Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor brought a roundtable discussion to Palmerton recently to talk about the housing situation in Carbon County and the surrounding areas of the Poconos.

As many of the sessions it began with some talking points, but quickly turned to where the crisis really exists — the struggles of ordinary folks trying to find an affordable place to live.

The county and region simply isn’t just short on housing, it’s short on housing people can afford.

Rents are higher than many paychecks can handle. Waiting lists for subsidized senior housing can last a long time and many of our older residents are being squeezed between homes getting more costly to manage and assisted living locations they can’t afford.

The story is the same all over the state, not just here.

Our area has attracted people looking for cheap housing. In some cases, we’re becoming a bedroom community for the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia and parts of New Jersey.

But as more and more people seek housing here, the supply of homes hasn’t kept up with the pace.

Those people, who came here for lower prices, found the gap between income and housing costs widening fast.

While some parts of the state are better equipped to handle an influx of new residents, our region seems more strained.

There’s a lot going on. We’re struggling to grow, at the same time dealing with a low inventory of housing that’s aging faster than it’s being replaced.

Take a look around. Our communities are dealing with the blight left over from the days when coal was king.

In other more urban areas, row home neighborhoods are being reinvented, though at more costly options for rent or ownership since there’s a shortage of starter homes.

Here, though, there’s a different problem, though just as severe. We have too few homes in the middle and lower end of the market and there are too few choices to meet what our working residents, as well as our elderly ones, need.

And it’s not something that happened overnight.

New construction isn’t too active, especially as costs have soared. Local zoning often lags behind modern standards and can make it difficult to build the kind of homes needed now.

Take a drive around the area. There aren’t many small single homes, duplexes or mixed-income developments.

At the same time, wages haven’t kept pace with rent, leaving full-time workers struggling to stay in communities where they live and work.

Couples with steady jobs can’t find apartments within their budget. Young families are often priced out of starter homes, if they can find one.

And our older folks are caught in a trap of sorts, earning too much for subsidized housing but not enough to pay for assisted living or the in-home support they might need to stay independent.

Many — often widows or widowers whose families built lives elsewhere — live alone in houses that are too large and too costly to maintain.

There aren’t many alternatives available.

It’s tough for prospective employers, too. Businesses can’t recruit and retain workers if there are no places for them to live.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Communities can do things to make better use of the space and housing supply we already have.

Move the permitting process along faster.

Relax some of the zoning variances that exist.

Too often, projects can get tangled in a web of approvals, deadlines and requirements before anyone turns a shovelful of dirt to start building.

Also, communities should take a look at what’s available and adapt it. Vacant lots and unused properties can be converted into housing more quickly and affordably than building from scratch.

Adapting older buildings in neighborhoods and on main streets is smart. Just look at what’s happening in Tamaqua with the revitalization of its railroad station and the recent addition of Temple University’s dental school.

And our elderly demand some attention, too. Private entities are expanding their options in Tamaqua, and Weatherly’s Mrs. C.M. Schwab School will soon host units they might be able to afford.

Would it be too much to suggest a senior housing situation where they can rent extra space or rooms to those needing places to stay? Might those instances help keep older folks in their homes and doing their best to age in place?

But there’s more to consider.

In the long term, the area needs a better system to deal with its housing needs that includes subsidized sites, workforce housing and duplexes or triplexes that might serve as starter homes.

The days of single-family homes on half-acre lots somehow seem farther away than they once were.

Zoning reforms are important, allowing more attached homes and homes on smaller lots that already have roads and utilities.

With a little thought, those things can make our neighborhoods and communities stronger.

No single grant program, rule changes or roundtable will solve the problem.

But new thinking, smarter rules, and a renewed interest in preservation can help.

The need is immediate, and the real question is whether our leaders can adapt quickly enough to meet it.

ED SOCHA |

TNEDITOR@TNONLINE.COM

| Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 45 years’ experience in community journalism.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.