Progress on affordable housing depends on broad collaboration

Many stakeholders are working in the Central Corridor to preserve the area’s affordable housing, minimize involuntary displacement and to include affordable housing units as part of new mixed-income development that is built near the light rail line. In October, Funders Collaborative members joined with some of these groups (see below) to learn about progress toward keeping housing options available in the corridor to residents at all income levels, now and in the future.

Everyone in the room shared these Funders Collaborative affordable housing goals. The complexity of our common challenge was apparent during our discussion — but we were also encouraged by the progress.

Here are some insights that came out of our learning session:

The entire community has a stake in affordable housing. Affordable housing is often framed as a social justice issue, but housing also provides many families with a path to prosperity. Some neighborhood residents are concerned about keeping property values down to preserve affordability. Others have mortgages underwater and want transit and new development to help their property values rise. These interests in affordability and opportunities for wealth building must be considered together.

Mixed income communities are also critical to the economy, and housing should be viewed as vital infrastructure for the entire region. The Central Corridor is a test for how the region can  reconfigure its development patterns to absorb metro population growth.

A wide range of interests must be recognized. Renters, owners, landlords, transit riders and agencies, developers and cities all have a stake in affordable housing policy, but their interests are not always aligned. Unless they are all at the table, one group may not see how its interest affects others, and decisions can produce winners and losers. Anti-gentrification efforts can fail because people resist when they feel they were not included.

Understanding neighborhood identity is key. Efforts to influence housing mix can build on neighborhood identity, which influences who stays and why. Although the housing/transit interface is a strong focus in the corridor, this may not be the primary concern for residents who select a neighborhood based on their family needs — such as schools, churches, places to play and the ability to get to and from work.

Strong, diverse, ethnic institutions that create neighborhood identity (e.g., Chinatowns) resist gentrification. Investing in neighborhood institutions and properties that express neighborhood identity may be more effective than pure policy approaches to preserving and expanding mixed-income housing.

Public funding and private investment must work together. Broad effort and a long time horizons are needed to keep affordable housing viable. We heard about a number of initiatives designed to protect renters, preserve affordable properties and bank land for future development.

The market environment presents these opportunities now, but public funding is constrained. For example, St. Paul has planned the infrastructure to support higher density in the corridor, but is not in a position to acquire open spaces that support quality transit oriented development. Gap funding to support new low-income projects is less than one-fourth what it was a few years ago.

Zoning changes and incentives can encourage developers to include affordable housing in their projects, but they can also drive private capital to other communities. To be most effective, zoning for affordable housing should be regional.

Governor Pawlenty and other state officials have supported some bonding for affordable housing, but it can deliver even higher returns if better integrated with public bonding for roads and transit projects. (For example, greater density improves transit ridership, so there are mutual benefits.)

The Living Cities Integration Initiative announced last month will invest up to $16 million in the Twin Cities with a particular focus on housing affordability, economic development and public-private partnerships. The award had not yet been announced when we held the session, but the room was full of optimism that efforts in the Central Corridor are on the right track.

(Participants included the Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, District Councils Collaborative, Metropolitan Council, Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers, Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, Family Housing Fund, Twin Cities LISC, Twin Cities Community Land Bank and the Housing Preservation Project.)