ProJo: Gentrification locking some out of housing market

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Several speakers at HousingWorks RI's forum on gentrification on Friday said they don't need an academic study to tell them that many longtime city residents are getting priced out of the housing market.

City Council member Luis Aponte said it's almost impossible to find an apartment in South Providence today because so many houses are being purchased by investors who renovate them and then rent them for ”$650 or $750 a month, per bedroom” to students.

“We see a direct impact,” he said. “It makes the cost of housing for families skyrocket.” Aponte represents Ward 10, which includes the neighborhoods of Lower South Providence and Washington Park.

Aponte said the city's “meds and eds” — medical and educational institutions — need to do more to address the city's affordable housing problem. He said every time Brown University buys a new building, it's a positive for the new jobs it will bring, but it often takes another building off the tax rolls, and puts more pressure on the housing market.

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