Guess which city was #1 on realtor.com’s Jan. 2017 list of U.S. cities gentrifying the fastest? Charleston. And right behind at #2? Asheville. That leaves Greenville smack dab in the middle.

When the article was written a year ago, Charleston’s median home price had jumped from $152,100 to $270,000 (+77.5%) and Asheville’s rose from $135,000 to $235,000 (+88%). According to realtor.com, Greenville’s median listing price today is $260K. Rising prices are still a conversation everyone is having, and for good reason – there’s little workforce housing for professions like teachers, police + hospitality workers.

Last night we attended a Greenville County Legislative Delegation meeting (which meets quarterly in County Council Chambers), where three speakers presented an update on the need for affordable housing: Deb Long (from Bon Secours St. Francis + Greenville Homeless Alliance), Ginny Stroud (City of Greenville Community Development), and Doug Dent (Greenville County Redevelopment Authority).

The takeaway? Lack of affordable housing is driving away the workforce, many Greenvillians are in unacceptable living conditions, and federal funding is drying up or disappearing completely under the new tax bill.

So what’s next? The City and the Redevelopment Authority have both conducted studies to determine the best course of action, starting with providing support to Greenville’s existing affordable housing. The Housing Trust Fund has been established with $2 million in seed money from the City, which will fund developments with a required amount of housing for certain income thresholds.

And the speakers asked the Council to support S.C. House Bill 3867, which would create property tax exemptions for workforce housing properties. Steps have been made in the past year, but there’s still a long way to go.

The tax exemption requires approval from our state legislators. Other states near us (like G.A. or N.C.) use this type of legislation for public/private partnerships which deepen the affordability level of the homes built. The purpose the Greenville Delegation meeting was to begin the conversation with our legislators related to increasing housing challenges in Greenville County and work on reasonable consensus building solutions as we move forward.