The Alestle Vol. 74 No. 34

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THE ALESTLE WILL CONTINUE PUBLISHING ON AUG. 24 vol. 74 no. 34

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thinks the lack of affordable housing in the area has been a problem for some time due to the desire for higher-end housing. “What happens in a gentrifying market like we have in Edwardsville is that there’s a lot of incentive for very successful developers, in conjunction with realtors, bankers and construction firms … because Edwardsville is a desirable place to live for them to create housing at the upper end because they make more money,” Harvey said. The prices in Edwardsville are increasing, and Harvey said the housing prices are no longer sustainable. “Anything close to half of one’s income that one pays on housing is not affordable — it’s not sustainable,” Harvey said. Harvey said one of the reasons the Edwardsville Community Housing Alliance exists is to fight for a more sustainable form of housing for the public. “We feel like there’s nobody voicing the difficulties that people with limited wages experience. First and foremost we want to do that and point out that things aren’t

Edwardsville leadership calls for more affordable housing BRANDON WELLS reporter

The definition of “affordable housing” is based on being at most thirty percent of one’s income. Looking at the average price of housing in Edwardsville, it is often not affordable for many people with the average Edwardsville housing price being $303,662, as reported by the Intelligencer in an interview with the city planner. John Harvey with the Edwardsville Community Housing Alliance said he

great all over Edwa rd svil le, that it doesn’t work for a lot of people, that we say we think hard work and keeping your nose clean are important, [but] there’s a lot of people doing that and are struggling,” Harvey said. Ward 1 Alderman Chris Farrar said he has been supportive of low-income housing in Hillsboro, Illinois, and wants to find a way to incentivize realtors and developers to build affordable housing in the area. “We need to figure out how to incentivize developers to build low-income units using other partners that will help keep people living in our communities anywhere from teachers, waitresses, laborers and those kinds of things, where they can live in our community and enjoy the amenities of our community that they work in. I think that really builds community,” Farrar said. Because of the variety of different income levels in Edwardsville, Harvey said he thinks people should try to be more aware of how important people with lower income are. “If we want to continue to pay lip service to how valuable we feel essential workers are, and how thankful we are that people are willing to work in support of the rest of us, then I feel like [we should] acknowledge that the community that we

have with a balance of people is important. And we do not want to drive out people simply because they work these professions that have limited wages,” Harvey said. Farrar said he believes one of the largest long-term issues with housing costs is how high the price of land is. “People know how expensive land is, they know that, ‘If I sell it to you, you’ll turn around and you’ll probably put as many lots as you can on it and try to maximize your profits.’ And then you have to deal with zoning laws. There’s a lot of regulation that goes into it with developers. If you can, streamline that process for them or somehow incentivize them in such a way that they can decrease the cost to make it more affordable,” Farrar said. Emily Fultz, the Edwardsville City Planner, said she did a study about affordability and income in Edwardsville, but believes a demand analysis should be the next step for determining how much of a need for affordable housing there is. “After we get a handle on what the demand for affordable housing is, we’ll meet with elected officials, our city council. We’ll probably discuss this at a subcommittee meeting and even the city’s plan commission. At that point we’ll set goals for what we need to achieve related to affordable housing and then we’ll embark on an affordable housing plan to help us achieve those goals,” Fultz said.

Campus policies will stay in place as case rates grow BRANDON WELLS reporter

Mask and vaccination policies likely won’t be changing for the upcoming fall semester due to rising COVID-19 cases in Madison County. According to the Madison County Health Department, the seven days prior to July 23 have seen the average rate of cases grow to eight percent, with the most cases happening to people from ages 10 to 40 years old. Director of Community Health Amy Yeager with the Madison County Health Department said that her concern is the low vaccination rate in Madison County. “We have over 46 percent of the people that are eligible currently in Madison County to get the vaccine [that still] have not been vaccinated, and that’s a pretty large percentage. That’s a lot more opportunity for the virus to make people sick … the more [vaccines] you have, you as an individual become more protected, but the more that is in the community, the more of a wall of protection

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there is,” Yeager said. Yeager said the main reason the cases are spreading again is because people aren’t getting vaccinated or they’re not following guidelines to keep them safe. “The restrictions have been a lot more reduced, people are a lot more relaxed [and] they’re not necessarily following the preventative precautions anymore ... If you are unvaccinated, you are still to be masking and social distancing, because that will also slow the spread,” Yeager said. With school starting up for the fall, Yeager said she believes more vaccinations will help make sure children are able to safely return to school. “The bottom line is the vaccine is working. We just want to try to keep people healthy,” Yeager said. “We’re getting closer to the beginning of school and we all want to have a fun summer and we all want those kids back in the classroom for a whole lot of reasons. It’s just going to take each of us doing our own individual part to keep everybody healthy and safe.” With Pfizer booster shots still being up in the air, Health Service Director Ri-

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ane Greenwalt said she has not heard any information to suggest they’re necessary or will change the vaccination policy. “The CDC has not recommended boosters at this time … If the CDC changes their regulations and their definition of fully vaccinated, we’ll change ours,” Greenwalt said. Greenwalt said she thinks the upcoming Fall 2021 semester is still time for students to take precautionary measures, even if they’re vaccinated. “As we prepare for fall, we’re expecting more activity on campus, so I think it’s important not just to protect yourself, but to protect the rest of the community. The only way I know how to do that is through the different levels of mitigation,” Greenwalt said. Greenwalt said the campus will still work together with the Madison County Health Department to hold more vaccination clinics on campus if necessary.

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“We want to make sure that folks realize that if there’s a need [for the] vaccine, and people are wanting it and not able to get it in their area, we are happy to make that happen here,” Greenwalt said. Regardless of vaccination status, Yeager said she wants to emphasize that people should still wear masks if they want to. For more information regarding COVID-19 data and the campus health response, please visit the Madison County Health Department website or the SIUE Health Service website.

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