While the lack of affordable housing is a problem across the United States, the situation is particularly dire in Miami-Dade County, FL. As of 2017, 49% of all households in Miami-Dade County were housing cost-burdened (defined as paying more than 30% of household income on housing). Now ranked as the fifth least affordable housing market in the nation, the trend is worsening and negatively impacting workforce retention, wealth creation, and economic mobility (Greiner, 2017). / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The constructivist paradigm was used in the research study to focus on the challenges with affordable housing and concentrations of Housing Choice Voucher recipients in a county in Southern California. Viewed through the lens of Social Stratification posed by Max Weber, ones opportunities in life are based on his/her position of class, status and power, where by those with lower positions are excluded from opportunities. The literature discusses the goal of the Housing Choice Voucher Program is to deconcentrate poverty and provide opportunities to move to higher income areas in order to provide opportunities for social upward mobility. Residential socioeconomic segregation has considerable consequences for public health. Keeping in mind the sensitivity of this controversial topic, the researcher protected and maintained confidentiality through the research process. Thus, the member‑checking meeting in which the joint construction is shared with the study participants was held on a secured internet website. Data was gathered by interviewing a diverse group of participants from various levels of agency, including government agencies. This qualitative data was analyzed by identifying “units” of information that were then grouped into categories of topics relevant to the research focus. The result of the final data analysis was a formulation of sixteen categories which was then interpreted in the form of a social construction which concludes that there is a lack of affordable housing in the county, and concentrations of subsidized housing in lower income cities versus affluent cities is due to the demographics of cities as well as exclusion brought on by NIMBY occurrences. Implications for macro Social Work practice included community organizing and policy advocacy at various governmental levels. The termination of the study did not result in the study participants planning to move forward with the solutions that were formed during the research process. A “Thank you” email was sent to the participants with the final joint construction attached as well as the instructions on where to find the final report. The researcher invited the study participants to contact her in the future regarding any opportunities related to affordable and public housing in the County.

Improving access to affordable housing is often approached through efforts to increase the supply of such housing, as the need to make better use of existing resources and coordinating the efforts of housing providers is often overlooked. A central housing registry in Winnipeg would be one approach to improving coordination and better access for low-income households to affordable housing. This study explores different examples of housing registries that exist in Canada and the United States. It provides insight into the benefits and challenges of housing registries through web searches and a survey. A focus group was also used to gain insight on the local context for developing a central housing registry. This research will increase the awareness of the benefits of a central housing registry and provides recommendations on how to approach the development and implementation of a central housing registry. / October 2005

In light of the increasing need for affordable housing in cities, and because many city centers, especially older US city centers, are home to abandoned industrial buildings, this paper explores the potential for creating affordable housing through the adaptive re-use of such structures. Through a study of the current literature of both the current needs of affordable housing and the availability of the transition of adaptive re-use, this paper answers the questions of where this type of conversion has already taken place and explores what funding is available to make such a conversion financial possible. The paper then looks to three case studies in the United States to attempt to begin to answer under what local conditions adaptive re-use for affordable housing can succeed. Ultimately, this paper finds that under compliant circumstances, there is indeed a place for the adaptive re-use of abandoned structures to be developed into affordable housing. / text

Design has played a complicated role in affordable housing in both the U.S. and the UK. These two countries have had fairly different approaches towards their affordable housing policy in the past, but now have both converged to using mixed income housing as a primary method of delivering affordable housing. This report will investigate the role that design plays in the ways that each of these countries administers its mixed income housing programs. Specifically, it will look at how design is used to achieve the goals behind mixed income housing, as well as specific decisions regarding exterior treatment and siting of the units in a mixed income housing development. I will use a case study approach in my research process, focusing on two case studies in the UK, and two case studies in the U.S. In order to obtain my findings, I used key informant interviews, key policy and program documents, and on-site observations. Ultimately, I found that design factors need to be carefully balanced between social equity goals and financial feasibility, and it is important to recognize the limitations of what mixed income housing can achieve for social goals. / text

This report examines the spatial characteristics of tax credit housing within the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) for the years 2007 through 2009. The report analyzes tax-credit affordable housing sites in an attempt to determine the effects that geographically based program guidelines have on the distribution of LIHTC developments, and low-income communities throughout the area. Moreover, the report suggests recommendations for the clarification of program goals and objectives, the improvement of project application review procedures, and the revision of existing rules and development incentives. / text

Brownfield redevelopment is called upon to remedy damaged ecological, economic, and social conditions due to contamination from prior land use(s). It can be utilized as a means for revitalizing low-income neighborhoods and communities of color that have suffered from years of economic disinvestment and a polluted environment. Critics of brownfield redevelopment in low-income neighborhoods argue that this form of revitalization can backfire when property values and rental prices rise and existing residents are pushed out. The City of Oakland has demonstrated a form of inclusionary brownfield redevelopment that incorporates housing that is affordable to existing residents in the area and thus avoiding the form of exclusionary housing witnessed in other cases of brownfield redevelopment in central cities. This report builds on the hypothesis that inclusionary brownfield redevelopments in Oakland can serve as a model approach for other cities in preventing displacement of lower income, residents of color through gentrification. / text

Lack of access to adequate housing in Mexico City's urban core and sprawling settlement patterns have led to numerous social and environmental issues. Current development patterns sharpen social fragmentation and segregation, create imbalances in the provision of infrastructure and services, and encourage human occupation of high-risk and environmentally susceptible areas. Furthermore, expansive urbanization has become increasingly expensive, both at the individual and collective level. This has happened because private interests often overshadow public ones; economic growth rather than equitable and sustainable development has been the mark of success. Thus, commercial uses have displaced residential uses, particularly low-income housing, to remote areas of the metropolitan region. Local government efforts, albeit significant in comparison to other parts of the country, have been unable to adequately address this issue. Government inefficiency, lack of inter-institutional coordination, corruption, and lack of resources, among other factors, have hindered the success of housing and densification projects. The present research evaluates recent densification efforts and their goals to increase housing access and repopulate the urban core. Some of the individual benefits enjoyed by residents of densification projects, such as access to infrastructure and services, as well as some of the difficulties experienced by them in the process of obtaining government credits and access to housing are also identified. The conclusion is that only the rigorous integration of environmental and social planning agendas and the renegotiation of concepts of spatial justice will lead to more effective policies and housing programs, and a just, accessible, and sustainable city, region and country. / text

Low- and moderate-income Americans rely on affordable housing. It is clear that affordable rental housing is needed, but much of what is getting built, especially in the high-growth West and South, gives rise to negative externalities based on the large number of units in the projects. This report looks at objections to large apartment complexes and makes the case for smaller-scale multifamily developments, studies how housing policy in the US has disadvantaged multifamily development, and investigates barriers to small-scale developments relating to mortgage markets, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and the models of nonprofit affordable housing providers. / text

The current study uses a combination of quantitative and spatial analysis to examine the impact of affordable housing administered by the Texas Department of Housing Affairs on the neighborhood crime rate, in Dallas, Texas. Pre and post construction period analysis, for duration of five years from 2000 to 2004 provided an in-depth view on the direct impact of affordable housing at the neighborhood level. The crime rates were measured alongside with the sociodemographic characteristics of the area to see any association between the two. The findings suggest that the affordable housing were mostly located in areas with higher concentration of minority population and low median household income. The results of this study showed negligible increase in crime rates but a through analysis could provide an in-depth analysis of the issue. / text