All-American Presidential Forums on PBS" Moderated by Tavis Smiley

"In this country, where you live has become a proxy for opportunity... half of black neighborhoods do not have a full-service grocery store."
Angela Glover Blackwell
Founder & President,
Policy Link

Read the interview

AFFORDABLE NEIGHBORHOODS

Where one lives determines access to opportunity in our society. It determines the quality of schools that children attend, the quality of public services, access to employment and transportation, as well as public safety. The importance of neighborhood conditions and access to opportunity is critical for improving the lives of low-income families. Yet the nation faces a growing struggle in housing affordability.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition's Out of Reach1 report found that, on a national basis, a family would have to earn $33,925 a year to be reasonably assured of finding an affordable two-bedroom rental unit in today's housing market. But over 40 million families, many of them including people of color, earn less than that per year. The report also found that there isn't a county in the country where a full-time minimum wage worker can afford even a one-bedroom apartment at the fair market rate.

Despite increased housing costs and decreased supply of affordable housing, federal resources aimed at addressing affordable housing problems have been in decline2. The General Accountability Office3 found that historically only about one-third of eligible families receive housing aid. Housing policy changes have also shifted in favor of homeownership assistance, which may leave the country's renters—approximately one-third of households4—with even less assistance.

And when people of color can afford to live in opportunity-rich neighborhoods, they are sometimes excluded. Although housing discrimination is illegal, people of color still face discrimination5 in rental and sales markets. According to a study by the Department of Housing and Urban Development6, whites are more likely than people of color to receive information about available housing units, more likely to be able to inspect units, and more likely to be given information and assistance with financing home purchases. Some communities present so much hostility towards people of color that they are discouraged from attempting to move into those neighborhoods.

On the minds of many Americans:

1 Improving neighborhoods—what are the most important features for improving a neighborhood?

2 Rent control ordinances—how do they impact cities?

3 Anti-discrimination laws—how can they be better enforced?

4 New suburban communities—how do they impact cities?

5 Segregated neighborhoods—how can neighborhoods be better integrated?

What do you think?

• Sources
• 1 National Low Income Housing Coalition  (Visit website)
• 2 National Low Income Housing Coalition  (494kb, PDF) (Visit website)
• 3 U.S. Government Accountability Office (formerly the Government Accounting Office)  (3.0mb, PDF) (Visit website)
• 4 National Low Income Housing Coalition  (35.4kb, PDF) (Visit website)
• 5 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Policy Development and Research  (128kb, PDF) (Visit website)
• 6 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Policy Development and Research  (128kb, PDF) (Visit website)