07-26-2019, 12:21 AM
The stories behind Microsoft’s affordable housing initiative
<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/the-stories-behind-microsofts-affordable-housing-initiative.png" width="1844" height="865" title="" alt="" /></div><div><p><span data-contrast="auto">The Puget Sound region has been home to Microsoft for </span><span data-contrast="auto">more than</span><span data-contrast="auto"> 3</span><span data-contrast="auto">0 years. As </span><span data-contrast="auto">the company </span><span data-contrast="auto">has grown, the area has changed. New industries have brought more jobs, fresh opportunities and greater prosperity.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But </span><span data-contrast="auto">n</span><span data-contrast="auto">ew housing has</span><span data-contrast="auto"> not kept up with </span><span data-contrast="auto">job growth</span><span data-contrast="auto">, and th</span><span data-contrast="auto">e Greater Seattle area has become the sixth most expensive place to live in the United States. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">That means many of the workers who make a community function – such as nurses, police officers, teachers and firefighters – can no longer afford to live in the cities or suburbs where they work.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"> </span></p>
<p><a href="https://news.microsoft.com/affordable-housing/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-7517" src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/the-stories-behind-microsofts-affordable-housing-initiative.png" alt="Chart showing Job growth compared to housing growth"></a></p>
<p>The problem is particularly acute in the suburban cities around Seattle. Low- and middle-income workers often face long commutes.</p>
<p><em>[Subscribe to </em><a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/"><em>Microsoft on the Issues</em></a><em> for more on the topics that matter most.]</em></p>
<p>Microsoft is committed to helping kick-start solutions to this crisis, and is <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2019/01/16/ensuring-a-healthy-community-the-need-for-affordable-housing/"> investing $500 million to advance affordable housing solutions</a>. Microsoft is also advocating for changes in public policy at city and state levels to address the long-term factors affecting housing affordability.</p>
<p>This commitment is about more than housing. It is about the people who make our communities places we all want to live in.</p>
<p><em>For more on Microsoft’s initiatives in the Puget Sound region follow @<a href="https://aka.ms/AA5c3au">MSFTIssues</a> on Twitter. </em></p>
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<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/the-stories-behind-microsofts-affordable-housing-initiative.png" width="1844" height="865" title="" alt="" /></div><div><p><span data-contrast="auto">The Puget Sound region has been home to Microsoft for </span><span data-contrast="auto">more than</span><span data-contrast="auto"> 3</span><span data-contrast="auto">0 years. As </span><span data-contrast="auto">the company </span><span data-contrast="auto">has grown, the area has changed. New industries have brought more jobs, fresh opportunities and greater prosperity.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But </span><span data-contrast="auto">n</span><span data-contrast="auto">ew housing has</span><span data-contrast="auto"> not kept up with </span><span data-contrast="auto">job growth</span><span data-contrast="auto">, and th</span><span data-contrast="auto">e Greater Seattle area has become the sixth most expensive place to live in the United States. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">That means many of the workers who make a community function – such as nurses, police officers, teachers and firefighters – can no longer afford to live in the cities or suburbs where they work.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"> </span></p>
<p><a href="https://news.microsoft.com/affordable-housing/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-7517" src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/the-stories-behind-microsofts-affordable-housing-initiative.png" alt="Chart showing Job growth compared to housing growth"></a></p>
<p>The problem is particularly acute in the suburban cities around Seattle. Low- and middle-income workers often face long commutes.</p>
<p><em>[Subscribe to </em><a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/"><em>Microsoft on the Issues</em></a><em> for more on the topics that matter most.]</em></p>
<p>Microsoft is committed to helping kick-start solutions to this crisis, and is <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2019/01/16/ensuring-a-healthy-community-the-need-for-affordable-housing/"> investing $500 million to advance affordable housing solutions</a>. Microsoft is also advocating for changes in public policy at city and state levels to address the long-term factors affecting housing affordability.</p>
<p>This commitment is about more than housing. It is about the people who make our communities places we all want to live in.</p>
<p><em>For more on Microsoft’s initiatives in the Puget Sound region follow @<a href="https://aka.ms/AA5c3au">MSFTIssues</a> on Twitter. </em></p>
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