Housing expert proposes ground rules for making affordable housing work within existing SJ communities
Single family home next to 8 unit apartment building
Irene Smith, head of the Independent Leadership Group and United Housing Alliance has done a deep dive into what works--and doesn't--when all type of affordable housing ** developments are built in or next to traditional neighborhoods. Her recommended ground rules--which she says can improve quality of life for tenants and neighbors alike--are excerpted below, originally from Medium.
The following advice is from eight neighborhoods in downtown SJ. These 12 recommendations are designed to get cooperation from neighborhoods when the city correctly manages Affordable Housing. Their direct experience with every form of affordable housing is invaluable for the rest of San Jose. Affordable Housing can be embraced by neighborhoods without nonprofit blunders, tenant complaints, screaming matches, petitions, or demands from developers and residents to ‘Back Off’
Billions have been spent on homelessness and given to nonprofits and nonprofit developers for affordable housing. Some of that money should go to the surrounding neighborhoods to ensure a strong quality of life for tenants and neighbors using the 12 points below.
With compassion and perseverance we can provide Shelter First with safety and services for our unhoused. First comes shelter. But whether the City offers shelter or housing — well-managed affordable housing (AH) results in success for both tenants and neighbors.
12 Points for tenant and neighborhood success
1. To acknowledge our housing diversity and celebrate the true depth of affordable housing success, San Jose must re-define Affordable Housing (AH) to be inclusive of all types of affordable housing: permanent supportive housing (PSH), HomeKey hotels, Section 8, rehabilitation housing, group homes, women’s’ shelters, taxpayer funded and self-sustaining nonprofit housing, emergency interim transitional housing, rent controlled housing, tiny homes, Housing Authority funded housing, low income, moderate income, extremely low income, shared low cost housing such as sororities/fraternities, rooms for rent, ADUs, tiny homes, modular shelters, sanctioned supportive encampments (SSE), sanctioned supportive RV and car parking (SSP), etc. Count all types of affordable housing. Without the correct AH count we have no idea how successful we are at implementing a wide variety of AH nor can we measure their success. We cannot improve what we cannot measure. The first priority is to accurately define AH, locate all AH, and measure their success.
2. San Jose must acknowledge the added challenges to a community from PSH, SSE, and SSP. San Jose, the county, and state must add more money to bolster a neighborhood accordingly, not just fund developers and nonprofits.
3. Each neighborhood should have one-stop-shopping portal access to view all the surrounding AH by type. San Jose affordable housing map is NOT inclusive of all AH types.
4. The AH portal should include: monthly updates on 911 calls, tenant rules for continued housing, code enforcement status, blight control status, neighborhood complaint status, monthly updates on success metrics (crime, blight, next rung of the housing ladder — Incremental Ladder of Housing Success.
5. For AH with high volume 911-calls: increase police patrol of neighborhoods and schedule safety patrols inside AH buildings.
6. Sufficient parking spaces for staff and tenants so that surrounding neighborhoods are not overwhelmed with parking enforcement.
7. Mandatory daily mental health and drug/alcohol rehab sessions for every tenant at PSH and SSE.
8. All taxpayer funded AH must have the same consistent rules enforced.
9. Coordinate data with other AH to maximize services and prevent bad actors from repeat behaviors at other AH.
10. Stop spillovers or sprawl from AH into surrounding neighborhoods.
11. Open, transparent nonprofit financial accountability of taxpayer funded AH.
12. SSE and SSP Encampments cannot be a forever answer. They are one rung, and the city needs to have a deadline to end encampments and move residents to the next rung of housing success. (ILHS) Incremental Ladder of Housing Success.
Implementing these 12 point recommendations before AH is integrated into neighborhoods will avoid these examples of AH and alleviate the fears of both neighbors and tenants, in turn allowing for more AH.
Contributing Neighborhoods:
Spartan-Keyes
Japantown
Naglee Park
Vendome
Northside
Roosevelt Park
Hensley Historic
San Jose Downtown
** All forms of Affordable Housing: permanent supportive housing, sanctioned supportive encampments, section 8, rent control, group homes, sober living facilities, housing authority subsidized housing, tiny homes, homekey hotels, communal living arraignments including sororities and fraternities, nontaxpayer-subsidized group homes, RV parking sites, Women’s shelters, emergency interm, low/extremely low/moderate housing, and any taxpayer supported shelter in any form.
Read the whole thing here.
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