Across the country, wages aren’t keeping pace with rent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, average rent has increased 66 percent since 2000, while wages have only increased 34 percent.  The implications for poor and middle-class families are clear. In an environment where rent alone can account for 30-50 percent of incomes, evictions are becoming almost commonplace.According to a new report from the national real estate brokerage Redfin, 2.7 million Americans were evicted last year.The findings add color to the national debate on poverty, which typically focuses on income and wages. In reality however, housing may be the bigger concern.[[{"fid":"306884","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_description[und][0][value]":"","field_description[und][0][format]":"full_html","field_byline_text[und][0][value]":"","field_migration_notes[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{"height":960,"width":960,"class":"media-element file-default"}}]]About six blocks from the White House, the 14th Street corridor, in the Logan Circle neighborhood, is the heart of one of Washington, D.C.’s oldest African-American neighborhoods.“We’re also standing in front of one of the fastest gentrifying miles in the United States,” Silvia Salazar said.Salazar lived in Logan Circle for the past 15 years. That was before the condo boom of the mid-2000’s sent rents skyrocketing.“Yeah, people easily spend more than 50 percent of what they make in rent,” she said.  “Because you want to be in an accessible neighborhood where you can walk to work, people are willing to sacrifice.”Many of these jobs Salazar is talking about are in the service industry, cleaning, serving food. Oftentimes they don’t pay enough to cover costs — particularly for families.“You know, it’s been a lot of times when we didn’t eat,” 19-year-old Tamie Small said. “It was more like—  are we going to ea...