civil rights pioneer Nap Ford. David just scored a $10 gift certificate from Enzian! Wanna play our next member trivia challenge? Join us! For $8 a month, our members help make everything you know and love about Pulptown possible. Members get special perks like free and discounted event tickets, a kit of member gear, and special giveaways like this one. 😍

WHAT'S GOING DOWN IN PULPTOWN?

The echoes of injustice. Public apologies keep mounting in the case of the Groveland Four — a 1949 incident where four black men were wrongly convicted of kidnapping and raping a Lake County woman. Even the Sentinel’s editorial board has apologized for the newspaper’s “role in this unjustice.” Newly sworn-in Gov. Ron DeSantis meets with the Clemency Board for the first time today, where discussion of a posthumous pardon for the defendants is likely to come up. The family of the accuser, meanwhile, is standing by her assertion that the crimes took place. (Orlando Sentinel)

DeSantis dives in. Gov. Ron DeSantis is wasting no time in addressing Florida’s environmental disasters, pledging $2.5 billion to tackle problems like blue-green algae and red tide over the next four years. An executive order signed Thursday — the Republican governor’s second full day in office — establishes a state Office of Resiliency, a Blue-Green Algae Task Force, the Office of Environmental Accountability and Transparency, and a new position called chief science officer. Democrats praised the intent behind the order but questioned where the money for pollution clean-up would come from. (Orlando Sentinel)

Worth the wait? Fifty years after first trying to purchase the land, Disney finally convinced the family of the late cattle rancher Oren Brown to hand over 1,575 acres of their property for $11 million. Brown, who died in 1993, was notorious for his refusal to sell, once telling a magazine, “Lots of people like money, but I don’t care so much for it.” His heirs, apparently, felt differently. (Orlando Sentinel)

Pasta party. The owners of Se7enBites plan to open a new rustic Italian restaurant in the former STIR location in the next couple of months. Called Sette — which means “seven” in Italian — the new Ivanhoe Village eatery will feature freshly made pasta, stews, and desserts. (Orlando Weekly)

Best of the best. Yelp’s 2019 “Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S.” is here, and Orlando’s Mee Thai Restaurant made the cut at No. 24. The restaurant specializes in serving dishes from the northeastern region of Thailand known as Esan. (Orlando Weekly)

OUR PARTNER EVENTS

❄️Today to Sunday: Head to the Orlando Fringe Winter Mini-Fest and enjoy 22 shows that are guaranteed to delight (Loch Haven Park)

🍻 Saturday, Jan. 26 Join us for an afternoon of brews at Orlando Brewing. For $15, Pulptown readers are getting a private tour and four beer samples with brewery president and founder John Cheek. PLUS, you get to hang out with The Pulptown team! Tickets are on sale now, click the link here.

 

Want to partner with us? Here’s how that works.

IN AND AROUND TOWN 🆕

TODAY
🌳 Grab the fam jam and head to Leu Gardens (Audubon Park)
💋 Meet Bob the Drag Queen from RuPaul’s Drag Race (Almond Milk District)
🎨 Check out opening night of these local artists’ exhibit (Mills Park)
🦁 This art show, titled Party Animals, is bound to be wild (College Park)
🌱 THROUGH SUNDAY Got a green thumb? Try the Home & Garden Show (I-Drive)


SATURDAY
🍻 Still have an old pair of JNCOs lying around? You’re in luck (Downtown)
👩🏻‍💻 Calling all women: wanna co-work? (College Park)
🥩 Save your appetite for this ribs throwdown (Mills Park)
🏋️‍♀️ Crossfit first, beer and networking after (Milk District)
🍿 Check out this old-school Saturday matinee (Maitland)


SUNDAY
🌽 Southern Fried Vegan is popping up at Orlando Brewing (SoDo)
🍳 Gnarly Barley is hosting a 7-Year Anniversary Hangover Brunch (SoDo)
🎨 Fan of “The X-Files”? Check out this art show (Thornton Park)
🎵 Check out “F*ckboys the Musical” at Fringe Fest (Loch Haven Park)
👰 Getting married? Florida Wedding Expo is in town (I-Drive)
🍳 Get uncomfortable at this brunch hosted by Will’s Pub (Mills 50)
🚲 Go on a Fleet Farming Swarm Ride (Audubon Park)
🎫 Take the fam to the Mennello Museum (Loch Haven Park)
📹 Head to the Enzian for the bi-monthly Film Slam (Maitland)


MONDAY
🐶 Enjoy good food with your furry four-legged pal (College Park) 🆕
🍿 Watch “The Favourite” at Enzian (Maitland) 🆕
🎵 Gonna be a good show at Will’s Pub (Mills 50) 🆕
🛍 Check out this market and Pulptown favorite CayCakes (Audubon) 🆕
🌮 Hey ladies, make it a housewives’ night out (Dr. Phillips) 🆕
💃 Don’t miss out on this Salsa spinning course (SoDo) 🆕
🌙 Through Sunday Check out Moon Week at the Planetarium (Sanford) 🆕


TUESDAY
🗣 Check out this town hall on our arts and culture scene (Loch Haven) 🆕
🎨 Learn from the watercolor pro and take a masterpiece home (Winter Park) 🆕
💐 Or make a floral centerpiece — either way, get creative (Winter Park) 🆕
🎵 Get your country music fix by listening to this Nebraska songbird (Downtown) 🆕
🍻 Veza Sur Brewing is launching in Central Florida at A La Cart (Colonial) 🆕


Going to one of these? Take us with you! Email a pic to hello@pulp.town or tag #pulptown on Instagram. See more upcoming events on our events page, and COMING SOON add your own events with a Pulptown membership.

👋 THAT’S ALL, FOLKS

Since we’re talking about an ever-changing Orlando today, both good and bad, these photos of how the city has changed in recent years are both stunning and eye-opening.

We’ll see you again on Monday!

Have a good weekend, Orlando,

— Pulptown

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