Affordable housing is a concern. Miami and FIU want to hear what you have to say

Affordable housing is the prime focus for the two open houses organized for later this month by the City of Miami and Florida International University.

City officials and FIU, which is conducting the research through its Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center, invite residents to discuss possible solutions and strategies for the affordable housing shortage, according to a release. The two talks will host the same discussion.

The first is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Little Haiti Soccer Park Community Center, 6301 NE Second Ave., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The second is organized for Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Gate Park Community Center, 1415 SW 32nd Ave., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The organizations requested guests reserve a spot on the designated Facebook pages.

The two talks in September come after the city hosted similar discussions in April. The ones later this month would occur as officials near the end of drafting the city’s affordable housing master plan.

The Metropolitan Center, named after the Related Group founder in June, is a think tank that provides policy solutions for South Florida organizations.

The lack of affordable housing has plagued the city for years, as the Miami Herald’s Priced Out of Paradise series reports.

The Miami Herald Editorial Board called for action after the investigation published, emphasizing that rent prices for apartments and singlefamily homes are too high for both the poor and the middle class.