download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewThis as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Úrsula Alvarado, a 52-year-old Peruvian-American artist who lives in Alexandria, Virginia. In 2016, I had just divorced my husband of 30 years and was forced to live at a friend's place. Úrsula Alvarado outside St James Plaza, an affordable apartment community in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 11, 2024. He was stunned that I was living in one of the country's most expensive cities.

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Persons: —, Úrsula Alvarado, St James Plaza, Paul Bernard Organizations: Service, Business, United States, Affordable Homes, St Locations: American, Alexandria , Virginia, Peru, Alexandria, St James