Texas Housing Problems

In 1969, Massachusetts fashioned the law 40B, famously referred to as the “Anti-Snob Zoning Act”, which allows developers to bypass land use restrictions in towns where less than ten percent of the housing meets the state definition of affordable. There are multiple positions and solutions to friction in Massachusetts largely inspired by controversy surrounding the State's affordable housing law, Massachusetts General Laws chapter 40B between housing advocates and open space advocates. This thesis reviews and critiques the current law, and diagnoses various legislative proposals for the progressive feud.

The most successful, long term, low-income housing projects are those that use sustainable design and address the social, cultural, and economic needs of residents. Traditionally built low-income housing projects are associated with high crime rates and high mortality rates among the residents who live in them. They do not provide for the needs of residents, resulting in many of the problems these low-income housing projects face today. These problems range from endangerment of human life, psychological afflictions due to the high stresses that are endured by residents, disease epidemics caused by overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions (in combination with a substandard public

The author explained how the government established policies and initiatives that created ghettos and suburbs. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is a program that helped citizens become homeowners by lending loans. However, only certain neighborhoods qualified for those loans. Research and data were used to prove that certain areas were considered a loss of investment. The

El Paso has formed The El Paso Affordable Housing CUSO. According to “Affordable Housing Is CUSO Goal,” this program provides “affordable mortgages to low- and moderate-income” (1). The program has students of a local community college build homes so that they can be sold below market price, making home buying easier and cheaper. The involvement of local college students is also another way El Paso gives job opportunities to its young people. There are, however, a series of classes and requirements to qualify for these homes. In addition, El Paso will be remodeling public housing

American’s deal with a serious challenge while looking for an affordable place to raise their families. Renting an apartment

For the past fifty years the shift from meeting the housing needs of the poor through government projects-based housing to a more individual approach, has been slowly implemented. Housing vouchers now enable underprivileged populations to move from high-poverty, segregated neighborhoods to more un-segregated, low-poverty neighborhoods. Low-poverty neighborhoods have less crime, better opportunities for employment, and more diverse schooling options. Some housing advocates however, contend that housing assistance is unnecessary and is an income subsidy that should be combined with other social safety nets (Clark, W. 2008).

The problem is there is inevitably a lack of housing, due to homelessness and influx of people. Without enough housing, the prices of the homes will be very expensive; however, if there is not a balanced mix of luxury and affordable housing, those already living there will be forced to leave because they will not be able to maintain taxes and other increases that will be tacked on to housing expenses. In order to make this process a bit more feasible, New York created the “Inclusionary Zoning program.” This program required “that developers set aside a certain percentage of units in a new development as affordable units.” The issue with this zoning ordinance is that although it was stated as a “requirement” the city kept it as a voluntary process.” With the ordinance being voluntary and developers with a capitalist mentality, many developers opted out of adhering to the ordinance. Although the residents of New York may not be in the power broker or decision-making classification, many of its inhabitants have been there for many years. Unless there are efforts to make this ordinance mandatory, there will be much opposition to keep new development out.

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

What is known about the dearth of inexpensive living spaces in high-cost, heavy populated areas is its scarcity is a function of supply. Demand remains a non-issue for policy makers as demand has

Housing allocation determinations and planning review powers were also passed down from the state to Councils of Government (COG), which served as regional planning commissions that were thought to be closer to municipal governments and less likely to be perceived as encroaching on local land use decision-making (Ramsey-Musolf para. 7). The need for regional, as opposed to decentralized housing policies, is significant: shortages of housing in one area simply push housing burdens to adjacent cities, exacerbating statewide levels of inequality. Unfortunately, a study cited in the Journal of Planning Literature found that this well-intentioned legislation has only created a production imbalance between LIH and MRH: though collective housing element compliance may have increased between 1990 and 1997, a sample of 53 California municipalities only produced 32% of its

An area that has high annual incomes translates into areas with higher concentration of higher worth house units. For those who do not own their home and are renting, the average rent in Texas is $870. Although Texas is large in size, most of Texas is rural with a few highly dense urban areas. Texas’s population density per square mile is 96.3, while Denton is 13 times denser than the state average with a density of 1,289.91. One of the reasons why rent is higher in Denton and Lewisville could be due to being in an urban city, not more than an hour away from Dallas, the largest urban city in north Texas. All of these factors play a part in the discrepancies between Texas averages in rent, and rent near urban hubs like Lewisville or Denton.

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

The affordability problem is across all states and largely affects the working wage earners and below.(Housing Needs Assessment, 2015 booklet page 297) This is because throughout the nation there is a large differences between minimum wage, housing wage, and the affordable units available. As noted earlier in the essay, King County is experiencing a huge affordable housing Crisis. The 2015 Housing Needs Assessment indicated that there are only 28 affordable units for every 100 extremely cost burden families. Washington State is short in 166,058 affordable units, 2015. With Seattle economy and populations growing each year these affordable units are necessary to maintain the working class.

Inclusionary zoning requires all developers to produce a percentage of affordable housing units along with the development of market rate units. The goals of the program are to create mixed income neighborhoods; produce affordable housing for a diverse labor force; seek equitable growth of new residents; and increase homeownership opportunities for low and moderate income levels.

A solution to this issue may be to take buildings that are being constructed into condos and apartments and make them into affordable housing; affordable meaning, basing the prices of rent on the net income of families. If the price is based on net income the family will not have to worry about paying taxes along with other costs.