DIRE WAIT
Affordable housing in the Keene area is hard to find and sometimes difficult to keep. Demand trumps supply and wait lists stretch out for years. For people with limited means who are looking for a place to live, it can be a …
By Sarah Trefethen
Sentinel Staff
Published: Sunday, February 20, 2011
Asked how she imagined her retirement, Janet LaBelle laughed.
“On a beach, with a pool boy fanning me,” she said, before turning more serious. She thought she might travel and see more of the country, take some time for art, and volunteer at the hospital, she said.
Things aren’t working out as planned.
LaBelle has seen her income drop and her expenses skyrocket in recent years due to a series of medical crises. On top of illnesses and financial difficulties, she can’t find an affordable place to live, part of a chronic problem in the Keene area.
Home rentals in non-metropolitan areas of New Hampshire are the fifth- most expensive of any state in the country, behind Massachusetts, Hawaii, Alaska and Connecticut, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group. If you include cities, New Hampshire is the 10th-most expensive state for renters. Read the rest of this page »