Joseph Polisena Jr.
en.wikipedia.org

... Johnston town council

In 2018, Polisena Jr. was elected to Johnston's town council,[4] and began his tenure in January 2019.[1] Within the two-year term, he served as its vice president.[1][2]

Leading up to the 2020 presidential election between incumbent Republican president Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden, Polisena Jr. spoke to the Boston Globe on why voters in Johnston voted for Trump in the 2016 election. ...

One Square Mile Johnston: Why Did This Democratic Town Back President Trump? (2017)
thepublicsradio.org

... You don't have to look far to find Donald Trump supporters in Johnston. In fact, it's as easy as walking into one of the Brewed Awakenings coffee shops on Atwood Avenue, a busy main artery lined with strip plazas, Italian restaurants and other small businesses.

Brewed Awakenings is a frequent gathering point for a group of pro-Trump retirees, like Ralph Petrocchi.

"People say to me, well, you left the Democratic Party. No, I didn't " the Democratic Party left me. And I'm sick and tired of them giving away my money to everybody, and all of our money to everybody who doesn't deserve it," Petrocchi said.

Petrocchi said he's a lifelong Democrat. But he got turned off by what he considers excessive American foreign aid to other countries.

Like many others in this middle class town west of Providence, Petrocchi sees Trump as a sharp break from business as usual in Washington: "I think he knows the problem. As a person who's not a politician, he's a businessman. And he's gonna run this country like a business, and that's how it should be run."

State Rep. Stephen Ucci (D-Johnston) is hanging out with the pro-Trump retirees this morning. Ucci said he voted for Clinton. But he believes dissatisfaction with the status quo explains why Johnston voters saw Trump as a change agent.

"I think a lot of people are just frustrated, thinking that nothing's coming out of Washington," Ucci said. "So it was really kind of a backlash on a national level against some of the Democratic policies. And a lot of the people I've talked to think the party doesn't reflect them any more and that it's gone too far to the left."

Too far to the left is a relative term. So it's worth remembering that Johnston Democrats lean to the right, especially on social issues like abortion. That's due in part to the scores of Italian immigrants and their children who moved to the town after first settling in Providence. Johnston is now considered home to the second-highest proportion of Italian-Americans in the US. ...

Aging in Place with Habitat for Humanity
www.habitat.org

They were most excellent in the assistance provided.

A look at the state of affordable housing in the U.S. (October 2024)
www.pewresearch.org

... Housing affordability has emerged as a key issue in this year's U.S. presidential election. Both Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have talked about what they would do to increase the supply of affordable homes and people's ability to buy them, though their plans have little in common.

It's an important issue for the public, too: In a recent Pew Research Center survey, 69% of Americans said they were "very concerned" about the cost of housing, up from 61% in April 2023. ...

What makes a home affordable?

One commonly used (though also criticized) benchmark for housing affordability is that no more than 30% of household income should go toward housing costs. Households that spend more than that are considered "cost burdened" by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. ...

[worth a read if you are interested ...]

Affordable Housing vs Low Income Housing
www.apartmentlist.com

... If you're struggling to afford rent, you're not alone. Research shows that 49% of Americans say the availability of affordable housing in their local community is a significant problem.

Relief could be within reach! Some programs, including low-income and affordable housing, could help you pay your rent without feeling financially burdened. Here's what to know about low income vs. affordable housing, the differences, and how to apply.

What Is Low-Income Housing?

Low-income housing helps renters who cannot keep up with rising rents and marketing changes. A household is considered low income if it makes below 80% of the median income in the local area.

Public housing and its related programs aren't new. The first public housing was created in Atlanta, GA, in 1935 as part of the New Deal initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Initially, public housing was segregated by race. However, a year after the Supreme Court invalidated "separate but equal" public education, the Eisenhower administration legally ended public housing segregation.

What Is Affordable Housing?

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines affordable housing or apartments as one a household can obtain for 30% or less of its income. The team at Apartment List also recommends using the 30% rule or spending no more than 30% of your take-home pay on rent to live comfortably.

Of course, this figure also varies from city to city. For example, many people in San Francisco and New York City spend more than 30% of their income on housing....

Here's How Millennials and Gen Z Afford Housing in 2025
finance.yahoo.com

... According to a recent study from Realtor.com, millennials and Gen Z are "pent up" when it comes to housing -- there were 1.6 million fewer households for those between 18 and 44 than expected. This means that around 1.6 million expected Gen Z and millennial households didn't come together last year, mainly due to a lack of affordable housing.

The total housing gap was 3.8 million in 2024, and many younger people are sharing households rather than living alone. ...