The Latest Moves, Battles in Affordable Housing

Affordable housing projects across the country are sparking debates over how they serve the community or whether they should be built at all

2015-09-urban-city-skyline-housing.jpg

By Mary Velan

Gov1

Affordable housing projects across the country are sparking debates over how they serve the community or whether they should be built at all. Many cities need affordable housing developments to aid demographic and economic growth. Others are looking to avoid these projects to preserve an affluent community.

Ending Segregation in Housing

Despite efforts to reverse policies that created segregation in U.S. cities, many communities still show signs of clear divisions between demographics and ethnicities. The federal government is pressuring cities to break down areas of segregation by implementing new requirements for assessing community housing.

Over the summer, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development unveiled new requirements for local governments designed to increase accountability for how federal housing funds are used to reduce racial disparities in the community. The new rules aim to promote residential equality and actively foster integration among different ethnicities and demographics. The rules build off the civil rights era fair housing law that bans housing discrimination, The New York Times reported.

Under the new guidelines, local governments must assess fair housing in their communities, submit detailed reports on where segregation and poverty occur and offer thorough plans on how they will address and support these neighborhoods. Any local government that fails to meet these reporting standards runs the risk of losing millions of federal housing dollars, Stateline.org reported.

Over the past 30 years, there has been improvement in diversification among affluent communities in most cities where more affluent minorities have taken up residence. These changes, however, do not include the desegregation of less-wealthy minority families. The rules hope to encourage affordable housing development in more desirable neighborhoods, as well as improve the housing stock available in lower income-areas, The New York Times reported.

Recent sociological research indicates segregation has intensified in many major urban areas despite the number of non-white residents growing. In fact, many cities with large non-white populations are among the most segregated in the country, Five Thirty Eight reported.

Another issue complicating the housing segregation discussion is the difference between integrated and diverse. A truly integrated city houses people of different racial groups living and working together. A city with a large, diverse minority population, on the other hand, has sizable populations of different racial and ethnic groups but they do not necessarily live and work together, or have equal economic opportunities, Stateline.org reported.

The diversification of a neighborhood does not mean segregation is eliminated, or access to opportunities has been improved. Similarly, when a neighborhood is undergoing gentrification, there is a transition period when integration may appear to be happening, but may not last in the long-term, Stateline.org reported.

The Fight Against Affordable Housing

Despite the implementation of new federal housing reporting rules, many communities remain staunchly opposed to affordable housing projects. Some cities would rather opt out of receiving the federal housing and community development grants than weather through an integration-themed initiative.

In Billerica, Massachusetts, for example, an 88 percent white population is fighting to prevent an affordable housing development from taking shape. The community boasts a 6 percent poverty rate and 82 percent homeownership rate – far surpassing averages in the state or across the country.

Billerica residents are speaking out against potential housing projects that they feel would threaten the safety of their neighborhoods. Under Massachusetts law Chapter 40B developers can bypass local zoning authorities if more than 20-25 percent of the housing units will be affordable housing. Chapter 40B oversight applies to towns in Massachusetts until they reach a 10-percent affordable housing threshold.

Billerica is nowhere near the 10 percent mark and therefore residents are fighting to have developers build under a process called 40R which would mitigate the affordable housing discussion. The city argues that affordable housing projects fundamentally threaten the neighborhood and would then victimize Billerica, the Lowell Sun reported.

Billerica officials developed an Affordable Housing Productivity Plan in 2002 which highlights a need for affordable housing in the city. Currently, the high property taxes and limited availability of housing in Billerica is preventing young families and retirees on fixed incomes from taking up residence.

Residents are fighting to reduce the number of affordable housing units being built as well as push the project toward the border of town away from the city center. Billerica’s productivity plan specifically calls for the preservation of low-density, single-family zoning and the wealth nurtured in this type of community. This is counter to the goals of affordable housing projects which typically foster high-density growth and opportunities for low-income renters, the Lowell Sun reported.

Billerica and other cities like it will not be able to easily diminish and relocate affordable housing projects under the new federal requirement – the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule. The federal government will revoke funding is integration and desegregation is not a top priority in the community. The new federal rule does not see affluent communities like Billerica as victims in the affordable housing conversation. Rather, it seems them as intensely segregated pockets in the community that should remedied to meet the needs of the local population.

Some Want More

New York City is not backing away from affordable housing demand. In fact, the city plans to add more housing units for homeless adults and children escaping domestic violence. The new housing projects would provide emergency housing for up to 13,300 adults and children, up from the 8,880 currently being served by city-funded programs. The projects would offer shelter beds and transitional apartments for victims of domestic violence using nearly $15 million in emergency funding, The New York Times reported.

New York City offers housing options for victims of domestic violence– as it is a leading cause of homelessness among women and children. These services have slowed, however, in recent years. From 2002 to 2009, New York City added 628 beds for domestic violence victims. From 2009 to the present no beds or housing units were added, The New York Times reported.

New York City is currently revamping its efforts to combat homelessness throughout the community by helping victims of domestic violence as well as providing services to individuals with mental illnesses and those suffering prolonged unemployment. Rolling out these initiatives, however, has been stalled due to limited funding and lack of political attention, The New York Times reported.

In the last few months, the city’s Human Resources Administration and the Department of Homeless Services:

  • Expanded rental-assistance programs
  • Set up a $10 million initiative to shelter an additional 1,000 single adults
  • Launched a campaign to encourage churches and faith-based organizations to designate unutilized space to create 500 beds for homeless people

The new programs cannot come soon enough as recent figures show more than 57,000 adults and children were being housed in the city’s shelter system last week. The mayor’s plan calls for adding 300 emergency shelter beds and 400 units of transitional family shelter which would serve an additional 4,500 people over the next year.

Because homelessness is a complex issue often caused by several factors and circumstances, it is important for New York City and other municipalities to offer specialized shelters. These housing units should offer immediate shelter, counseling and other social services to not only protect the homeless but help return to them work and into a more stable situation, The New York Times reported.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU