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Some forced to move as Ann Arbor-area apartments transition from affordable to market rate

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Megan Mishler has lost her sense of security. Mishler, who has a rare genetic condition called Ehlers -Danlos Syndrome that prevents her from working, was recently forced to move from her apartment just west of Ann Arbor because her landlord is transitioning from affordable housing to market rate. Mishler is not alone; the transition will impact 144 units at the 368- unit Woodchase apartment complex at 1100 Rabbit Run Circle in Scio Township. “This has been extremely, extremely difficult. I was almost paralyzed at first,” Mishler said, referring to when she learned she would have to move. “This just added a whole other layer on top of all the other stuff that I’m already dealing with.” Mishler was told the rent for her one-bedroom apartment would jump from $770 per month to about $1,200 per month at the end of her lease term. The Woodchase apartments in Scio Township were developed in 1998. Katie McLean | The Ann Arbor News   Mishler uses the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Progr...

As housing market soars, poorest renters are priced out

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"); } if ($(imageDivId).length == 0) { $("#wrapper").after(contentText); } })(jQuery); BREMERTON, Wash. - Crystal Turner stood in the kitchen of her cramped apartment and stared at the cracks in the fake wood flooring beneath her feet. Surrounding her was the home she'd made for herself and her two sons in the past year, since they moved out of her Toyota Camry and into Admiral Manor, a low- rent apartment complex in west Bremerton . There was the single bedroom with two kids' beds on the floor. The living room she'd decorated with signs that said "Hope" and "Love." A dingy bathroom with a leaking toilet that had never been fixed. In this undated photo, Matthew Daigneault pushes his son Aden as he plays outside on the swings of his rental home in West Bremerton , Wash. (Larry Steagall/Kitsap Sun via AP) © 2017 Cox Media Group . Admiral Manor wasn 't the place Turner, a recovering addict, wanted to raise her boys. It was the place...

Albanese Jabs de Blasio but Can’t Score Underdog Knockout at First Mayoral Debate

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“They’re tired of politics as usual,” Sal Albanese, the best chance the Never de Blasio movement has of electing a new mayor, said last night during the first televised debate of the Democratic primary. “It’s always tough to run as a reformer, but I think this time is different.” This time is probably not different. Albanese, a former five- term city councilmember from Brooklyn who is challenging Mayor Bill de Blasio , jabbed and scraped and lashed out at his bête noire during the debate, drawing his share of applause from a sympathetic Upper West Side audience . For watchers of the political scene, there wasn’t much to learn: De Blasio, in Albanese’s eyes, is corrupt; he’s in the pocket of big developers; he’s allowed the city to degenerate into some kind of carnival of woe, but for rich people. De Blasio, who despite his height advantage over Albanese often struggles to be the bigger man, rebutted plenty. His testy side was showing. A progressive Democrat, the first to govern this ...

Developers plan 200-unit apartment complex on East Mesa

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An architect's rendering of a Willow Springs Apartments building . (Photo: Courtesy) LAS CRUCES - A new, 200- unit apartment complex is springing up on the city’s East Mesa and could be leasing the first units in about six months. Willow Springs Apartments will be located off of Bixler Avenue, north of US 70 and behind the now-closed Cattleman’s Steak House on Bataan Memorial West . The property is being developed by Dillon Mountain Enterprises , LLC. which is owned by Paul Curry and his son, Jared Curry. The Currys acquired the property in 2006 from a church which had plans to build on the site but opted to purchase a building in town instead. Construction on the 14.12-acre property will require the Currys to pave more than 1,000 feet of Bixler Avenue, one of the city’s oldest platted but undeveloped rights-of-way. The completion of Bixler will open up adjoining properties to development, Jared said. “We had the property for 11 years,” Jared said. “ Ten years ago our original t...

Families take up residence at Pope Francis Haven

Linda Nelson still can’t believe her new apartment is real. For six weeks, she lived with her husband, twin babies and 2-year-old son in a cramped room at the West Wynn Motel after losing housing with a roommate in late June. “Me and Linda almost killed each other a couple times,” her husband, David Parisia, joked. The family is one of 24 that have moved into Pope Francis Haven , Catholic Charities ’ latest housing project for formerly homeless families. They sat on the lawn eating pizza after a grand opening ceremony Thursday . Though their last bout of homelessness only lasted a few weeks, Nelson and Parisia have been without permanent housing for most of the eight years they’ve been together. Two years ago, they were able to get clean, stop using drugs and begin trying to find a place to live. “We found roommate after roommate,” Nelson said. The couple would stay somewhere for as long as they could, but never had a lease in their name or a place to call their own. In time, the c...

Portland landlords upset with housing authority after serious apartment damage

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PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - Imagine you're a landlord going to examine your property after a longtime tenant moves out - and finding it destroyed. That's what a couple in Portland says happened to them on August 10. Normally landlord-tenant arguments would not be newsworthy - but in this case, it involves taxpayer dollars . The tenant was on Section 8 housing and renting through the Portland Housing Authority . Missing screens, broken windows, grease, animal urine, doors ripped off the hinges cigarette burns on the floor - this is just some of the damage you can find at 44 Sawyer Street, owned by landlords Paul and Cyndi Taylor. Found on the ground:   Cigarette burns on bedroom floor:   These sights greeted them after their tenant of 11 years moved out. The landlords say they had a no-smoking rule in the apartment. They also say the woman was allowed one cat, but had multiple dogs as well at one point. "I would come in[to the apartment] any day if there was a pr...

Cheap Accommodation: Beyond the Hotel/Hostel Dynamic

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I don’t really like staying in hotels. I generally avoid them because of how much they cost. I just don’t see the point of paying $100+ per night for a room I will barely be in most of the day. It seems like a waste of money — no matter how nice a hotel can be. So I stick to the other end of the spectrum: I stay in hostels, with their dorm beds and cheap prices. I love hostels, even if my roommates tend to shit in the room. But what about other types of places to stay? What are some forms of accommodation that don’t rely on you sharing a room with eight snoring strangers? What can you do if you don’t want that but also don’t want to pay the money for a hotel room? Continuing what seems to be my “think outside the box” theme of the last few months, here’s a list of all the different types of accommodation that are easy on your wallet you can choose from: Staying with Locals I’ve talked about this many times before, but since this method is always good to know, it goes on this list too. ...