Altoona’s housing problem is no longer hidden. It is showing up where affordability failures always appear first: homeless shelters. Recent local reporting shows a sharp rise in new referrals, a clear sign that more residents are being pushed out of stable housing.

This did not happen overnight. Like many small Pennsylvania cities, Altoona has an aging housing stock, limited new construction, and incomes that have not kept pace with rising rents and maintenance costs. When even modest increases hit households with thin financial margins, displacement follows quickly.

This is part of a broader statewide pattern. Years of underbuilding, restrictive land-use rules, and rising construction costs have left smaller cities especially vulnerable. Private markets have little incentive to rehabilitate older homes at scale when returns are uncertain. Without public investment, units deteriorate, disappear, or become unaffordable.

National policy choices are making these pressures worse. Analysis shows that tariffs championed by President Donald Trump increased the cost of building a new home by about $17,500 and are projected to result in roughly 450,000 fewer homes nationwide by 2030. Those costs fall hardest on places like Altoona, where new construction is already difficult.

Housing is economic infrastructure. When it fails, homelessness rises, emergency systems strain, and communities pay more later. Altoona’s shelter data is not a warning. It is the evidence.

Patrick Machayo

Altoona