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CRAIG T. KOJIMA/CKOJIMA@ STARADVERTISER.COM
A new affordable rental housing project at 1427 Ernest Street in Makiki.
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The “affordable” housing being built for low-income people in Hawaii is not affordable (“Makiki rental project completed,” Star-Advertiser, Nov 8).
Proponents claim these extremely small, 260- to 430-square-foot apartments that rent for $1,500 to $1,900 a month are affordable for people, when the minimum wage is $12 an hour — meaning that they make around $2,000 a month, that leaves $600 for the rent.
The rent is not supposed to consume more than 30% of your gross wage, and a rent that is more than $600 for a minimum wage worker is too much.
The state needs to make “affordable” housing actually affordable. And as a young person who will need to find a place to live in this state, I am concerned about my limited options.
Gillian Gerwig
Manoa
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