Mailbag

Entitlement issues

I want to object to the title of the March 11 cover story, “Charlottesville’s new homeless.” The problem of low-income people and high rents is not unique to the City. It is a problem shared by our entire area and it cannot be solved by the City alone.

The article states that there are 613 housing units in the city where poor people can use Section 8 vouchers, but only 458 in Albemarle County, which has twice the population of Charlottesville. The City has more than 1,000 people on the waiting list for Section 8 rental assistance, while the County has only 475…because (and you have to look in a sidebar for this) the County has closed its waiting list, indicating that it has no intention of even trying to meet the need in the foreseeable future.

The County is, by every statistical measure, wealthier than the City and imposes a lower tax burden on its residents. Thus, the County can far better afford to do something about this problem than the City. Yet your article, by continuing to refer to our community as “Charlottesville,” seems to imply that homelessness is the responsibility of the City only. The City is already shouldering most of the burden for the entire area. I wonder how many of the 1,000 people on Charlottesville’s waiting list came from the surrounding counties?

It really hurts to see, everywhere I go, the C-VILLE cover referring to “this so-called world-class city.” I’m proud of the effort my city makes for low-income folks. Charlottesville is a world-class city. Albemarle County, on the other hand, deserves the Marie Antoinette award for its efforts on behalf of the poor.

Elizabeth Kutchai

High costs

Thank you for tackling an issue that I have wondered about for many years. I’ve been coming to Charlottesville since I was 6, and have lived here since 2000. Over the past 17 years, I have seen the city change dramatically, and the high cost of living and increase in homeless people has always had me feeling a bit confused about what was happening in this town.

When I was laid off from my first job in Charlottesville, I was faced with finding a job, and not finding many decently salaried positions, I wondered how people making less than $10 an hour were expected to make it in this town. I was fortunate enough to find a good job, but so many have not. Hopefully your article will turn on the lights for many in this town. Just because we have wealthy people living in this town should not dictate the standards of living for everyone else. How many people make a millionaire’s salary in this town, or in this state (and increasingly, this country)?

Eleanor Takseraas