return to Trends contents page Additional Notes: Homelessness: A Continuing Crisis One of the key issues planners must face is how to help deal with the increasing number of homeless individuals and families. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, "Two trends are largely responsible for the rise in homelessness over the past 15-20 years: a growing shortage of affordable rental housing and a simultaneous increase in poverty. ... The status of housing for low-income people in the United States is grim. A lack of affordable housing and the inadequacy of housing assistance programs have contributed to the current housing crisis and to homelessness. ... the number of low-rent housing units in 1993 totaled 6.5 million. During the same period (1970-1993), the number of low-income renters increased from 7.4 million to 11.2 million. The resulting shortage of 4.7 million affordable housing units is the largest shortage on record. This housing crisis has resulted in high rent burdens (rents which absorb a high proportion of income), overcrowding, and substandard housing. These phenomena, in turn, have not only forced many to become homeless; they have put a large and growing number of people at risk of becoming homeless. ..." Take a look at some of the fact sheets developed by the National Coaltion. Housing & Welfare Reform The interrelationship between federal welfare reform and housing assistance is a complex, but important, issue for citizen planners to be familiar with. Two articles that will provide you with a good background are Federal Housing Assistance and Welfare Reform: Uncharted Territory by G. Thomas Kingsley (Urban Institute) and Housing and Welfare Reform by Barbara Sard and Jennifer Daskal (from the March/April 1998 issue of Shelterforce (a publication of the National Housing Institute). As the authors of Housing and Welfare Reform note: "Families receiving TANF assistance or working at low-wage jobs are unlikely to be able to rent housing on their own without paying a significant portion of their incomes. Data from the 1995 American Housing Survey indicate that about half of working poor families with children that receive no housing subsidy pay at least half of their income for rent. A mother with two children who works full-time year round at $6 per hour would have to pay over half of her income to rent a two-bedroom apartment at the national median HUD-determined "fair market rent" for metropolitan areas. Such high housing costs leave low-income families attempting to move into the workforce with little money for the necessities that often accompany employment, such as additional clothing and food costs, child care, and transportation to and from work."

The Gap Between the Haves and the Have Nots from Challenges and Opportunities, by Bruce W. McClendon (Planning Commissioners Journal #15, Summer 1994) "There's a widening gap between the haves and have nots. In the critically important areas of income, housing, education, health care, public safety and access to power, we are creating two different levels of existence. Fundamental questions are raised about the viability of this situation and the sustainability of any true sense of community if this imbalance continues. The most difficult challenge facing all of us is how to ... reverse this trend. It must be done if we are really committed to competing in a global economy and to preserving a country that is truly a land of opportunity. Planners must take a major role in explaining why the private sector has a real stake in social equity, social stability and bringing all players to the table. Collaboration and coalition building will make it possible to peacefully resolve conflicts. As Lincoln said so eloquently so many years ago, 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' " Bruce McClendon is the Director of the Planning and Development Division of Orange County, Florida, and author of Mastering Change and Customer Service in Local Government, both published by the American Planning Association. Planning for Our Aging Society from Creating Vital Communities, by Deborah A. Howe (Planning Commissioners Journal #7, Nov/Dec 1992) "One in eight Americans is above the age of 65. Within thirty years it will be almost one in five. The fastest growing age group are 85 and older -- 48 percent of those in this age group need functional assistance in daily living -- compared to 14 percent in the 65 to 74 age range. Only one in twenty adults 65 and older live in nursing homes and other institutions. In 1980, 39 percent of those 65 and older lived in the suburbs -- this represented an increase from 26 percent in 1960. The implications of these trends are profound. The proportional increase in older Americans will place considerable stress on family members, friends and neighbors who take on a care-giving role, but often need to balance this responsibility with their own careers and child rearing. It is not clear who will take care of the many seniors who cannot rely on this kind of assistance. Distant relatives will probably be called into service as will social service agencies. With fewer workers paying into the social security system, resources will be strapped. Suburbs are notoriously dependent on the automobile for mobility. This combined with a preponderance of single family residences suggests that many older adults will have a difficult time adjusting to the aging process. In fact, older adults face a bleak future unless we begin reshaping our communities to be supportive of continued independence and well-being." Deborah Howe teaches at Portland State University. She has a longstanding interest in and involvement with aging issues. Before joining the faculty at Portland State in 1985, Deborah worked as a planner for Dutchess County, New York. Helping Develop Affordable Housing from Community Land Trusts: An Introduction, by Tom Peterson (Planning Commissioners Journal #23, Summer 1996) "Most community land trusts focus on increasing homeownership, which sometimes includes educating potential homebuyers on establishing credit, applying for a mortgage, and maintaining a home. A number of CLTs have also acted as developers of special needs housing or group homes, rental housing, and even commercial space for lower income entrepreneurs. ... Proposals to develop shelters, SROs, or other types of housing for low-income people often elicit NIMBY reactions. CLTs, as community-based organizations, usually do extensive outreach and education to build support and understanding of their project. ... In municipalities whose comprehensive plans seek to encourage a broader range of housing options, community land trusts can play a valuable role in helping to implement plan policies. Some cities and towns, for example, are pursuing "inclusionary zoning" as a way to make sure that new development includes an affordability component. Inclusionary zoning ordinances often require developers to provide a certain percentage of affordable units in their projects. Community land trusts, through their skills and resources, can help for-profit developers meet such affordability requirements. The role of the community land trust as a vehicle for helping a municipality implement its housing and community development policies could account for the dramatic increase in the number of CLTs in the past decade. In many communities, the nonprofit infrastructure (including CLTs) has grown in importance. Community land trusts, though often allied with City Hall, operate outside and independent of municipal government. One benefit of this is that CLTs are insulated, to a large degree, from the shifting winds of local politics." Tom Peterson works for the Burlington (Vermont) Community Land Trust, and has written on various aspects of housing rehabilitation.