Glitters Island Natural Disasters

As part of our final report we are expected to select a planning issue within the City of Boston and undertake an analysis of the issue from a planning perspective. An issue that the City of Boston is dealing with that caught my attention was the lack of affordable housing available to its current and future residents. As cities start to evolve and attract large amounts of people, they also face some drawbacks that can affect where and how city residents can live. Our trip to Boston, Massachusetts opened my eyes to the city’s housing issue and its increasing housing and land values. An issue of this nature often causes residents to be pushed out of the city, into the suburbs or can cause homelessness. Low to moderate income families and youth across the City of Boston are struggling to pay rent and make ends meet. After our meeting with the Boston Housing Authority, I wanted to further explore the issue of housing affordability so I reached out to the City’s Department of Neighborhood Development for more information This paper will look into some topics such as when housing became an issue in the city, if Boston’s student population plays a role, if there any shortcomings in terms of how the city plans for affordable housing, if there are any specific programs in place that deal with affordable housing and if Boston is looking into what other cities may be doing.

When the recession happened, and the housing market crashed in Los Angeles a few years back many people lost their homes. The foreclosure crisis displaced many homeowners, drove up demand, and rental prices increased. Now, it is almost two years later, and the dramatic rent increases continue to soar. There would be no issue with cost of living increase except; the increases in income have yet to make the same shifts. “In many cities, rent is rising out reach of

The Public Policy Institute states that Section 8 project-based rental assistance contracts involving HUD and for-profit owners contracting private multifamily housing, which is made available by HUD to low-income households who qualify for housing assistance. The subsidy is such that pays the difference "between 30 percent of the household's income and the contract rent; the subsidy is paid by HUD to the landlord." (AARP Public Policy Institute, 2002) In addition, HUD has Dispersal programs for renters of Section 8 housing due to the desire of the public to avoid to concentration of poverty-level residents in urban areas. This is because there is a general consensus that Section 8 subsidized housing tends to drive down the market prices of property in the same area. There are various challenges that are faced by the Section 8 subsidized housing program as it assists low-income households obtain appropriate housing through the provision of rental assistance.

Underneath countless coffee shops and Whole Foods Markets lies a class struggle between the working class and the affluent new arrivals. In trying to restore low income neighborhoods to suit their middle class needs, gentrifiers end up causing more problems for the poor than they had to start with. For one, the arrival of wealthier residents grabs the attention of businesses, causing the area to grow economically. This economic growth, however, leads to a spike in rent costs and property tax. According to Mark Masson, 47.5% of the rental costs in Erie County are above the affordability threshold as of 2012, a drastic increase from 2000. Conversely, Buffalo has also experienced a rise of homeless and impoverished families. The increase in rent puts a large financial burden on working class families. Unable to pay the rent because of low wages, many working class families are forced to leave their neighborhoods in search of affordable housing. Unfortunately, the neighborhoods they end up moving to face the same problems as their former, pre-gentrified neighborhoods: crime, poverty, and

Coney Island is a peninsular residential neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. It is about 4 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. It is a home for 22,764 people. Coney Island is also a very diverse neighborhood. According to city-data, 51.2% of residents were White, 29.3% were Black, 18% were Hispanic or Latino, and 3.8% were Asian. The term “gentrification” was first coined in 1964 by Ruth Glass. Glass observed; "One by one, many of the working class quarters have been invaded by the middle class - upper and lower ... Once this process of 'gentrification ' starts in a district it goes on rapidly until all or most of the working class occupiers are displaced and the whole social social character of the district is changed" (Glass, 1964, p.xvii). Since then, many places started getting gentrified. Because of this, thousands of poor working class people lost their home. As an icon of New York City, there are definitely that the state government want to gentrify Coney Island in order to attract more investors to come start their business in here. However, even though local residents who have been lived in Coney Island for many years think gentrification is a good thing, but at the same time they are trying to save

Since Hurricane Sandy there are a few preventative steps being taken to try to avoid damage from a flood like the one Sandy gave Staten Island. One preventative thing being done is in New Dorp Beach there are now sand dunes to try and stop water from rushing in. The photo below shows the dunes on the right. These sand dunes are built with tarp and sand packed in the inside and sand covering the top and sides. Also in many spots the dunes are covered in beach grass to anchor the sand. Another way Staten Island is trying to prevent damage from a flood again is raising houses on to piers in the hopes that the flood will never touch the actual house.

The influx of the middle and upper class is exhibited through the amount of affordable housing now available in neighborhoods throughout Minneapolis and Saint Paul. In 1998 “11% of housing in Minneapolis-Saint Paul” were densely gentrified neighborhoods, and with time this is increasing (Wyly, et al). With higher earners entering a neighborhood, the higher the cost of housing is. One way to measure affordability is comparing the median renter’s income and their affordable threshold of rent (usually 30% of their monthly income) with the percentage of available units that this renter could buy in a neighborhood. For an area to be considered affordable, 50% or more of units should be available for a median renter (CURA Housing Forum). In a University

A report by the New York Office of Emergency Management states that in the 1990’s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer found that New York City’s low lying heavily populated neighborhoods are more exposed to the threat of coastal flooding in a hurricane than was previously realized. This projection was illuminated during Hurricanes Irene in 2011 and Sandy in 2012. The storm surge in Battery Park along the lower east side of Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy was 9.41 feet surpassing the record set by Hurricane Donna in 1960.

Housing demand includes household growth, real incomes, real wealth, tax concessions to both owner-occupied and rental housing, concessions to first homebuyers, returns on alternative investments, cost and availability of finance for housing and the institutional structure affecting housing finance provision (Yates, 2008). The growth in the number of households and in real income results in the increased pressure on housing demand.

Prior to the crisis, investments in the residential space saw a significant shift around 2002. Prior to that, residential investments over almost a 30-year period was estimated between 4 and 5 percent of the nominal gross domestic product. In only a short period of time from 2002 to 2005, housing prices exploded, housing prices skyrocketed, with the peak prices showing an increase of over 12% per year. (Dokko et al. , 2009)

The negative effects of this issue could not be anymore clear. In major cities like Boston, the cost of living has skyrocketed just in the last five years. This process of removing housing districts to increase the neighborhood’s value is negatively affecting low-income families, primarily people of color, while wealthy middle to upper-class white families are positively benefiting from it. Gentrification is interfering with the diversity and economy of many urban areas and historically low-income neighborhoods. There is a very high displacement rate in the United States, particularly in states like Massachusetts and New York due to gentrification. Evidence has shown that

There has recently been some discussion about the lack of housing affordability and the effect that tax policy has on house prices. I have identified 4 tax policies and have discussed how each affects housing affordability and whether changing any of these taxes could cause housing to become more affordable.

Hurricanes are destructive forces which threaten New York City annually. One neighborhood that faced massive damage from hurricanes (such as Katrina and Sandy) is the Bowery. Even to this day, the Bowery is still disheveled. There is trash on the streets, people are sleeping on the sidewalk, and rain pools in the streets and the subway. These factors slowed Bowery’s recovery rate from natural disasters. Financial devastation and maintenance issues, combined with the damage of heavy storms, left the area vulnerable and unprepared to handle future events. Additionally, climate change is altering weather patterns, making the sea level rise to worrying levels, and storms more powerful. As a result, hurricane season is bound to

Gentrification is a problem that is occurring in many communities. The city of Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles is one of the communities that the citizens of the community are notice new apartments build, galleries owner by rich people, and high prices for apartment the people are not able to afford to live there. Because the renewal of neighborhood environments that transform and attract middle and upper-class households and investors, creating problems for those who cannot afford rises of rents. According to O’Regan, “some of the biggest concerns about gentrification-potential displacement and increased rent burdens-are driven by rent or housing cost increases” (152). The only way to

Further Study could be done in both Staten Island to find correlation maybe in income or health insurance. Concrete jungles could be studied to see how people interact with each other for example are there more community activities or are people living singular