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Housing
Index | Life
in Hamilton County - Table of Contents - Home
Communities through out the nation have programs to promote home
ownership. Few do this as well as Chattanooga, primarily as a result of
the work of Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE). CNE plays three
major roles. First, it provides loans and mortgage financing tailored to
individual housing needs and to the borrower's ability to pay. It also
makes loans to home owners for home repairs. Second, CNE has developed
and manages over 100 units of affordable rental property along with a
small transitional housing program for homeless people. Finally, it
works with neighborhood organizations to renew deteriorating inner city
neighborhoods and provides home-buyer education to the community.
As CNE continues to rehabilitate the housing stock in the city,
residents are taking pride in their neighborhoods, businesses are moving
back into once-abandoned areas, and a sense of community is returning to
the city.
Housing and Households
According to the 1990 U. S. Census report, Hamilton County contains
111,799 households and 122,588 housing units. Of these units, 604 lack
complete plumbing facilities, 5,881 have no telephones, and 184 are not
fitted for use of any type of heating fuel.
Of all housing units, 12,037 are occupied by residents who have no
private transportation; and of the 15,563 householders living below the
poverty level, 10,070 are renters. The rest own their homes.
Economists generally assume that a household should spend no more
than one-third of its income on housing and related costs. Of those home
owners earning less than $20,000, thirty-eight percent spend over a
third of their incomes on housing. Of the renters earning less than
$20,000, seventy-two percent spend over a third of their incomes on
housing. And in many instances, the housing is substandard.
According to Housing in Hamilton County: Part 1, a report
issued by the Metropolitan Council in 1997, several areas of need exist.
In the area of homelessness, the community needs an additional 357 beds,
the majority of which should be in transitional and permanent housing.
For persons with special disabilities, most of the housing need falls in
the category of assisted living and housing rehabilitation rather than
new housing construction. And for the general population, some 26,000
households in Hamilton County need some combination of safe, decent,
affordable housing. Two-thirds of these households are renters needing
decent, affordable housing. The other third are homeowners needing,
primarily, some type of rehabilitation assistance.
Housing
Index | Life
in Hamilton County - Table of Contents - Home
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