THE CASE FOR A DDRESSING SEGREGA TION & CONFRONTING MYTHS A ROUND AFFOR DABLE HOUSING November 20, 2019 Erin Boggs, Esq. Executive Director
OPEN COMMUNITIES ALLIANCE Embracing Diversity to Strengthen Connecticut
Open Communities Alliance is a Connecticut-based civil rights non-profit working with an urban-suburban interracial coalition to advocate for access to opportunity, particularly through promoting balanced affordable housing development, including in thriving communities. 2
LINK TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING Great income disparities by race, and government policies influencing where affordable units go, mean that CT’s affordable housing crisis is also a segregation crisis. CT has the 9th highest housing wage in the nation – A family would have to work 99 hours a week at minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
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CT IS ONE OF THE MOST SEGREGATED STATES IN THE NATION Shaped by multiple factors: -
Zoning
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Subsidized housing locations
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Limits on housing authority jurisdiction
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Disinvestment
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History of intentional segregating policies 4
IMPACT ON OPPORTUNITY
Education Opportunity Score
Economic Opportunity Score
Housing/Neig hborhood Score
Final Opportunity Score (Map)
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WHERE DO WE LIVE? OPPORTUNITY BY RACE AND ETHNICITY IN CT
% of People by Race & Ethnicity Living in Lower Opportunity Areas Blacks: Latinos: Whites: Asians:
73% 73% 26% 36%
OPPORTUNITY DETAIL AND RACE
Very Low
Low
Moderate
High
Very High
White
9%
17%
22%
23%
29%
Black
52%
21%
13%
9%
5%
Asian
14%
2% of the land area of the 21% 19% 20% state.
Hispanic
50%
22%
12%
9%
25% 7%
High Ledge Homes in West Hartford (1940). See On the Line: How Schooling, Housing, and Civil Rights Shaped Hartford and its Suburbs. 10
INCOME & WEALTH DISPARITIES ď‚Ą Historically, Blacks and Latinos earned on average half or less of what whites earned and had a 10% or less of the wealth. ď‚Ą This wealth disparity is projected to widen to POC having only 1% of the wealth that whites have. Forbes, September 2017, available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/niall mccarthy/2017/09/14/racial-wealthinequality-in-the-u-s-is-rampant-i nfographic/#1baff41734e8 .
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CRITICAL ROLE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
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MULTIFAMILY HOUSING LOCATIONS
Town
Opportunity Level
Regional Multifamily Housing %
Bridgeport
Very Low
49%
Easton
Very High
1%
Fairfield
Very High
9%
Norwalk
Moderate
34%
Shelton
High
14%
Stratford
Moderate
14%
Trumbull
Very High
9%
Westport
Very High
5% 13
OBJECTIONS TO MIXED INCOME COMMUNITIES
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TYPICAL OBJECTIONS TO MIXED INCOME COMMUNITIES Crime rates will increase. Property values will decrease. There will be lots of children – with lots of needs – more than our school system can handle. It will ruin the “character” of the neighborhood.
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CRIME ď‚Ą R e s o u n d i n g F i n d i n g s : Mixed income developments with some affordable units in low poverty areas have zero impact on property values. ď‚Ą C o n n e c t i o n t o P o v e r t y C o n c e n t r a t i o n : Crime rates typically increase when poverty rates reach 20%. (Poverty rate in Westport is 4%; poverty rate in Fairfield is 5%.) ď‚Ą B o t t o m L i n e : The best place for mixed income housing that includes affordable units, both in terms of benefits to new residents and a lack of negative impact on the community overall, is resource-rich neighborhoods with low levels of poverty. 16
HOME VALUES
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FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN Not as many children as you think. Declining populations in many suburban towns. Access to high opportunity areas can actually reduce needs (e.g. PTSD). Fair Housing Act protections.
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CHARACTER What does “character” mean? Could be coded language for people of a different race. Could be something vague about community cohesion. Could refer to New England town design elements.
Heritage Glen, Farmington (above) Hales Court, Westport (at right)
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BENEFITS OF DIVERSITY Cultural competency for the workplaces of the future. Fosters critical thinking. Decreases stereotypes and racism. Improved learning for all students.
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BUSTING MYTHS: CASE STUDY – MT. LAUREL, NJ Mt. Laurel is lower than sample Fairfield County towns. Median income Mt. Laurel = $93,000 Median income Fairfield = $181,000; Westport = $127,000
Ethel Lawrence Homes – 140 units of 100% affordable units completed in 2001. Assessed by Professor Douglas Massey of Princeton who found: “87 percent of…residents reported access to a car and no greater difficulty accessing goods, services, or work sites.” “Welfare use was reduced by 67 percent, employment rose by 22 percent, and income increased by 25 percent.” “We compared trends in home values, crime rates, and tax assessments in Mount Laurel before and after 2001 with a matched set of nearby townships and found no statistical differences. Even neighborhoods immediately adjacent to the development experienced no apparent effects on property values.” The most common source of income for residents in affordable housing is employment, particularly: food service/cook, retail/sales, administrative/clerical, healthcare (nurses, healthcare aides, dental assistants), housekeeping, construction, customer service, and education/teacher. 21
Erin Boggs, Esq. Executive Director Open Communities Alliance 75 Charter Oak Avenue Suite 1-210 Hartford, CT 06106 Tel. 860.610-6040 eboggs@ctoca.org Check us out and join the coalition at: http://www.ctoca.org
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