The Villa Maria affordable housing building in Miami Beach
Nonprofits and city planners are working to create more affordable housing, but they’re up against legislation that rewards rampant development.
This story and the accompanying audio segments were produced through a collaboration involving journalists from Southerly, Climate Central and WLRN.
A little over four feet of elevation is all that’s standing between some waterfront neighborhoods winding through Miami Beach and the unrelenting force of the Atlantic Ocean. At Eighth and Washington, where Gregario Lopez, 81, lives in a Section 8 apartment, it’s even less. Lopez has been without regular income since 2010, when a bad fall left him injured and unable to work.
The Villa Maria affordable housing building in Miami Beach | Jenny Staleovich / WLRN News
This story and the accompanying audio segments were produced through a collaboration involving journalists from Southerly, Climate Central and WLRN.
A little over four feet of elevation is all that’s standing between some waterfront neighborhoods winding through Miami Beach and the unrelenting force of the Atlantic Ocean. At Eighth and Washington, where Gregario Lopez, 81, lives in a Section 8 apartment, it’s even less. Lopez has been without regular income since 2010, when a bad fall left him injured and unable to work.
“I can’t afford big rent because my check is not so much,” Lopez said. He’s lived in the same apartment for a decade and has no plans to move. “I cannot pay $600 or $500 or $400, because $400 is almost half what I get.”
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