The Rhode Island housing crisis has hit a new, significant low: a complete lack of affordable housing for both renters and buyers.
The 2025 Housing Fact Book, which is released by the research group HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University, reports that this year, renters making the median income in Rhode Island, which is around $49,000, are entirely priced out.
“It was getting to be only, you know, three towns, two towns left where someone could afford maybe a two-bedroom apartment,” said Ted Nesi, politics editor and investigative reporter at WPRI, the CBS affiliate in Rhode Island. “But this is the first year that they didn’t find a single place where the numbers matched up to affordably rent and not a single place to affordably buy.”
Nesi said despite state lawmakers pouring considerable political and financial capital into the housing issue, the problem is too large and continues to grow rapidly.
Meanwhile, residents of several towns on Cape Cod are pushing for what’s known as a “seasonal community” designation, which could help alleviate rising housing costs in their area, said Jennette Barnes, reporter and producer at public-radio station CAI on the Cape.
“It’s going to help people be able to afford to live year-round in what have really become like resort towns – places where tourism has driven the cost of housing so far through the roof that it’s out of proportion with local wages,” Barnes said, adding that the Cape has “big-city housing costs but rural wages.”
Barnes said this legal designation can allow year-round residents to take a bigger tax exemption on their homes, and will also help towns “invest in building affordable housing that is specifically for municipal employees.” But the designation also comes with obligations, like requiring permits for tiny homes or homes on undersized lots. So far, nine out of 15 towns on the Cape are already designated as “seasonal communities.”
And in Vermont, a man is sharing his story of how he came to be in possession of an address book owned by the notorious pedophile and financier Jeffrey Epstein. And it’s all thanks to eBay.
“Christopher Helali sees [the address book] and he goes, ‘Huh, I wonder if this is real.’ And he figures for a couple hundred bucks, he will check it out. And it turns out it’s real,” said Arnie Arnesen, host of WNHN’s “The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen” in New Hampshire.
The address book has since been authenticated and confirmed to have belonged to Epstein.
“One of the things I found absolutely fascinating was ... not only does he have their name, but some of them have 10 phone numbers — not one, but 10,” Arnesen said. “They have the codes to get into their apartment. I mean the level of access and information in this address book is remarkable.”
All that and more in this week’s regional news roundtable!
Guests
- Arnie Arnesen, host of “The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen” on WNHN in New Hampshire
- Ted Nesi, politics editor and investigative reporter at WPRI in Rhode Island
- Jennette Barnes, reporter and producer at CAI on Cape Cod
Stories featured on this week’s roundtable
- NHPR: Shaheen and Hassan defend the shutdown deal dividing their party
- WPRI: RI housing costs rise fastest in New England; no affordable municipalities left
- CAI: 'We really lucked out’: Seeking a home on Cape for under $300k? Housing lottery for the win.
- CAI: Pols: More Cape towns want option to get 'Seasonal Communities’ designation
- VT Digger: Jeffrey Epstein lost an address book. One man’s quest brought it to rural Vermont.
