THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING READER Edited by J. Rosie Tighe and Elizabeth J. Mueller THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING READER The Affordable Housing Reader brings together classic works and contemporary writing on the themes and debates that have invigorated the fi eld of affordable housing policy as well as the challenges arising in achieving the goals of policy on the ground. The reader – aimed at professors, students, and researchers – provides an overview of the literature on housing policy and planning that is both comprehensive and interdisciplinary. It is particularly suited for graduate and undergraduate courses on housing policy offered to students of public policy and city planning. The volume is structured around the key debates in affordable housing, ranging from the confl icting motivations for housing policy, through analysis of the causes of and solutions to housing problems, to concerns about gentrifi cation and housing and race. Each debate is contextualized in an introductory essay by the editors, and illustrated with a range of texts and articles. Elizabeth Mueller and Rosie Tighe have brought together in a single volume the best and most infl uential writings on housing and its importance for planners and policy-makers. J. Rosie Tighe is an assistant professor in the department of Geography and Planning at Appalachian State University. She is interested in social equity, race and class inequality, and housing affordability issues. Her current research focuses on gentrifi cation, the evolving nature of the American Dream, and community responses to the foreclosure crisis. Elizabeth J. Mueller is an associate professor of community and regional planning and social work at the University of Texas at Austin. She is interested in the ways that public actions shape the social, economic and political opportunities and experiences of vulnerable communities within cities. Her current work focuses on the tensions between current city planning and housing goals. AFFORDABLE HOUSING.indb i 20/08/2012 13:31 AFFORDABLE HOUSING.indb ii 20/08/2012 13:31 The Affordable Housing Reader Edited by J. Rosie Tighe and Elizabeth J. Mueller AFFORDABLE HOUSING.indb iii 20/08/2012 13:31 First published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the US and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2013 selection and editorial material J. Rosie Tighe and Elizabeth J. Mueller; individual chapters, the contributors The right of J. Rosie Tighe and Elizabeth J. Mueller to be identified as authors of the editorial material, and of the individual authors as authors of their contributions, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The affordable housing reader / edited by J. Rosie Tighe And Elizabeth J. Mueller. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Low-income housing--United States. 2. Housing policy--United States. 3. Housing--United States--Costs. I. Tighe, J. Rosie. II. Mueller, Elizabeth J. HD7287.96.U6A38 2012 363.5’820973--dc23 2012007690 ISBN: 978-0-415-66937-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-66938-2 (pbk) Typeset in Amasis MT Light and Akzidenz Grotesk by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. A01_PRELIMS.indd 4 21/08/2012 12:16 Contents List of plates ix Notes on the contributors x Acknowledgements xix Editors’ introduction xx PART 1 CONFLICTING MOTIVATIONS FOR HOUSING POLICY IN THE U.S. 1 Introduction to Part One 3 1 “How the Other Half Lives” 6 Jacob Riis 2 “The lost history of urban renewal” 14 Alexander von Hoffman 3 “Introduction and summary” 31 The President’s Committee on Urban Housing, Chairman Edgar F. Kaiser 4 “Housing policy and the myth of the benevolent state” 36 Peter Marcuse 5 “The Reluctant Hand: Privatization of Public Housing in the U.S.” 44 Norman Krumholz 6 “Why a right to housing is needed and makes sense: Editors’ introduction” 53 Rachel G. Bratt, Michael E. Stone and Chester Hartman AFFORDABLE HOUSING.indb v 20/08/2012 13:31 vi CONTENTS PART 2 COMPETING DEFINITIONS OF HOUSING PROBLEMS 73 Introduction to Part Two 75 7 ‘The concept of housing affordability: six contemporary uses of the housing expenditure-to-income ratio’ 79 J. David Hulchanski 8 “What is housing affordability? The case for the residual income approach” 95 Michael E. Stone 9 “How do we know when housing is ‘affordable’?” 111 Edward L. Glaeser and Joseph Gyuorko 10 “Counterpoint: the ‘Housing + Transportation Index’ and fair housing” 116 Philip Tegeler and Scott Bernstein 11 “Remedial Phase Report of john powell in Thompson v. HUD August 19, 2005” 122 john a. powell PART 3 CONFLICTING VIEWS OF LOW INCOME HOMEOWNERSHIP 149 Introduction to Part Three 151 12 “The grapes of rent: A history of renting in a country of owners” 155 Donald A. Krueckeberg 13 “Low income homeownership: American dream or delusion?” 166 Anne B. Shlay 14 “More than money: what is shared in shared equity homeownership?” 187 John Emmeus Eavis 15 “The social benefi ts and costs of homeownership: A critical assessment of the research” 196 William M. Rohe, Shannon van Zandt, and George McCarthy 16 “High risk lending and public policy: 1995–2008” 214 Dan Immergluck AFFORDABLE HOUSING.indb vi 20/08/2012 13:31 CONTENTS vii PART 4 SHIFTING EMPHASES IN THE PROVISION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING 231 Introduction to Part Four 233 17 “The evolution of low-income housing policy, 1949 to 1999” 237 Charles J. Orlebeke 18 “Federal policy and the rise of nonprofi t housing providers” 257 Katherine M. O’Regan and John M. Quigley 19 “The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit as an aid to fi nance: How well has it worked?” 272 Kirk McClure 20 “Strengths and weaknesses of the Housing Voucher Program” 288 Margery Austin Turner 21 “Federally-assisted housing: Privatization vs. preservation” 295 Emily Paradise Achtenberg PART 5 COMPETING GOALS: PLACE AS COMMUNITY OR OPPORTUNITY? 303 Introduction to Part Five 305 22 “Federal support for CDCs: Some of the history and issues of community control” 309 Stewart E. Perry 23 “Neoliberal urban policy and new paths of neighborhood change in the American inner city” 316 Kathe Newman and Philip Ashton 24 “Housing dispersal programs” 337 Edward G. Goetz 25 “Has HOPE VI transformed residents’ lives? New evidence from the HOPE VI Panel Study” 355 Susan J. Popkin, Diane K. Levy, and Larry Buron 26 “Is mixed-income development an antidote to urban poverty?” 374 Mark L. Joseph 27 Reconciling People and Place in Housing and Community Development Policy 391 Nestor M. Davidson AFFORDABLE HOUSING.indb vii 20/08/2012 13:31 viii CONTENTS PART 6 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND USE REGULATIONS AND HOUSING CHOICES 399 Introduction to Part Six 401 28 “Regulations and housing development: What we know” 404 Michael H. Schill 29 “Local land use regulation and the chain of exclusion” 416 Rolf Pendall 30 “Housing market effects of inclusionary zoning” 438 Antonio Bento, Scott Lowe, Gerrit-Jan Knaap and Arnab Chakraborty 31 “Growth management and affordable housing policy” 452 Arthur C. Nelson and Susan M. Wachter 32 “Neighborhood change and transit: What we learned” 463 Stephanie Pollack, Barry Bluestone, and Chase Billingham PART 7 HOUSING AND RACE: ENDURING CHALLENGES, DEBATED STRATEGIES 475 Introduction to Part Seven 477 33 “By words and deeds: Racial steering by real estate agents in the U.S. in 2000” 481 George Galster and Erin Godfrey 34 “The dynamics of racial residential segregation” 499 Camille Zubrinsky Charles 35 “Fair housing and community development: Time to come together” 528 Elizabeth K. Julian 36 The Future of Fair Housing 540 National Commission on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Copyright acknowledgements 547 Index 549 AFFORDABLE HOUSING.indb viii 20/08/2012 13:31 Plates 1 Ceru family, 143 Thompson St. 2 2 Abandoned house in Detroit, Michigan 74 3 Foreclosure notice posted on house in Travis Count, Texas, April 2009 150 4 Harbor Hills Housing Project, 26607 Western Avenue, Lornita, Los Angeles, CA 232 5 Make this neighborhood mixed income 304 6 “Suburbia” – Highlands Ranch, a Denver suburb. Adams County, Colorado 400 7 Detroit, Michigan. Riot at the Sojourner Homes 476 AFFORDABLE HOUSING.indb ix 20/08/2012 13:31 Contributors J. Rosie Tighe is an assistant professor in the department of Geography and Planning at Appalachian State University. She holds a PhD in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master’s Degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University. She is interested social equity, race and class inequality, and housing affordability issues. Her current research focuses on gentrifi cation, the evolving nature of the American Dream, and community responses to the foreclosure crisis. Elizabeth J. Mueller is an associate professor of community and regional planning and social work at the University of Texas at Austin.