The Positive Impacts of Affordable Housing in a Community
What is affordable housing? Well affordable housing is housing that is affordable for those who have little to no income. The researcher who chose this topic wanted to inform the readers of the positive outcomes that come out of affordable housing and how it could impact you. Furthermore, this subject also goes more in depth, so you could understand what’s going on in your community. While it may hurt the community, people should consider for all the positive outcomes of affordable housing such as education, health increases, it is good economically.
People who have considered affordable housing tend to know or see the struggle of those around them. In the New York Times newspaper
This can start to override the stigma often associated with low-income housing and even serving as a point of pride for those who live there” (Marin).
One of the most prevalent forms of discrimination is through housing. While modern discrimination is typically difficult to figure out the exact intentions of the person accused of discrimination, such as a boss not choosing a minority to fill a management role, discrimination in housing has continued to be more obvious. The reason why housing is so important is because where a person lives dictates the school the resident’s children go to, the infrastructure such as hospitals, parks and libraries, and also availability of employment. Many of the housing inequalities have been caused by the Federal government such as the national appraisal system and subsidizing suburban areas, and not enforcing abolishing restricted covenants.
Many advocates and policymakers of housing for the poor believe that to achieve optimal human development of low-income households the location of the housing must be considered as well as the quality of the housing unit (Newman, 2008).
Today, I am going to speak about the affordable housing in Pittsburgh .First let me tell about why the affordable housing is preferred. People who live in affordable housing today want safe, decent housing for the same reasons that we all do. The reasons are mainly to provide a nurturing environment to raise their children. Another reason is to remain in the community where they were raised or to become part of a community in which they want to settle. Finally, to live in an attractive, safe environment that they can afford. People who need affordable housing are ones that are employed as secretaries, school teachers, local government employees, restaurant workers and sales clerks. These workers need affordable housing because of the wide gap
California’s housing situation is severe compared to the rest of the United States. California is included in the top three states with the most “housing cost burdened individuals” (Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, 2015). In a list of 20 cities where rents were highest compared to income, 10 of the 20 cities were in California with Los Angeles, CA topping the list (Dewan, 2014). Opponents might say that households in poverty could never afford housing due to their impoverished state but poverty measures of California show that the abnormally high cost of housing in California makes matters more severe and causes the amount of households that are severely cost afflicted to increase. Furthermore, when poverty measures take into account California’s uniquely expensive and insufficient housing supply, the results show that housing costs contribute significantly to poverty. For example, when housing costs were included in the California Poverty Measure as well as federal Supplemental Poverty Measure, the poverty rates rose substantially (Wimer, Mattingly, & Levin, 2013) (Short, 2015). And when high housing costs were artificially substituted with low housing costs, poverty rates significantly dropped (Bohn, Danielson, & Levin, 2013). And it’s not just the poor who are affected! Even those who are moderate income earners are becoming financially burdened by high housing costs. Those who are moderately well off compared to low income earners are financially burdened by rent costs in expensive cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA (Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University,
It is often easy to castigate large cities or third world countries as failures in the field of affordable housing, yet the crisis, like an invisible cancer, manifests itself in many forms, plaguing both urban and suburban areas. Reformers have wrestled passionately with the issue for centuries, revealing the severity of the situation in an attempt for change, while politicians have only responded with band aid solutions. Unfortunately, the housing crisis easily fades from our memory, replaced by visions of homeless vets, or starving children. Metropolis magazine explains that “…though billions of dollars are spent each year on housing and development programs worldwide, ? At least 1 billion people
housing" situations. ...Households with a feeble and perhaps insecure income are likely to live in
Therefore, it should be talked about and understood, so that the people are not kept in the dark, especially when they have not experienced it for themselves. I believe that understanding and admitting that the issues are accurate becomes a first step to solve the problems. It is disheartening that many minority groups and protected groups fall trap to these practices. What’s worse is that there are evidences that realtors and lenders restrict housing options based on the families’ race or background. These families are facing overt limited choices for housing in a nation that boasts liberty and opportunities. Clearly, there is something that needs to be fixed in the institution or society itself. Despite there being evidences and mandates to suppress discrimination, these actions still continue for businesses and corporations are granted certain leeway. Not saying that they should be limited in their business endeavors, but certain (stricter) regulations can be put in place to check these realtors and lenders that are supposed to serve the people and aid them in attaining the basic necessity of having a shelter. However, greed and supposition take the front seat when it comes to providing a home. Moreover, people’s perceptions also have a strong role in the encouragement of unfair activities in the housing market. To me, this poses a conundrum that is harder to
Over the last couple of decades, Buffalo has found itself in a grave housing crisis. The urban population is shrinking and the population in poverty is growing, leaving houses abandoned and left to fall apart. Although many cities in the Rust Belt are facing similar problems, about 15.7% of Buffalo housing was left vacant as of 2010, which places Buffalo as ninth in the nation for vacancy rate. As the masses abandon their homes, run down neighborhoods see an increase in crime and drug use, and a rapid decrease in property value (Armstrong et al. 1-2). Many see this deterioration, however, as an opportunity to renovate impoverished neighborhoods and make them more attractive to the upper and middle class. This process, known as gentrification, should increase the overall well being of residents by making neighborhoods safer,
At one time, public housing had been thought of as a solution for inner city poverty, isolation, and as a basic human necessity for less well-off people (Riis 1890; Marcuse 1986b (1978); Stegman 1990). It was believed by most advocates, that good housing was humane and necessary to the well-being of all people and would greatly improve the quality of life of the people who lived in slums. They envisioned public housing as a way of fulfilling part of the states responsibility to ensure that decent, affordable housing was available for all residents of the U.S. The first national
Two main reasons contribute to why I would love to become a Housing Ambassador. To help get many prospective and current students excited and involved in campus housing is the first reason. So many people shoot down on campus housing because of the price; however, people do not realize housing is more than just a room you pay for. You live here, study here, and have fun here. There are many events, free stuff, and free food that residence halls and RSA provide for students. I want to be able to show students that off-campus students do not have the same experiences as on-campus students. The second reason I would like to become a Housing Ambassador is for the experience. Ultimately, I would like to become a dean or chancellor of a college in my golden years. Being an Housing Ambassador would provide me with life-long experiences that I could take into my future careers as a business leader, politician, and dean/ chancellor.
Affordable housing in the United States describes sheltering units with well-adjusted housing costs for those living on an average, median income. The phrase usually implies to applied rental or purchaser housing within the financial means of lower-income ranges specific to the demographics of any given area. However, affordable housing does not include those living in social housing owned by government and non-profit organizations. More specifically, the targeted range for housing affordability sets below 30 percent of a household's annual income, including all applicable taxes, utility costs and home owners insurance rates. If the mean income per household breaches the 30 percent mark, then the agreed status becomes labeled as
Multiple reasons exist for the the lack of affordable housing. On the demand side these include population growth and increased migration to urban areas, easily accessible housing finance, tax incentives and a “strong cultural preference for owner-occupied detached houses”. On the supply side, affordability problems are exacerbated by inflexible and slow responses to the need for new housing stock, lack of infrastructure and generally inefficient planning processes and development assessment by local governments.
The lack of affordable housing in the United States is a problem that doesn 't receive nearly the attention that it necessitates. This absence of affordable housing became especially prevalent following World War II when suburbanization spread across the country like wildfire. Although the sheer number of homes increased, Jim Crow segregation influenced housing policy, meaning that white institutions prevented blacks from obtaining the mortgages needed to afford such homes. Therefore, rather than accept subprime loans, which often result in foreclosure, many black people have been pigeonholed into paying exorbitant rates for dilapidated rental properties located in inner-cities, thereby creating the affordable housing problem. Although the situation seems bleak, with careful planning and execution, we can solve the affordable housing problem. Specifically, my proposal involves the following two components: the government must first revise and draft three forms of legislation that create strict yet concise standards that landlords must follow, and then allocate federal funding to health and wellness programs within poor communities. By examining the contributing societal factors to the lack of affordable housing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then implementing the proposal mentioned above, one could potentially solve the affordable housing problem there and transpose the plan to other impoverished cities across the country.
Affordable housing is where it all begins, it is important to have affordable housing in nicer neighborhoods, like McKinney in