User talk:Nsamanda/Affordable (Public) Housing

"Introduction"

Within the context of City and Regional Planning, these roadblocks are called Wicked Problems because they are troublesome and distressing, as one solution may cause another problem. Some Wicked Problems include water rights, mass incarceration, and methods of solving homelessness. Currently, a large Wicked Problem in the United States, as this paper specifically focuses on California, is the lack of affordable housing that leads people to become in debt, homeless, or reliant on others for assistance. This page explore the history and complications of housing, within the public and private sector, as well as present solutions that organizations have advocated for and how they attempt to meet the needs of the public.

"History"

Many low-income Americans lived in tenement housing, that contained several families on each floor with less than sanitary conditions. Living in these cramped spaces, diseases became easily spread and moving became difficult because these families relied on the close proximity to their jobs. Thus, Roosevelt appointed the President’s Housing Commission in 1908 to examine low-income neighborhoods and create new ideas for improved and livable housing. Home-ownership continued to shift in the 1950-60s due to white flight and people of color remained in low-income neighborhoods while being almost fully reliant on welfare due to their low-paying jobs that came as a result of racial wage gaps. Then, in 1968, the Fair Housing Act came in order and housing became available to more people, prohibiting "discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and since 1974, sex"[1]

In the article Discrimination in the United States[2], the history of the Fair Housing Act's enforcement mechanisms are outlined as follows: "Refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin in the terms, conditions or privilege of the sale or rental of a dwelling. Advertising the sale or rental of a dwelling indicating preference of discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin. Coercing, threatening, intimidating, or interfering with a person's enjoyment or exercise of housing rights based on discriminatory reasons or retaliating against a person or organization that aids or encourages the exercise or enjoyment of fair housing rights."

"Services"

Affordable housing is positively accepted amongst the public, but there is still a problem of housing developers and corporations’ desire for profit over people. As the cost of homes rises, neighborhoods become more expensive and lead to the displacement of a large population. It is believed that corporations take advantage of these vulnerable populations to provide cheap labor without any benefits due to the fact that they need money to live. Therefore, the creation of affordable housing not only impacts the overall living quality of life, but also job availability and resources for families. Thus, there have been multiple approaches on how to address and promote affordable housing, a few of which will be mentioned in this section. While affordable housing is difficult to attain quickly, organizations such as nonprofits are working towards this goal of housing as a human right and dealing with debates on how to address the problem. The development of non-profits directly bring into question the problems associated with housing, and try community based approaches on how to address affordability.[3]

The academic journal, Nonprofit Housing and Neighborhood Spillovers[4], analyzes three arguments as to why nonprofit organizations are successful, being:

“Nonprofits are more likely to build housing that will be affordable permanently, not simply over the duration of the government subsidy,” “Nonprofits are likely to serve needier tenants” such as those of lower income, and “Nonprofits and community-based nonprofits in particular are believed to work in more distressed neighborhoods and to pay greater attention to broader neighborhood benefits” ( Bratt 33). These positive aspects of the nonprofit sector are not completely accurate as there are many debates as to the influence and type of work the organizations are doing, or should not be doing.

"Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing: SCANPH"

The Southern California Association of NonProfit Housing (SCANPH) works in correlation with the first example of the services nonprofits offer, including informing the public of the importance of affordable housing and how to be political in one’s choice for local government. The debates about the organization and the work they do continues to provide solutions and problems for communities they are assisting. The most impactful solution that SCANPH can offer is assisting local tenants with information about how to continue providing affordable housing, and working with them to prevent issues like displacement and gentrification. The tenants themselves are the most impactful solution present, where people are directly affected because they are paying someone who believes in the social and political understanding of what affordable housing means. These tensants often understand the racial segregation and probelms within thier communiteis, and choose to help change the conversation about the housing market and economy.