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Housing in Durham: Who's Missing?

Housing in Durham is a multi-part series exploring the issue of affordable and workforce housing in Durham. "Who's Missing?" is the first of the series.

I often joke that my husband and I are the only post-college, childless young people living in Durham. This likely isn't accurate, but it sometimes seems that way. In part, this is because Durham's housing stock caters to students at the University of NH and traditional families. Those of us in between tend not to find what we are looking for in Durham.

The issue of housing in Durham is certainly a personal one to my family and me. We moved into our quirky one bedroom on Main Street about a year and a half ago and fell in love with Durham. Durham has something to offer that other surrounding downtown areas can't: proximity to essentials of daily living. From our Durham apartment, we can walk to the pharmacy, the bank, the post office, the grocery store, and a slew of other amenities, including an array of affordable eateries. So, why aren't more young people living in downtown Durham?

Durham's housing stock lends itself well to four person plus families and students at the University of NH. There isn't a lot left for those of us in the middle.

We recently wrote about economic development in the downtown in Al's piece "