THEWASHINGTONPOST.
SATURDAY,AUGUST1, 2020EZ
8land’s version has no cutoff date,
so anyone who can prove one of
the designated family members
once lived in the targeted neigh-
borhoods, even several decades
ago, could get priority.
Both preference policies are
just that — a preference. There’s
no guarantee for any applicant.
Both also include other factors
along with generational ties, in-
cluding household size, disability
and, in Portland, government sei-
zure.
“The preference policy helps
ensure we’re not just building
affordable housing in a neighbor-
hood and not necessarily know-
ing whether we’re serving the
populations who had been im-
pacted by generations of displace-
ment,” said Martha Calhoon,
communications director of the
Portland Housing Bureau.
Portland’s policy has proven
controversial. It includes owner-
occupied homes, but finding
qualified applicants hasn’t been
easy. The city’s first application
round included funding for 65
owner-occupied houses. As of
January, Portland had received
1,100 applications, but only 33
homes had been sold through the
program. Some former residents
have s aid they feel insulted at
having to provide extensive docu-
mentation proving where they
used to live.
Affordable rental properties
have been more successful. Cal-
hoon said Portland has 500 rental
units either already open or in
development, and that all of them
are expected to be filled as soon as
they open. Still, the number of
applications far exceeds the avail-
able supply.
To q ualify for Austin’s p rogram,
applicants seeking to own homes
must make no more than 80 per-
cent of the city’s median family
income of $95, 900 for a family of
four, and renters must make no
more than 60 percent MFI. Those
who are accepted will pay no
more than 30 percent of their
income toward housing.
The 10 owner-occupied units
available are owned by the Austin
Housing Finance Corp., and if
needed the city will also provide
down payment assistance with
zero percent interest. In turn,
buyers agree to restrictions on
resale to ensure future affordabil-
ity. A ll of the housing, both owned
and rented, is located in census
tracts identified as gentrifying in
the University of Te xas study. A
lottery will be held for each devel-
opment, with disability, house-
hold size and generational ties
factoring into which applicants
get housing first.
The biggest challenge for im-generational ties to the communi-
ty t o stay i n the city of Austin, and
potentially to return to the city of
Austin if they’ve been displaced.”
Initially, roughly 66 units will
be available to low-income citi-
zens who can prove they or an
immediate family member lived
in certain city neighborhoods as
far back as 2000. The targeted
areas include portions of the
Bouldin Creek neighborhood
south of downtown and the Rund-
berg a nd St. Johns neighborhoods
north of downtown.
Te n of the new affordable hous-
ing units in Austin will be owner-
occupied using a land trust, while
the rest will be rented.
A pilot version of the program
is currently being implemented,
with full implementation coming
later this year.
The coronavirus may be put-
ting displacement on hold, with
the Austin City Council approving
an anti-eviction policy that went
into effect April 1 and is set to
expire Sept. 30. But with the coun-
try slowly reopening, change in
the housing market is likely to
return in full force.
Austin’s policy represents a
novel approach to affordable
housing, and only a handful of
similar programs exist across the
country. The policies grant resi-
dents who have been forced to
move a chance to return to their
old neighborhood after leaving
for certain reasons, including
rent hikes, natural disaster or sei-
zure through eminent domain.
Thus, there’s a unique chance to
repair gentrification even after
the fact.
“Cities have a legitimate inter-
est in helping residents be able to
stay in their communities, where
they have ties to schools, social
networks, their jobs and transit,”
said Heather Way, a University of
Te xas law professor and one of the
authors of “Uprooted,” a study of
gentrification in Austin.
The study found that Austin
went from being one of the na-
tion’s m ost affordable cities in the
1990 s to one of its least affordable
today, with a resulting loss of
diversity and sense of place. Dis-
advantaged citizens have moved
farther from downtown or out-
side of Austin altogether.
The generational ties portion
of Austin’s program is similar to
one in Portland, Ore., titled the
North/Northeast Preference Poli-
cy, which gives priority to anyone
who can prove they or their par-
ent, guardian or a grandparent
once resided in historically Afri-
can American neighborhoods
which have also gentrified. Port-GENTRIFICATION FROM T7Cover Story
A path to affordable housing amid gentrification
PHOTOS BY MONTINIQUE N. MONROE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
FROM TOP: A city-owned site being considered for an affordable housing development. An area
in the St. Johns neighborhood. New construction in t he Bouldin Creek neighborhood in Austin.