In researching WHO can afford to buy a house or duplex in Shorewood, the best breakdown of the various criteria that may be relevant in the planning of any type of incentive program I found was at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States
and all the information contained in this posting (parts taken directly in italics) is from that web publication.
I think it would be fair to say that Shorewood schools and their economic viability are (and have) been a major concern to the residents of Shorewood, and are always listed as a concern in relationship to the various tax/building/planning incentives, conceived by the Village Board and its appendage bodies.
The major concern with Shorewood schools and their continued independent existence is directly affected by the number of students enrolled.
And the number of students enrolled in Shorewood's schools, is directly affected by the population mix --- and by the percentage of that population mix that is within the normal child bearing years --- and which has the financial resources to buy property in Shorewood.
In my previous posting, I pointed out that a minimum household income of $79,000 was needed to come into Shorewood, at the lowest entry level cost of buying, which is a median priced duplex --- living in one unit while renting out the other unit to subsidize the costs.
In order to afford the median cost single family house in Shorewood, a household income of $110,000 is necessary.
Per the "Age of Householder" information below (assembled from the U.S. Census Numbers by the web publication listed above) - the highest median household income age group is between the ages of 45 and 54 --- well past the biological clock for giving birth, and assuming a prime childbirth age of 30 years (my assumption), the children in these households would range from 15 to 24 years of age.
The age group between 35 and 44, which would be a good prime age group for the likelihood of having school age children (my assumption), has a median income of $56,785 --- which is also well below our threshold of $79,000 noted above for base entry level buying in Shorewood.
As the median income means that half are above that number, and half below that number --- not even ½ of the age group between 35 and 44 can find affordable housing in Shorewood as the lowest entry level buyers.
Age of householder
Household income in the United States varies substantially with the age of the person who heads the household. Overall the median household income increased with the age of householder until retirement age when household income started to decline.[24] The highest median household income was found among households headed by working baby-boomers.[24] Households headed by persons between the ages of 45 and 54 had a median household income of $61,111 and a mean household income of $77,634. The median income per member of household for this particular group was $27,924. The highest median income per member of household was among those between the ages of 54 and 64 with $30,544. The group with the second highest median household income, were households headed by persons between the ages 35 and 44 with a median income of $56,785, followed by those in the age group between 55 and 64 with $50,400. Not surprisingly the lowest income group was compromised of those household headed by individuals younger than 24, followed by those headed by persons over the age of 75. Overall households headed by persons above the age of seventy-five had a median household income of $20,467 with the median household income per member of household being $18,645. These figures support the general assumption that median household income as well as the median income per member of household peaked among those households headed by middle aged persons, increasing with the age of the householder and the size of the household until the householder reaches the age of 64. With retirement income replacing salaries and the size of the household declining, the median household income decreases as well.[24]
Population Diversity by Race
In the same web publication, the chances for diverse homeownership in Shorewood is even less likely, with Black households having a median income of a little less than $30,000 per year, and Hispanic household being just a little over $30,000.
In conclusion --- if Shorewood truly wants to be a Diverse Community --- as measured by Income and Race --- we need to concentrate our Residential Incentive Programs to provide Affordable Housing for those groups !
In future posts, I will propose some ways that I think will help in achieving those objectives --- and I hope that readers will offer their suggestions also.
