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Who needs Affordable Housing?
The economic expansion of the 1990s obscured certain trends and statistics that point to an increased, not decreased, need for affordable housing. The generally accepted definition of affordability is for a household to pay no more than 30 percent of its annual income on housing. Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost burdened and may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. An estimated 12 million renter and homeowner households now pay more then 50 percent of their annual incomes for housing, and a family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States. The lack of affordable housing is a significant hardship for low-income households preventing them from meeting their other basic needs, such as nutrition and healthcare, or saving for their future and that of their families. Availability of affordable housing helps garner the development of community-based services for all citizens, regardless of race, age, income, or disability.
The NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) report produced by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (LIHIS) is an important document addressing the NIMBY battle that tends to slow affordable housing development. The most recent report, “From NIMBY to YIMBY: Lessons in YES In My Back Yard,” explores attitudes, values and acceptance of affordable housing and possible ways to change negative stereotypes while helping get beyond NIMBYism.
In the fall of 2001, Housing Illinois, a unprecedented collaborative of more than three dozen housing advocates, planners, faith institutions, and developers seeking to expand affordable housing in the state, agreed that effecting a climate shift in public opinion towards affordable housing would depend upon research that identified the different audiences in the region and suggested targeted messages. With 6 in 10 residents believing that more affordable housing is needed and with 2/3 supporting building in their own areas and with every person surveyed believing that affordable housing is a basic human right, why is there such a hard case against new developments? Why are the NIMBYS so prevalent in the area of affordable housing? What are the stereotypes that pepper the area of affordable housing and how can they be broken?
Within the report, it is noted that the greatest challenge posed by NIMBYism happens before a housing project is approved and their opposition is infamously fierce. Even though NIMBY proponents may be in the minority, their voice is usually emotionally filled and louder than the majority. The challenge is for advocates to turn the passive majority of affordable housing advocates into a more active force to advance affordable housing developments.
One example of a nonprofit housing developer, St. Peter's Homes, has proven that patience and hard work in the community can beat NIMBY distortion and fear tactics.
Objections delayed the project, but the developer's persistence paid off. It attended every public meeting and offered to meet privately with opponents, despite the open hostility to the project
St. Peter's continued to mobilize public support and to work with the media to correct misinformation. After St. Peter's tenaciously worked the city's process, eventually NDBA (North Davidson Business Association), the opposition, failed to appear at the committee hearing which approved the capital- funding grant.
There are several hints below given by the Executive Director, Terri Andrews, in order to help other organizations overcome the NIMBY hostility:
- Educate the community and share information
- Telling the neighborhoods too far in advance only gives them more time to disagree and be combative
- Research all of the neighborhood groups and business groups within a 1-mile radius of your project
- If you are a new organization, have your board of directors adopt a policy and procedures manual before scheduling a meeting with the neighborhood
- Create a positive image of your residents based on examples of the applicant pool
- Make a commitment to work with the neighborhood once the building is complete.
- Partner with other human service agencies in your community
- Research throughout the country for other projects similar to yours
- If you are going to operate a permanent housing community, enroll in property management training.
- The most important advice is always to remain polite, cordial, and respectful.
In another study, Affordable Housing: The Impact of Property Values, the author looks at more than 30 primary and secondary studies done on the link between affordable housing and property values from the mid-1960s through 1999, and provides an annotated bibliography for each. “Opponents of affordable housing often claim that the placement of low-income housing in a community will result in lower property values. The vast majority (97%) of the literature reviewed on the topic, however, demonstrates that this assumption is false and unproven. Of the thirty-one cases reviewed, nineteen determined that affordable housing did not impact the neighboring property values. Seven of the research teams even found that the affordable housing had a positive effect on the community property values. Finally, three of the examination were inconclusive and one found a negative correlation.” Findings from this research study lead the way from NIMBY to YIMBY and are important for the advocates fighting the battle of harsh stereotypes and roadblocks that hinder development of needed housing.-
Sources:
Getting to YIMBY: Lessons in YES in My Back Yard National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2003.
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