- Retiree's in Mason are opting to live together since the price of rent has outpaced their social security
- Rising rent costs in the area have been partially attributed to the new waste water treatment plant
- Watch to see why more and more retirees are choosing to live with roomates
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
I'm your Mason neighborhood reporter Hannah McIlree, here at Sycamore Village a manufactured housing community where we're going to show you why more and more retirees are opting to live with roommates.
Sycamore Village is a quiet neighborhood and a home to Carol Cadwell and Patrick Quinlan. They say rising inflation and rent have outpaced their social security and created a new need.
"It's very frustrating as a, I'm 58, as a 58 year old woman I need roommates, I can't afford no to have roommates. I don't want to live with my children I don't want my children living with me," said Cadwell.
"Neither of us could afford it on our own," said Quinlan
But these two aren't the only ones struggling to make ends meet and Mason City manager Deborah Stuart says in part rent prices have gone up because of higher utility costs from the cities waste water treatment plant project.
"There's going to be some natural increase by those utilities as well as consumers prices have increased. So, there's some of that that's just the dynamics of it but, there's always been a strong demand for rentals in Mason so that in and of it's self leading to some of the increases," said Stuart.
This high demand puts a strain on people like Cadwell and Quinlan who couldn't afford to pay a deposit or first and last months rent at a new property.
"If we were not able to stay here we would probably have to live in our vehicle. I could not afford to do anything different," said Cadwell.
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