#housing #LowIncomeHousing #poverty #gentrification
There are three myths in the housing market.
First, gentrification has as much to do with morals as with economics. Second, there is more poverty in cities than suburbs. Third, having low-income housing in one’s community reduces property values.
Darcel Rockett discussed these myths in an article for the Chicago Tribune, that was also published Dec. 18, 2017, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Since the term gentrification has many connotations, we won’t spend a lot of time discussing it. Suffice it to say, “We need to take the depth of ethical and moral disgust out of the name gentrifier, so that we can get people together and say this is something that we are a part of, but it’s also something bigger than us …. So how do we move forward?” Rockett quotes John Joe Schlichtman, an associate professor of sociology at DePaul University.
But let’s dive deeper into the other two. Poverty exists everywhere. It’s not an urban problem, suburban problem or a rural problem. Especially since the 2008 recession, you have many people who were once considered “middle class” suddenly without a job, or, suddenly losing their homes.
For some, one or both of those events can create instant poverty, regardless of where one lives.
Secondly, there are many people moving from the suburbs to the cities, essentially gentrifying some urban neighborhoods.
“The number of poor persons in suburban Chicago eclipsed the number in the City of Chicago in the last decade, and there are no signs of this trend reversing anytime soon,” Rockett quotes Scott Allard, a professor at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.
That brings us to low-income housing’s effect on housing prices. Rockett quotes a 2016 Stanford Graduate School of Business analysis that reviewed low-income developments nationwide, funded by the low-income housing tax credit program. The impact of that housing on surrounding property values varied based on neighborhoods’ economic state and the number of minority residents, Rockett quotes the study.
“What the study finds is that the effects of putting one of these (low-income housing developments) in a neighborhood depends on the pre-existing conditions in that neighborhood,” Rockett quotes Anthony DeFusco, assistant professor of finance at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
What all of this tells us is that housing – just one segment of the overall economy – cannot be stereotyped. “Instead of building housing and targeting it” to people with income below a certain level, “if you just build more housing, and housing was more plentiful overall, prices in general would be lower and would be more affordable for everyone,” Rockett quotes DeFusco.
Are you living where you want to be living? If not, is it because of finances? Perhaps you need to look at ways to make more money that doesn’t involve a second W-2 job. There are many ways out there to earn extra money – perhaps even surpass the income from your primary job – by spending a few part-time, off-work hours a week. To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
As the article intimates, it doesn’t matter how you label housing. Housing comes in all types and price ranges. You should be able to choose the housing, and location, that’s right for you. The more housing options available, the more affordable all housing becomes.
So, here’s hoping you are living where you want, in a place just right for you. Remember, too, that a house is a house. A home is created by the people living in it.
Peter