Residents of Edwardsville are struggling with high rental prices
Editor’s note: This is the first in a five-part series from the Intelligencer on affordable housing in Edwardsville. Portions of the series will appear in print issues on December 4, 11, 18, 25 and 2, and can be found online at theintelligencer.com.
EDWARDSVILLE – Affordable housing is a very hot topic in and around Edwardsville and, to a lesser extent, Madison County; Part of the problem is the definition of the term “affordable,” which means different things to different people.
Many people who want to live in Edwardsville are often discouraged by high prices, whether they are renting or buying. In a scenario regularly seen on social media related to Edwardsville, someone will often post an ad for an apartment, townhouse, or house for rent and in the description, lists the price range they need.
More often than not, people chime in with comments centered around price, suggesting the exclusion of almost everything else.
It has not been uncommon this year to see even modest rents listed at $1,500 a month or more, and this can spark outrage and outcries from people considering the subject.
Edwardsville resident Natalie Casey can relate.
“I’m not from here; I moved here in 2016 and watched rental prices almost double in that time,” Casey said. “I’m a retail manager and it’s getting harder and harder to afford to live here and I love living here.
“I’m also involved with the Edwardsville Community Housing Alliance, which has been trying to get the city to address affordable housing for many years.”
‘Rent is a big problem’
Casey said she lived downtown on East High Street and later rented on Park Street, but her landlord died midway through the lease. His children didn’t want to take over as owner, so they put the house up for sale.
“Rent is a big issue,” she said, adding that she tracks rental prices weekly, noting prices are rising. “There are a lot of individual homes where the rent has gone up two or three times, with few, if any, updates or amenities.”
She listed 415 Plum Street as an example: a two-bedroom, 1,099-square-foot home that was listed for sale for $87,500 in 1988, then listed for $105,000 in 2005; and up to $128,900 in 2015; It sold for $122,000 in 2016.
Currently listed at $1,800 per month on Forrent.com, it now measures 1,150 square feet and is valued at $181,117, according to Realtor.com.
Another example is 505 Plum Street, Casey said. It’s a modest 494-square-foot home with two bedrooms and a bathroom that sold for $87,000 on September 25. It was rented for $1,000 per month.
Casey said he was rented for $1,800 a month, but intelligence was unable to independently verify this information.
“The house at 505 Plum Street is a great example of an affordable tiny home that could have been a starter home or a single-occupancy home, but instead was snatched up and immediately turned into another unaffordable rental,” Casey said.
She cites a third example at 229 Third Ave. This three-bedroom, two-bathroom home sold for $100,000 in May and is currently renting for $2,000 a month on Trulia.com.
Change options
Renters, college students, single adults, young couples or couples with new children are all categories of people most affected by these housing prices, Casey said.
What Casey experienced with her deceased landlord is becoming more common, she said: Older private property owners have retired or died, so their widows and/or grandchildren don’t want to take on the mantle of landlord.
So, when these properties come up for sale, they are snapped up by larger landlords, and rents suddenly double, triple, or more, she claims.
“Even I can’t find anything affordable,” she said.
Where she currently lives in Edwardsville is $150 more per month than her Park Street address. She hopes to find a new place downtown again after her current lease expires.
She noted that City Walk, an eight-unit project under construction on Main Street, has units for sale at $300,000 with no yards and no maintenance, and may attract empty-nesters looking to downsize, couples and singles who don’t have enough space. They have children.
Brittany Reeder, sales and marketing coordinator for Pfund Construction, which is building City Walk, confirmed Oct. 20 that the company aims to survive under $300,000 with City Walk, one of the city’s micro-neighborhood concepts.
Meanwhile, floor plans at Pfund’s other pocket neighborhood concept, The Pfarm at East Union, start at $315,000 and $330,000, Reeder said.
On the city’s radar
After the City of Edwardsville held an affordable housing summit in February 2021, Mayor Art Risavi tasked the city’s Human Relations Commission with taking on next steps.
The committee culminated its work on January 31 with an assessment of the housing study needs.
The needs assessment is the first stage in the action plan; The second phase would include strategies or recommendations for housing, but did not materialize due to previous delays in the city’s renewal of its comprehensive plan, which is still in its early stages and will not be completed until next summer, according to city officials.
“Diversification at all levels”
Edwardsville resident Mary Wiking said there was a clear feeling that some in the community might want to prevent people of less means from putting down roots here.
“First and foremost, there is not enough affordable rent for all the people who work in many of our restaurants and businesses,” she said. “Furthermore, every new apartment complex built in the past five to 10 years is priced well above what someone earning $13 to $20 an hour can afford.
“In my opinion, it’s not fair that the people who work here can’t live here or send their kids to school here,” Wiking said. “There seems to be an attempt to prevent low-income people from living here and I think that is wrong.
“Society benefits from diversification at all levels.
“Second, even though my husband and I live in a moderately priced subdivision (of Edwardsville/Glen Carbon), all the new construction seems to be built for the upper middle class and upper class,” she noted. “This seems to once again limit who can buy here.”
As Edwardsville continues its thriving growth, Casey said she would like to see more housing options for people of all means.
“The growth is not bad but there has to be a plan and plan to enable low-income residents to live here,” Casey said.
Casey, 48, works as an assistant manager, but stressed she works in retail because she loves it, not because she has to do it to get by. She said she has a mile to get to work, and she loves her community.
She claims the general message people receive from a large segment of Edwardsville as a community is that “it’s OK for us to bag your groceries, get your hair cut or fix your car, but we can’t live here.”
