Doug Mann correctly says: >"> Concentrated poverty is a consequence of discrimination in the housing and > job markets, especially the exclusion of African-Americans from the better > neighborhoods and jobs. But very little is being done by the government at any > level to enforce fair employment and housing laws. > > The plan to "de-concentrate poverty" on the Near North side that was > legitimized by the Hollman Consent decree is, in reality, a gentrification project > which harmed the people it was supposed to help. About 900 dwelling units were > destroyed, which produced an alarming increase in the number of poor > African-American families taken into homeless shelters in Minneapolis. > > A lot of housing that is affordable to poor people could be created by > building on vacant lots and renovating or replacing uninhabitable dwelling units in > some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. This is not being done because it > would not be very profitable for private developers to do this. If a property > is in a bad location, its market value can fall below the cost of acquisition > and development. > > It is possible to de-concentrate poverty in the poorest neighborhoods, and at > the same time increase the supply of "affordable housing" in the poorest > neighborhoods and citywide. But that's not happening because the politicians in > this city are owned by people who have an interest in preserving the status quo.
While I agree with Doug Mann, there are a couple of things he misses. In poor neighborhoods the only way to create affordable housing without concentrating poverty is to create more "affordable homeownership". A mechanism that brings poor people out of poverty and stabilizes poor communities. Such "development" pays very little to politicians in the form of contributions or actual future "considerations". Also Doug has missed a very important aspect of concentration of poverty and problems in poor "Impacted Neighborhoods". The problems of poverty and lack of housing does not JUST affect Afro-Americans. Though it does very definitely impact the Black community. Native people are the most discriminated against community for housing of any group in America. Twenty-five percent (25%) of Indian people are homeless. Even recent immigrants are less discriminated against than Indian People! Some groups of Hmong people seem to lack the resources to become homeowners, and yes even the most overlooked minority of all, poor whites, are discriminated against. Believe me poor whites are also a discriminated against "Minority", though if they get lucky they may "pass". Indian People even though they become middle class are discriminated against for mortgage financing. (And for Jim Mork's benefit, the source of this data is Fannie Mae during a briefing they gave to neighborhood and housing leaders at the Shriners building.) The City of Minneapolis has totally ignored the implications of the Hollman Decree. They mistakenly think that it only affects "Public Housing". Minneapolis elected officials do not seem to realize that their pattern of institutional discrimination by concentrating poverty and "Supportive Housing" violates Federal Fair Housing Law. Public Housing also is a nebulous thing since Federal Tax Credits, and other "Public" funds are used to build "affordable rental housing" and then subsidize the rent of those same rental units. How is this NOT "public" housing? City Officials have told us that they alone subsidize every "affordable" rental unit in multi-unit buildings by 159,000 dollars. Such institutional discrimination costs Minneapolis' poor people a lot of suffering, but eventually it could cost Minneapolis millions of dollars for remediation and lawsuit costs. Would it not be better to live up to the "Spirit of the law" and solve this problem rather than forcing neighborhoods to sue the City for justice? I guess the sad truth is that City leaders would rather spend money on needless legal actions than on actual affordable housing for poor people. Or could it be that they are simply ignorant of the intent of the law and the City leaders are instead intent on helping "development" friends? By the way, there are people and organizations like American Indian Housing who ARE trying to develop affordable homeownership on those lots you talk about. They are also looking to rehab those houses you talk about for affordable homeownership. There are NO lots in the City of Minneapolis that could not be developed for "affordable homeownership" at half the subsidy for each and every rental apartment. Such development could immediately start on every empty lot in this City. It is not a problem of finding quality-housing developers; it is a problem of WILL. The will to actually help poor people and break the cycle of poverty. There is light (even if dim) down the tunnel. More and more City Council Members are starting to understand the concept of "affordable homeownership" and to understand that not only does this stabilize lives and communities, but it saves hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars over the life of the house and family. Subsidizing the continuation of poverty is NOT cheap. Those CM's with Social Liberal- Fiscal Conservative backgrounds must realize the ultimate actual cost of subsidized rental apartments. I think the combination of Mike Christianson and Lee Pao Xiong will quickly see the efficacy of the affordable homeownership plan in the "planning" for Minneapolis communities. It is a model that is both acceptable to "Impacted Neighborhoods" and even good "fortress neighborhoods". It is also a model that saves both lives and money and stops the pattern of institutional discrimination that "concentration" causes. Isn't it cool when social justice even costs less? The problem is that it also leaves less "opportunity" for the poverty industry folks to MAKE money, so few politicians (only the good ones) work on it Jim Graham, Ventura Village >"There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies, revolution into minds and families into homes." TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
