I'd like to congratulate Michelle Martin and all those working with her on
the 'Getting to the Bottom of the Ballot' sessions they've planned and
presented over the past year. I attended last night's session on
'Affordable Housing & Density' at Southwest High School (supported by
Southwest Community Education and several neighborhood associations), and
found it very interesting-- although we ran out of time and weren't able to
adequately discuss many aspects of the subject at hand.
The session was ably moderated by Paul Lohman, and guest speakers included
former State Senator Myron Orfield, State Representative Frank Hornstein,
and City Council Member Dan Niziolek. Prior to getting into the affordable
housing topic, session attendees were treated to a brief, yet excellent
presentation on the history of urban land-use planning in our metro-area
over the past three decades; where we've come, and where we might go in the
future. While very interesting, the history lesson did shorten the time
available to discuss 'affordable housing and density'-- the topics for the
evening.
Early on, the subject became focused on the affordable housing needs of the
lower-income segment of the Minneapolis population; targeting those earning
less than 50 percent of metro-median income. Issues raised and discussed
included the growing representation of non-white, and lower-income segments
of the city population over the past two-decades, the geographic dispersion
of said populations in the city, and the ancillary effects in terms of
housing patterns, our education system, jobs, transit needs, and
socio-economic development in general.
Relative to the need for building more affordable housing, questions were
raised regarding the high vacancy rates in the private rental housing
market, and the responses indicated that high vacancies were at the
upper-end of the rental market. Low-rent units were not adequately
available, we were told.
It was pointed out that a study by Ron Feldman, Federal Reserve Bank of
Minneapolis, concluded that "a shortage of income is largely behind the
housing affordability problem despite the current focus on housing.
Policymakers should recognize that government financing of new housing units
is unlikely to be a cost-effective response to low household income."
["The Affordable Housing Shortage: Considering the Problems, Causes and
Solutions" by Ron Feldman, FRB of Mpls., Banking and Policy Working Paper
02-2, Aug. '02]. While panelists acknowledged the report, there was no
discussion of it's findings, or relevancy.
Panelists acknowledged the high cost of building new housing affordable to
those living at, or below 50 percent of metro-median income (which is higher
than city-median); thus, the source of funds for such construction-oriented
programs is of key importance. Council Member Niziolek indicated that the
City could not afford much, given all the other needs (bills due now and
over the next decade) and the current budget crunch. It was suggested that
the use of regressive property taxes to fund affordable housing didn't seem
like a good idea-- especially for those on a fixed income. I checked, the
city portion of my property taxes (due in '04) is up nearly 17 percent,
while my overall property tax bill is up 12 percent-- and this is the
established trend, no outlier aberration. So, where will the affordable
housing money come from?
It was also suggested that income supplements, on the order of Section-8
vouchers, might be used to take better advantage of existing housing stock,
or purchasing existing housing outright, rather than relying on new
construction, might offer a solution. Given time constraints, there was no
resolution of these funding concerns. The Land-Trust model was brought up by
Council Member Niziolek, as a way to make housing available at reduced cost
via eliminating the cost of land and limiting equity growth in the property.
Again, limited time precluded further discussion of the Land-Trust model for
either ownership or rental options.
Concentration of poverty issues were raised-- low-income and/or nonwhite
populations tend to be concentrated in certain neighborhoods, and have been
for decades. We've bused school kids for decades in an effort to overcome
segregated housing patterns across the country; and, we had the Hollman
court case in Minneapolis- resulting in the Heritage Park developments, an
effort to disperse and better integrate such neighborhoods. It's important
that future development of subsidized housing (new construction or purchase
of existing units)-- both owner-occupied and rental, maintain this
integration trend. Economically distressed neighborhoods need more
market-rate housing, and land-use development strategies- in Mpls. and
surrounding communities, should facilitate that process. Our economically
distressed neighborhoods in Minneapolis need the added disposable income
that accompanies market-rate housing, to support community stability and
economic development. It was suggested that NIMBYism is too prevalent in
the development process-- be it over subsidized housing, owner-occupied vs.
rental properties, or increased density issues. Again, a lack of time
precluded a more in-depth discussion of these issues, let alone getting to
possible solutions.
Throughout the evening, the relationships between multi-modal transit
options and higher density were referenced as sound development goals worth
pursuing; as was mixed-use and mixed-income development. The Linden Hills
Neighborhood Council has recently developed a Affordable Housing Policy-- it
remains to be tested in a meaningful way.
This was a good meeting, just too short to adequately cover the topics.
Affordable Housing and Density are difficult issues. After sitting through
last night's two-hour discussion, and experiencing the time-limit factors
and frustrations, I'd recommend that other groups considering a similar
program might want to allocate 5-7 hours (a day or a half-day at minimum)
for a more complete discussion of the related components of these complex
issues. Include policy wonks and planners, as well as private sector folks
like private property owners, landlords, developers, neighborhood
association types, people familiar with the economics and the financial
aspects of both market-rate and subsidized housing, mixed-use/mixed-income
development and transit.
~~~~~~~~~
On a related note, if you've read this far, you may be interested in
reviewing the Met Council's draft '2030 Regional Development Framework'
which will replace the 'Blueprint 2030'-- the regional plan to accommodate
forecasted growth, given economic, environmental and livability concerns.
You can download the draft (40 pgs), and review what is happening at the Met
Council at:
http://www.metrocouncil.org/
The Regional Framework Public Hearing is scheduled for Dec. 3rd. There is a
public information meeting Thurs., Nov. 20th at the Metro Transit Heywood
Office, 560 Sixth Ave. No., 6:30-8 p.m. You can submit written comments
through Dec. 13th.
Michael Hohmann
Linden Hills
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of
> Michelle Martin
> Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 11:10 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [Mpls] affordable housing & density seminar tonight
>
>
> Getting to the Bottom of the Ballot will be hosting the last of its After
> the Election seminars for this year tonight:
>
> Affordable Housing & Density
> Can you imagine 15% more people living in our developed area?
> The Metropolitan Council has projected that this will happen in the next
> thirty years.
> Could you afford to buy your own home at today's prices?
> Many Southwest residents who previously bought here could not do so today.
> Density and Affordability stand to affect our lives greatly in the near
> future. Join with a few locally elected officials to take a
> big-picture look
> at how these two urban issues intersect in southwest Minneapolis.
snip
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