As should be expected, the city’s government has joined in on the conversation. Of course, these issues are not new, and the city’s past inaction is to partial blame for the current state of housing. However, in great thanks to the voices of local groups and coalitions, addressing the housing crisis appears to be on the city government’s agenda. Now, the push continues for action.

Housing Next Report

This past year, the City of Grand Rapids hired Housing Next to join a group of public, private, and independent organizations working to address the city’s housing problems. Housing Next is a west-Michigan initiative that is “focused on supporting housing solutions for all income levels in our community.” As a part of the contract, Housing Next generated a 40-page report titled Housing Needs and Opportunities. The report details the housing needs within the city and the financial, environmental, political, and social forces that have led us here.

The city paid for the Housing Next contract with funds from the affordable housing fund, which contains an estimated $1M and is currently on indefinite hold by the lead of City Manager Mark Washington. The Grand Rapids DSA Housing Working Group and other organizations would like to see the housing fund re-activated and used immediately for emergency relief. The end to the federal moratorium is imminent, and an unhoused community proliferated  in Heartside Park until it was torn down by city leaders and the Grand Rapids Police Department. Our community is in dire need of support, and the $1M will go a long way for those facing homelessness.

Takeaways from the Report

The Housing Next report begins with an acknowledgment of the Great Housing Strategies meeting conducted in 2015. More than two-hundred people from the community, including city commissioners, non-profit representatives, and private development stakeholders, identified eight goals and thirty-five actions to confront current and future housing issues. Housing Next cites Great Housing Strategies – Addressing Current and Future Housing Needs  as the framework for their assessment.

The Great Housing Strategies workgroups—and subsequently, Housing Next—identified the following eight goals for housing in Grand Rapids:

1. Provide a Variety of Housing Choices
2. Encourage Mixed-Income Neighborhoods
3. Create and Preserve Affordable Housing
4. Support Low-Income and Vulnerable Populations
5. Support Employers and Workforce Development
6. Encourage Alternative Transportation and Parking Options
7. Change Public Perception of Affordable Housing
8. Advocate for Change to State and Federal Policies

Housing Problems in Grand Rapids

The eight housing goals laid out in Great Housing Strategies put an uncanny spin of positivity on the life-altering problems Grand Rapids residents are facing. Housing Next defines the following issues as the three most pressing in the Grand Rapids housing market.

Market Demand

The demand for housing units is at levels near unmanageable, particularly in amenity-rich areas. According to Bowen National Research, Grand Rapids requires 5,340 additional rental units and 3,548 for-sale units by the end of 2025.

The market is doing little to keep pace. Consequently, high-income households are pricing out low and moderate-income households, forcing them to move, rent at unsustainable rates, double-up in single-family homes, or face homelessness. This displacement will continue with increasing consequences unless the city “preserves” the affordability of existing units and ensures that more for-sale housing will be available soon (pg. 6).

Cost Burden of Renting

The cost of renting in Grand Rapids is pushing households into financial instability. In 2018, an estimated fifty-two percent of renter households in the city spent over thirty percent of gross income on housing expenses; this is considered a “cost burden.” These households are at the highest risk of eviction due to non-payment.

According to Housing Next, the city must implement “stop gap measures” to avoid housing instability as long term solutions—including livable wages, an adequate supply of housing at all price points, and accessible childcare—are put into place.

Racial Inequality

“Black, Indigenous, and People of Color have experienced much higher rates of housing instability and have faced steep barriers to homeownership. As investment in City neighborhoods continues, these households are least likely to benefit from the economic growth without market interventions.”

Housing Next report, pg. 26

Due to generations of systemic racism, the rate of homeownership among Black households in Grand Rapids is nearly forty percent  below the rate of homeownership among Whites. And, while the number of “cost-burdened renter households” affects all races, Black households and those headed by a person of color are thirty to forty-five percent more likely to be impacted by cost burdens than White households.

According to the report, the city must prioritize homeownership and wealth creation for Black households and households of color. “Wages, education and racial bias in hiring practices are also critical areas of focus to solve for this discrepancy” (pg. 7).

Actionable Tasks

Following the city’s housing needs, Housing Next presented seven actionable tasks for immediate consideration:

1. Preserve existing affordable housing wherever possible.
2. Support tenant-based rental assistance and eviction prevention measures.
3. Support more LIHTC (low-income housing tax credit) development.
4. Leverage city-owned property to support new housing supply.
5. Deep community engagement.
6. Re-calibrate economic development incentives to support more affordability.
7. Begin work to create a dedicated source of funding for housing.

The city will need to carry out these or similar short-term tasks as a safe-guard while they move forward with more long-term goals.

Holding the City Accountable

There is justifiable concern that the city will take very few steps past paying for the Housing Next report. Change does not occur overnight, especially when it comes to development. Yet, the Great Housing Strategies document is five years past, and many of the eight goals presented at the meeting have not been addressed, or the situations have regressed.

Take goal six, for example: Encourage Alternative Transportation and Parking Options. On August 1, 2020, The Rapid—the city’s central public transportation system—eliminated free transfers for riders paying cash, eliminated charge cards for riders paying without exact change, and eliminated the fare-free zone on the Silver Line and Route 19/Michigan Crosstown (source: WZZM13). These actions make alternative transportation less accessible and are therefore a direct contradiction of the coalition’s goal.

The Grand Rapids City Housing Commission cites several accomplishments of the past five years that are in line with the goals from the Great Housing Strategies, including creating affordable housing and supporting low-income and vulnerable populations. As of December 2020, however, the Housing Commission has long waiting lists for all of the agency-owned properties. They are not accepting applications for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program for the same reason (source: GR Housing FAQs).

While the Housing Commission is not the only branch of city government responsible for improving housing market conditions, the lack of availability indicates that the city is already behind on demand. The undersupply is largely due to the commission’s intentional neglect of the very apparent needs of the city.

Immediate Need

We hope that the city will take this crisis seriously, but local groups know better than to wait for action and carry on with their work.

Kent County is fixated on giving money to the police for surveillance instead of addressing the root cause of violence: poverty. The cycle of poverty is rooted in housing injustice. More than community coalitions, Grand Rapids needs leadership unbeholden to profit and willing to hold large corporations accountable and implement taxes that help every Grand Rapidian thrive. In the long run, homelessness is more expensive than housing the unhoused, and poverty leads to more crime.

That said, support from the community has been, and will always be, invaluable, especially when voicing dissent with the status quo. If you’d like to support the housing efforts in Grand Rapids, please consider volunteering or donating to the following organizations:

• Together We Are Safe: Facebook
• Grand Rapids Area Mutual Aid Network: Facebook
• Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union (GRATU): Facebook
• Grand Rapids Homes for All: Website, Facebook
• Healthy Homes Coalition West Michigan: Website, Facebook
• By Any Means Necessary: Website

The post Takeaways from the Housing Needs & Opportunities Report appeared first on Grand Rapids Democratic Socialists of America.

This blog originally appeared in the November 2020 edition of What’s Left; the GRDSA newsletter

Rather than financing private development with no interest in the community, several local nonprofits have proposed a new approach to the city’s imminent housing crisis: community land trusts. In Grand Rapids, the need for homes is barrelling towards levels unmanageable. According to a recent housing study, the city requires 9,000 more housing units by 2025 to satisfy demand. Yet, the city housing commission has been apathetic to the issue, and lower-income residents are being displaced as a result.

A community land trust is a city-invested development controlled by the city and its constituents. A plot of land is purchased by the city for low-income housing, and the homes—not the land—are sold at an affordable price with low down-payments and without private mortgage insurance. The homeowners save on property costs while building equity.

Home equity is a lucrative strategy for building wealth but is unattainable for individuals who cannot afford a home, thereby perpetuating the cycle of poverty. When the home is sold, the homeowner receives a portion of the profits to reinvest, including 100% of the equity from their mortgage. The housing remains affordable because the low-income requirements are contracted.

Price is the most significant barrier for homeownership and a major driving factor in the housing crisis in Grand Rapids. Housing prices have risen with demand, but wages and economic opportunities have not adjusted on the same scale. Those at or near poverty are affected most, especially as the wealth disparity in the United States widens. The federal minimum wage has not increased from $7.25 since 2009 despite the sharp increase in the cost of living.

In 2017, the median income in Grand Rapids was $44,369, and the median property value was $121,800 (datausa.io). Twenty-five percent of the population lived at or below the federal poverty level ($24,600 for a four-family home). Today, the average property value in Grand Rapids is about $181,000 (zillow.com).

The GR Housing Commission has only exacerbated the issue. Due to mismanagement, the commission has been neglected while the manager sold many remaining properties for profit. They’ve swindled public funds and fermented a crisis in which they will not address.

In the past five years, the commission’s primary focus has been increasing Section 8 Project-Based housing. According to the GRHC 2020-2024 Five-Year Plan, the commission funded the development or improvement of rental housing only in the past five years, including $2.5 million in improvements to two retirement communities and $1.4 million in low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) in support of a planned 50-unit development. For the next four years, the commission plans to increase Section 8 Homeownership program participation by 30 households.

The commission’s response shows a complete lack of concern for the hundreds of individuals it will leave homeless. Rental housing can be predatory and supports private investors, not the community. A renter has no opportunity to build wealth, and low-income developments often displace individuals from the area. In the long term, rental housing magnifies the issue of poverty and housing inequality.As people of color are most impacted by wealth inequality, affordable homeownership is also necessary if we are to confront systemic racism in our community.

The historic prevalence of racism in Grand Rapids homeownership—specifically through redlining and generational wealth—has evolved, but prevails nonetheless. Although initiatives have formed to address the city’s current housing crisis, the underlying racial disparity remains largely unaddressed.

Take, for example, Grand Rapids’ Third Ward, located in the Southeast portion of the city and with around a third of the population, many of whom are black. According to the city supported private development projects dashboard, from 2012-17 the area received 1.5 percent of the $1.29 billion in private investments supported by Grand Rapids’ economic development programs, or about $19.4 million. The First and Second Wards received $750 and $560 million, respectively. In 2017 alone, the Third Ward had no private investments, which equated to zero new jobs or housing. In total, thirty-six housing units were built in the ward in five years compared to the 2,743 in the First and Second combined.

In 2017, the unemployment and poverty rates in Grand Rapids were highest among black and Hispanic communities. A plan of action to solve a housing crisis can take many forms; however, without addressing racism—the root cause of housing injustice—the crisis will persist. Housing equality is more than placing individuals into homes. The social and economic factors must be a focus as well.

There are over two-hundred community land trusts across the nation, such as Champlain Housing Trust, which was established over thirty years ago. In addition to affordable homeownership, community land trusts aim to equip the homeowners with the necessary skills and a community to rely on.

With nearly $10 million in private grants and investments, the Inner City Christian Foundation (ICCF) purchased 248 homes in 2017-18 to build a Community Homes Land Trust in Grand Rapids over the next ten years. However, the non-profit corporation’s platform is inadequate as nearly all underlying issues of housing injustice are ignored. Their website states, “The dynamics in today’s hot housing market are very different than they were in preceding decades, when urban neighborhoods were too often characterized by disinvestment and discrimination. Today, the chief concern in urban neighborhoods is not disinvestment but displacement caused by rapidly escalating prices and rents.” The idea that racism does not still affect homeownership is untrue. While the initiative points in the right direction, the ICCF must be more assertive to be successful. Currently, the plan is meek and lacks substance.

The Grand Rapids Entire Community Housing Trust Organization (GRECHTO) is another local organization with plans to build a housing trust in the area. The initiative is in the early stages and welcomes suggestions from the community.

Community land trusts keep wealth within the community. The city receives a return on investment, and the homeowner profits from paying a mortgage. Similar to many socialist-leaning projects, supporters of community land trusts acknowledge the systemic issues lending to poverty and community destitution and denounce capitalist exploitation. It is important to note that land trusts act as an intermediary in a state of crisis, but the end goal includes the complete renovation of city planning, as housing should not be a for-profit enterprise. For more information on community land trusts, please visit the GRECHTO website.

The post The Pursuit of Housing Justice in Grand Rapids appeared first on Grand Rapids Democratic Socialists of America.