Fayetteville Alderman: City Needs Homes For Working Class

Its an interesting dichotomy. You have your "McMansions," and you have your housing from HUD, or Habitat for Humanity. But theres a new trend in Fayetteville: the working class are walking a fine line of making too much money to qualify for assistance - but dont make enough money to buy their first home. A home that isnt a fixer-upper. Buyers agent Marshall Sellers told us, "If you get someone in a first home, and its a fixer upper, that gets costly for them - and you hate to put them in that situation." The Fayetteville City Council is trying to change that. Councilwoman Nancy Allen is very passionate about this issue. It was a platform for her campaign when she ran for her seat. She tells KNWA, "I dont want us to become a homogeneous community - I think part of Fayettevilles charm is its diversity, and if were not careful well lose the diversity." Allen maintains this is an issue that is only going to get worse if something isnt done about it. "I asked our Chief of Police how many of his officers are living in Fayetteville, and only 10% do. We are finding a lot of police, school teachers, and servers on dickson street are not able to live here, then we have a problem," says Allen. The Fayetteville City Council is working with developers to build what they are calling "working class homes" in the area.