Connecticut followed with a 5.9 percent increase, and Vermont placed ninth in the country with a 2 percent increase, the national housing coalition said. That includes teachers, bus drivers, fast food restaurant workers, sales clerks, bank tellers, and human service workers, to name a few. Meanwhile, employment projections through 2006 show the discrepancy between housing costs and income will grow. The housing dearth is being felt in all sectors of the state's economy. Landlords and realtors say turnover is so quick that they don't even need to put apartments and houses on the market.
Business executives worry the lack of housing is hindering recruitment efforts.
Typically, the department has money left over each year, said Christine D. Spicher, director of human services in Keene. I've never seen a housing problem during a recession. The Community Kitchen Inc. in Keene, which provides free meals to homeless people and others in need, reported a 13 percent increase in clients between 1999 and 2000. The human services department has initiated a study to look for a trend in the increases. Our kids are sitting next to homeless kids on the bus to school.