A rowboat isn’t much use without an oar.
You can stand on one leg, but walking requires two.
Similarly, North Texas won’t remain a great place to live without a regional housing strategy to complement its regional transportation strategy.
Think about it: our transportation system exists primarily to get each of us from home to work. To that end, we have regional planning agencies that project future travel patterns and see that roads and transit lines are built where they’re needed.
Many residents, particularly in newer, more desirable areas, struggle to find affordable housing simply because their incomes have not kept up with increases in housing costs. As a benchmark, the federal government defines any household that spends more than 30 percent of its income on housing as “housing burdened.” In the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, that includes more than one-third of homeowners who are still paying on a mortgage, according to the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey. The percentage of renters that are “housing burdened” is even higher.
With more homes going into foreclosure and real estate values collapsing, now is the time for communities to start working together to help those who continue to dream of owning their own home.
According to a report from Zillow.com, a real estate Web site, nearly 20% of the nation's home sales in 2008 were of bank-repossessed properties due to the continuing rising of foreclosures. Another 11% were short sales, in which homeowners owed more in mortgage debt than their homes were worth.
The local economy is affected by all parts of the housing market. Housing costs not only include the mortgage but costs such as insurance, maintenance, utilities, groceries, transportation, education, medical costs, etc. The housing cost burden is increasing faster than incomes and makes it difficult for firemen, teachers, police officers and retail workers to find safe, quality, affordable housing near their jobs. By building affordable housing near job centers and mass transit centers, more families can live and work near their jobs, drawing them back to urban areas such as downtown.
Before the North Texas Housing Coalition’s 2009 housing summit, mayors from around the Metroplex came together to discuss the possibility of a regional housing strategy. The goal for this meeting was to initiate dialog on the need for a comprehensive regional housing strategy.
Each city that makes up the North Texas region will tell you they have a housing strategy to combat the affordable housing issue. While that may be true, there is no comprehensive regional housing strategy to address the affordable housing solution in North Texas.
Following are the five suggested housing principles to be a part of a regional housing strategy that were discussed at the January meeting:
• An agreement that housing supports healthy families and communities.
• A recognition that housing should be treated as an integral part of community and economic development.
• An acknowledgement that the stewardship of people and capital is essential for the future growth of North Texas.
• A commitment to be deliberate in the actions taken in planning for the future housing needs of North Texas.
• An agreement to pursue a regional housing strategy for North Texas that reflects all of the above principles.
At our Housing Summit, participants discussed solutions from other regions that could work in North Texas. They include:
• Inclusionary housing policies, which require builders to include a certain percentage of units affordable to moderate- and low-income households in any new development. In return, builders typically receive density bonuses, fee waivers or expedited approvals to offset any loss of revenue.
• Housing trust funds, typically funded through various real estate fees and surcharges.
• Use of federal tax credits to subsidize construction of housing for those who can’t afford market-rate units.
• Curbs on exclusionary zoning regulations that require excessively large lots, forbid accessory units such as garage apartments, or impose other rules that exclude moderate- and low-income households.
• Creating housing enterprise zones or tax increment financing districts that offer incentives to builders of working-class housing.
Based on comments and evaluations at the end of the mayor’s luncheon and the summit, there is enough interest in a regional housing strategy to continue these discussions.
Housing is seen as the foundation for building and maintaining viable communities. With help from every community within the Metroplex, we can begin building more healthy families and communities by developing a set of housing standards that everyone can use.
We invite you to come be a part of the regional solution to this looming crisis. You can register online at www.nthcinc.org. Regardless of where you live, this is about the quality of your life.
Albert Martin is executive director of the North Texas Housing Coalition. His e-mail address is amartin@nthcinc.org.
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