PAT RICE: Are you a median-income family? Tell us your story

Monday
Jan 1, 2018 at 5:30 AM

We're not interested in giving readers a surface view.

Pat Rice @newsjournaledit

Happy New Year!

Consider this column an effort to find a family in Volusia County who is willing to help The News-Journal tell an important story in 2018. First, here's some background.

A couple weeks back, I wrote a column suggesting that economic development was the biggest overall story of 2017. Thousands of new homes will be built in the area in the next five years. New and revitalized hotels are springing up along the beach. New retail and restaurants continue to open. Employment is better than it's been in more than a decade. That's all good news.

Three days after that column, I moderated a News-Journal community meeting focused on the state of homelessness in this beautiful place we call home. About 175 people came to the meeting at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Daytona Beach. A panel of four people who are involved in helping the homeless explained plans for the new First Step Shelter, and answered questions from those who attended. I thought it was a good meeting that helped inform the community.

But one question in particular stuck with me. More than one person asked it in one way or another, and it has as much to do with the greater Daytona Beach population as it does with the homeless. It's an observation people make often.

That is: Volusia County — and Daytona Beach in particular — are not wealthy. Our largely tourism-based economy doesn't create enough jobs that pay higher wages or salaries. There also is not enough affordable housing. These are not just issues for the homeless who want to re-enter regular society. Affordable housing and relatively low pay impacts thousands of families.

Here are stubborn facts: Volusia County's median annual household income (2.44 people per household) is about $42,240, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In Daytona Beach, the median household income is just $29,587. Volusia County's household income is lower than the neighboring counties of Brevard ($50,416), Flagler ($47,866), Lake ($50,305) and Seminole ($57,074).

There are about 208,000 households in Volusia County. That means 104,000 of them are living below the media household income of $42,240.

Meanwhile, as of June 2017, the average sale price for a single-family home in Volusia County rose to $190,000. According to the company "Apartment List," the median price for a two-bedroom apartment in Daytona Beach is $1,000 a month. That's lower than the U.S. average ($1,160) and most of Florida's major cities. But if you are making the median income in Daytona Beach, that amounts to more than 34 percent of your income.

Inside those numbers are real people. Which brings me to my request.

The News-Journal is interested in telling the story of what it's like for families — in this case meaning a couple with at least one child — to live while earning something near this area's median household income.

We're not interested in giving readers a surface view. We want to tell them what it's really like for a median-income household to make ends meet every month. How much do you pay in rent, or in a house payment? What's your car payment? How much does it cost to feed your family? Do you save money? What do you go without?

To tell this story, one of our reporters and a photographer will need to invade your family's space a little and ask you a lot of questions. It will take time. But I truly believe your story will connect with thousands of other people living in this area. 

So if your household income is between $25,000 and $45,000 a year, and you're willing to share your story, I would love to hear from you. You can reach me at my email address below. Or, feel free to call me on my cell phone: 386-681-8628.

We'll begin with a conversation and go from there. And thanks in advance for giving consideration to helping us tell a part of our economic story that's just as important as any hotel or housing development.

— Rice is The News-Journal’s editor. His email is Pat.Rice@news-jrnl.com.

Monday
Jan 1, 2018 at 5:30 AM

We're not interested in giving readers a surface view.

Pat Rice @newsjournaledit

Happy New Year!

Consider this column an effort to find a family in Volusia County who is willing to help The News-Journal tell an important story in 2018. First, here's some background.

A couple weeks back, I wrote a column suggesting that economic development was the biggest overall story of 2017. Thousands of new homes will be built in the area in the next five years. New and revitalized hotels are springing up along the beach. New retail and restaurants continue to open. Employment is better than it's been in more than a decade. That's all good news.

Three days after that column, I moderated a News-Journal community meeting focused on the state of homelessness in this beautiful place we call home. About 175 people came to the meeting at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Daytona Beach. A panel of four people who are involved in helping the homeless explained plans for the new First Step Shelter, and answered questions from those who attended. I thought it was a good meeting that helped inform the community.

But one question in particular stuck with me. More than one person asked it in one way or another, and it has as much to do with the greater Daytona Beach population as it does with the homeless. It's an observation people make often.

That is: Volusia County — and Daytona Beach in particular — are not wealthy. Our largely tourism-based economy doesn't create enough jobs that pay higher wages or salaries. There also is not enough affordable housing. These are not just issues for the homeless who want to re-enter regular society. Affordable housing and relatively low pay impacts thousands of families.

Here are stubborn facts: Volusia County's median annual household income (2.44 people per household) is about $42,240, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In Daytona Beach, the median household income is just $29,587. Volusia County's household income is lower than the neighboring counties of Brevard ($50,416), Flagler ($47,866), Lake ($50,305) and Seminole ($57,074).

There are about 208,000 households in Volusia County. That means 104,000 of them are living below the media household income of $42,240.

Meanwhile, as of June 2017, the average sale price for a single-family home in Volusia County rose to $190,000. According to the company "Apartment List," the median price for a two-bedroom apartment in Daytona Beach is $1,000 a month. That's lower than the U.S. average ($1,160) and most of Florida's major cities. But if you are making the median income in Daytona Beach, that amounts to more than 34 percent of your income.

Inside those numbers are real people. Which brings me to my request.

The News-Journal is interested in telling the story of what it's like for families — in this case meaning a couple with at least one child — to live while earning something near this area's median household income.

We're not interested in giving readers a surface view. We want to tell them what it's really like for a median-income household to make ends meet every month. How much do you pay in rent, or in a house payment? What's your car payment? How much does it cost to feed your family? Do you save money? What do you go without?

To tell this story, one of our reporters and a photographer will need to invade your family's space a little and ask you a lot of questions. It will take time. But I truly believe your story will connect with thousands of other people living in this area. 

So if your household income is between $25,000 and $45,000 a year, and you're willing to share your story, I would love to hear from you. You can reach me at my email address below. Or, feel free to call me on my cell phone: 386-681-8628.

We'll begin with a conversation and go from there. And thanks in advance for giving consideration to helping us tell a part of our economic story that's just as important as any hotel or housing development.

— Rice is The News-Journal’s editor. His email is Pat.Rice@news-jrnl.com.

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