2019 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice June 18, 2019 ANALYSIS OF IMPEDIMENTS TO FAIR HOUSING CHOICE For Program Years 2019 to 2023 CITY OF GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA Community Development Department ADOPTED – June 18, 2019 Prepared for the City of Gainesville by Mosaic Community Planning, LLC 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 4 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing .............................................................................................. 4 Definitions ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Data Sources .................................................................................................................................. 6 Chapter 2. Community Participation Process .......................................................................... 9 Community Engagement Overview .................................................................................................. 9 Community Engagement Results ..................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 3. Socioeconomic Profile ........................................................................................ 16 Demographic Profile ..................................................................................................................... 16 Racially and Ethnically Concentrated Areas of Poverty .................................................................... 22 Chapter 4. Segregation & Integration ................................................................................... 25 Race and Ethnicity ........................................................................................................................ 25 Segregation Levels ........................................................................................................................ 31 National Origin and Limited English Proficiency Population ............................................................. 33 Chapter 5. Access to Opportunity ........................................................................................ 36 Overview of HUD-Defined Opportunity Factors .............................................................................. 37 Education..................................................................................................................................... 40 Employment ................................................................................................................................ 42 Transportation ............................................................................................................................. 46 Poverty ........................................................................................................................................ 50 Environmental Health ................................................................................................................... 52 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 56 Chapter 6. Housing Profile ................................................................................................... 57 Housing Supply Summary.............................................................................................................. 57 Housing Costs and Affordability ..................................................................................................... 63 Housing Needs ............................................................................................................................. 63 Homeownership and Lending ........................................................................................................ 70 Zoning, Affordability, and Housing Choice ...................................................................................... 78 Chapter 7. Publicly Supported Housing ................................................................................ 87 Supply and Occupancy .................................................................................................................. 88 Geography of Supported Housing .................................................................................................. 90 Policy Review ............................................................................................................................... 93 2 Chapter 8. Housing for People with Disabilities .................................................................... 96 Residential Patterns ...................................................................................................................... 96 Accessible Housing Supply and Affordability .................................................................................. 99 Zoning and Accessibility .............................................................................................................. 100 Chapter 9. Fair Housing Activities ....................................................................................... 104 Fair Housing Resources ............................................................................................................... 104 Fair Housing Complaints ............................................................................................................. 105 Fair Housing Lawsuits and Litigation ............................................................................................ 109 Past Fair Housing Goals and Related Activities .............................................................................. 111 Chapter 10. Identification of Impediments .......................................................................... 113 3 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION AFFIRMATIVELY FURTHERING FAIR HOUSING Equal access to housing choice is crucial to America’s commitment to equality and opportunity for all. Title VIII of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1968, more commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, provides housing opportunity protection by prohibiting discrimination in the sale or rental of housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The Act was amended in 1988 to provide stiffer penalties, establish an administrative enforcement mechanism and to expand its coverage to prohibit discrimination on the basis of familial status and disability. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), specifically HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO), is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws. Provisions to affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH) are basic long-standing components of HUD’s housing and community development programs. The AFFH requirements are derived from Section 808(e) (5) of the Fair Housing Act which requires the Secretary of HUD to administer the Department’s housing and urban development programs in a manner to affirmatively further fair housing.1 In 2015, HUD published a final rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, which outlines procedures that jurisdictions and public housing authorities who participate in HUD programs must take to promote access to fair housing and equal opportunity. This rule stipulates that grantees and housing authorities take meaningful actions to overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity based on protected class characteristics. Under HUD’s final rule, grantees must take actions to: Address disparities in housing need; Replace segregated living patterns with integrated and balanced living patterns; Transform racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity; and Foster and maintain compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws. To assist grantees and housing authorities affirmatively further fair housing, HUD provides publicly- available data, maps, and an assessment tool to use to evaluate the state of fair housing within their communities and set locally-determined priorities and goals. HUD’s final rule mandated that most grantees begin submitting to HUD an assessment developed using this tool in 2017; however, a 2018 HUD notice extended that deadline until at least October 2020. The notice further required that grantees instead prepare and keep on file a current “Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice” (AI). 1 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Fair Housing Planning Guide: Volume 1 (Chapter 1: Fair Housing Planning Historical Overview, Page 13). March 1996. 4 In an AI, local communities that receive HUD entitlement grant funds evaluate barriers to fair housing choice and develop and implement strategies and actions to overcome any identified impediments based on their individual histories, circumstances, and experiences. Through this process, local entitlement communities promote fair housing choices for all persons, including classes protected under the Fair Housing Act, and provide opportunities for racially and ethnically inclusive patterns of housing occupancy, identify structural and systemic barriers to fair housing choice, and promote housing that is physically accessible and usable by persons with disabilities. HUD will