Several people have noted the healthy rise in rental vacancies in the GVA Marquette Advisors quarterly survey. I've inquired in the past about the rising vacancy rate in the context of a continuing portrayal by advocates of an affordable housing crisis. That issue can be debated by others at length. But it's important to note what GVA Marquette measures--and doesn't. It is a seven-county survey, according to GVA web site, rather than the 11-county area that Chris Johnson thought. Whether that is significant depends on whether one views rental markets as metro-wide or comprised of sub-metro markets. I tend to think that for many people living in Minneapolis and looking for lower-cost family housing, the market is sub-regional. More important to Minneapolis, GVA Marquette surveys only "rental communities with 10 units or more." I assume that means that the single-family, duplex, fourplex and eightplex buildings common in Minneapolis neighborhoods are below the survey's radar. Presumably this omission is for reasons of efficiency. It's easier to get more data more quickly by surveying larger complexes. But this at least leaves open the possibility that the low-end market is tighter than market levels, as advocates assert.
Chris Johnson asks about the dividing line for low income or affordable housing. I'm not going to repeat the commonly accepted definitions here because I've printed them in the paper so many times. The Family Housing Fund has good calculations based on the commonly accepted definitions at this web site: http://www.fhfund.org/dwnloads/working_d.pdf Chris also asks what the real vacancy rate is in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, that's not easy to answer. Brandt's First Law of Data state's if there's recent data, it's a small sample, and if there's a complete sample, it's out of date. The 2000 census was helpful as a snapshot at that time, showing this to be about the nation's tightest market, but time and rapid changes in the market have made that data less on point. Finally, Chris notes the proliferation of unsubsidized units along the river and asks how much is being built for people who can't afford those. One Minneapolis-specific answer for 2002 can be found at: http://www.mcda.org/whats_new/Newsreleases/multifamily_2.htm Steve Brandt Star Tribune 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
