AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET

In February 2023, The New York City Council approved a law aimed at creating more accessible housing. 

It requires housing developers receiving city funds for new rental developments with over 41 units to incorporate universal design features–such as wheelchair access especially in the bath and kitchen plus adjustable countertops.

The goal of the law is to make all units fully accessible to any occupant no matter their age, or disability. 

The law is intended to create accessible housing, so elderly and disabled New Yorkers are not dependent on pleading with landlords to make adaptations on a case-by-case basis.

 

AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET

Rodney Harrell, vice president, family, home and community for AARP,  said there is a huge economic benefit to building housing and neighborhoods that are accessible to all.

He said if a person can no longer use the stairs at their house or apartment building, they stay home and become socially isolated.

He cited AARP research that found the impact on the health of socially isolated older adults is an estimated $6.7 billion in additional Medicare spending annually. 

That impact didn’t consider the same negative impact on the health of people with disabilities who are not elderly.

Clearly, cities that use tax credits and other incentives on affordable/accessible housing–can potentially erase hundreds of billions in Medicare and Medicaid spending.

AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET

Rodney Harrell, vice president, family, home and community for AARP, knows there is a huge market for affordable, accessible housing.

“Think of it not pure wheelchair access but making our housework for us at all ages. Design for all abilities makes our housing stock more valuable,” he said, noting that accessibility features do not limit re-sale or re-rent to people with disabilities. 

“I laugh when I watch HGTV and see housing with a zero threshold  shower with a fold down bench in the home of a young family. 

They might be doing it for design reasons. But over time, they will need these features.”

AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET

“People with disabilities are the largest minority in America—well more than 60 million and the number is growing. 

“It makes sense for the public and private sector to respond to this,” said Allie Cannington, The Kelsey’s senior project manager, organizing & advocacy.

“A 2020 study by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency found that for every dollar spent on home repair (to make it more accessible for aging and disability), there were $19 in Medicare savings,” she added, emphasizing that investing in affordable, accessible housing is not just the right thing to do for human beings, but also a huge return on investment.

AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET

Allie Cannington, The Kelsey’s senior project manager, organizing & advocacy, noted that The Kelsey Civic Center, a 112-unit, amenity-rich, urban co-living community across from San Francisco City Hall, is coming in at 14 percent less than the city average cost of residential construction.

She suggests that states, when they are scoring applications for LIHTC, should give a high rank to submissions that include accessibility for people with disabilities. 

That, matched with city incentives, would increase the amount of accessible housing—changing the present reality that 95 percent of all housing excludes people with disabilities, with 99 percent off limits to wheelchair users.

CELEBRATING MORE THAN 550,000 READERS

MORE THAN HALF A MILLION UNIQUE VISITS TO THIS BLOG

Thanks to readers around the world who have followed this blog for more than a decade.

Cumulatively, its content could fill the pages of five full-length books.

Topics focus on urban design, planning, architecture and transportation – most often in the context of creating a better built environment for people with disabilities.

Sometimes my fine art photography, which is earning places in respected galleries, is featured. Or there might just be a travel pic, cat foto or joke shared.

In the past 12 months, I have posted news of my work (and excerpts of my published work), including:

1 School of architecture guest lecture

2 Acclaimed photography exhibits

3 PBS documentaries on camera

4 TV appearances as an expert

5 Keynote speeches

6 Photos from the road during international consulting

7 Global radio broadcasts

8 Universal design workshops

9  New design inclusion clients

10 Daily social media posts on design and DEI

11 Podcasts on planning

12 Published cover articles

AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET

The Kelsey Ayer Station is a fully inclusive mixed-ability, mixed-income housing community located in a transit-oriented neighborhood blocks north of downtown San Jose.

The 115 apartment homes come with inclusion concierges that will connect residents to the community and support services.

“There is a dangerous assumption that making disability-forward housing comes with an exorbitant cost. 

We work in one of the most expensive markets in the nation and found if your are have good partners, you can deliver at a cost on par with (not accessible) market-rate housing.

Kelsey Ayer Station is on par with San Jose Costs,” said Allie Cannington, The Kelsey’s senior project manager, organizing & advocacy.

AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET

“Low Income Housing Tax Credits is one of biggest drivers of affordable housing. At the federal level, we need more tax credits to fund affordable housing. 

And we need to make sure the end unit is affordable and adaptable (to serve people with disabilities,” said Allie Cannington, The Kelsey’s senior project manager, organizing & advocacy, who uses a wheelchair for mobility. 

“We need state and local government to invest in developer subsidies and vouchers for residents. 

We need to make affordable, accessible housing the norm across the country.”

AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET

“Part of solution to this housing crisis is to go beyond looking at number of units, so we’re looking at the type of housing. 

It is critical to build integrated housing—disabled people are not isolated or segregated,” said Allie Cannington, The Kelsey’s senior project manager, organizing & advocacy.

“We emphasize creating housing for people who need supportive services in their homes and communities. 

We do this with our own developments and through the policy changes we push for.”

Cannington noted that The Kelsey advocates for more use of LIHTC and more tax credit projects to be move-in ready for people with disabilities. 

The nonprofit also has collaborated with architecture firms to create a free, online guide to Housing Design Standards of Accessibility and Inclusion.

 

 

 

AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is a federal program providing tax credits to developers who build new housing for low-income renters. 

The VITAL Act would increase funding for the LIHTC program to increase the number of accessible homes.

The key measure of VITAL is it would require that states construct at least 20 percent of their LIHTC units as accessible and/or walkable and rollable.

The act has been endorsed by a host of disability advocacy organizations, including The Kelsey.

The Kelsey is a disability-forward housing developer in the San Francisco-San Jose area.

In less than two years, it has secured the co-development of 227 inclusive, affordable homes in one of the nation’s most challenging housing markets.

AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET 

Further compounding the catastrophic situation, surveys of housing stock show less than five percent of it is move-in ready accessible to people with disabilities. 

Less than one percent of housing is wheelchair accessible and virtually all of that is in multifamily housing. 

Accessible housing features a zero-step entrance, accessible restroom, wider doors, lowered counters and sinks in the kitchen/bath, and other features to accommodate reduced mobility due to aging or disability.

Senator Bob Casey, Democratic chair of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, held a hearing this summer to sound the alarm over the lack of affordable, accessible housing.

“Stable, high-quality housing is an essential human need and the foundation of community well-being,” Casey said in an interview via email.

“But for millions of Americans, adequate housing is more of an aspiration than a reality. In particular, far too many older adults and people with disabilities cannot afford accessible housing. 

That’s why I introduced the Visitable Inclusive Tax Credit for Accessible Living (VITAL) Act, which would ensure that we are increasing the amount of accessible housing available for people with disabilities and older adults to meet their needs. 

Investments in accessible housing are central to guaranteeing better outcomes in health and satisfaction for older adults and people with disabilities.”

 

AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY:

FROM BAD TO WORSE IN A TIGHT U.S. HOUSING MARKET

America is in the throes of an affordable housing crisis. 

Many Americans are considered severely rent-burdened, as they spend more than 50 percent of their earnings on housing.

For people with disabilities and the elderly, there is a triple whammy—prices are soaring, their incomes are not keeping pace, and only a fraction of housing is built to accommodate those with limited mobility.

U.S. Department of Labor statistics consistently prove that people with disabilities are by far the most under-employed, unemployed and impoverished of all marginalized groups. About one in four people in the U.S. have a disability.

By 2030, one in five Americans will be older than 65. This means tens of millions of people cannot afford safe, quality, convenient housing that meets their needs.

WE NEED SAFE STREETS FOR EVERYONE – NOW!

WHEELCHAIR USERS CANNOT STEP OVER SNOW DRIFTS ON SIDEWALKS

Sidewalk maintenance and clearing MUST be a public utility.

The current, antiquated approach is making each property owner responsible.

This makes essential access – for wheelchair users and all pedestrians -- something subject to the whims of property owners, some who are absentee landlords living far away.

Cities have talked a good game about pedestrian mobility for ages.

Until they maintain sidewalks, it is lip service only.

Municipalities will whine and moan that they can’t afford it.

But when they total up lost work hours, denied job opportunities plus deaths/serious injuries from pushing pedestrians into the street – they will find they cannot afford NOT to fund this.

Thanks to Strong Towns for the image in this post and for raising the issue and addressing this issue for those who "roll" for their mobility.

MEET STEVE WRIGHT

STORYTELLER AND ADVOCATE

If there was one thing you could change, address, etc. about Miami, what would it be?

All politicians would be in it for the little guy, not themselves. 

Elected officials would make decisions based on creating a legacy of inclusion.

What are you looking forward to in 2023?

World travel and more work being an evangelist for Universal Design and a barrier-free built environment.

MEET STEVE WRIGHT

STORYTELLER AND ADVOCATE

What’s your favorite local social media account and why?

@BecauseMiami, because it’s snarky, sardonic and cynical.

If you could give any one piece of advice to locals, what would it be?

Love people who are different than you. Learn from them; drink in their culture.

How does Miami help you do what you do or influence your work?

I’m from Ohio. It’s sure nice to have warm, sunny winters. 

That gets me going when I’m having trouble writing or launching a big project.

MEET STEVE WRIGHT

STORYTELLER AND ADVOCATE

Share your other top three destinations for where you’d go on your perfect Miami day.

(1) Miami Beach at 5:00 a.m. to run on the sand till the sun rises.

(2) Ball and Chain in the heart of Calle Ocho for great music, drink, and vibes any time — day or night.

(3) Play on the grass at William Jennings Bryan Park, because I live on it and spent more than two years protecting the one acre of greenspace from being paved over.

MEET STEVE WRIGHT

STORYTELLER AND ADVOCATE

What’s your favorite Miami memory?

Getting to create, from scratch, a revolutionary course on Universal Design.

I taught it to graduate and undergraduate architecture and urban design students at the University of Miami School of Architecture.

If you could eat only one meal from a local restaurant for the rest of your life, what would it be?

A BBQ steak sub, well done, on wheat, no cheese, black olives as the only condiment, and hot cherry peppers on the side.

From Super Subs, an institution on Bird Road in South Miami.

(I eat less than half the sub bun and have no fries or chips to keep it healthy!)

MEET STEVE WRIGHT

STORYTELLER AND ADVOCATE

What brings you most alive about the 305?

Walking for entertainment and exercise.

I lost 125 pounds eating healthier and walking from my home in Shenandoah to the Miami River and throughout Little Havana.

I documented the Art Deco, Spanish Mission, Mediterranean, and other 1920s to 1940s classic apartment, commercial, spiritual, and single-family homes.

My images were part of a six month, one-man Local Artist exhibition at the Art Deco Welcome Center in Miami Beach

It ran through mid-February 2024. 

MEET STEVE WRIGHT

STORYTELLER AND ADVOCATE

 

Howdy, Steve! Who are you? What do you do?

I am a writer, visual artist, keynote speaker, planner, educator, and advocate.

I work for myself, creating content about Universal Design and a better built environment for people with disabilities.

My clients include the National Association of REALTORS, the United Spinal Association, the American Planning Association, Global Disability Inclusion Inc., and many others.

I also create workshops and speeches about how to make cities more inclusive for all.

MY URBAN PHOTOGRAPHY WILL BE PART OF A MAJOR BOOK

BY A RENOWNED CITY PLANNER AND

AUTHOR OF BOOKS ON VISIONARY PLANNING

I'm honored to be working with Thomas D. Wilson on a new book about the nation's most iconic historic places.

Tom is the author of several books on the history of planning and design, including The Oglethorpe Plan: Enlightenment Design in Savannah and Beyond and Charleston and Savannah: The Rise, Fall, and Reinvention of Rival Cities.

My vast travels as a planner/writer/educator/activist at the intersection of urban policy and a better built environment for people with disabilities has created opportunities to capture images of great American places.

.

REVITALIZING, REBUILDING & REPURPOSING

THE BENEFITS AND TECHNIQUES TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

“Transformative placemaking focuses on neighborhoods and places at a hyper-local scale. It brings together programs, policies and practices that are intersectional,” said Tracy Hadden Loh, a Fellow at The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program-Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking. 

“It combines the best of economic development and infrastructure and the environmental movement.”

To increase the odds of success, the report suggests that federal funds flow through to local areas only with “preconditions for growth present and some assets for investment to scaffold onto,” such as potential transit-oriented development; anchor institutions like universities and hospitals; existing initiatives aimed at supporting local entrepreneurship and business incubation; cultural activity clusters; or commitments to build rural infrastructure.

“At the local level, we must break down silos [and] get the planner talking to the economic developer talking to the director of public works etc.,” Loh said. 

“Anything else is pushing a boulder uphill.

REVITALIZING, REBUILDING & REPURPOSING

THE BENEFITS AND TECHNIQUES TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

The Brookings report proposes what it has dubbed direct seed funding. 

“Through this program, the Treasury Department would establish and capitalize state revolving loan funds that would provide direct seed capital through a combination of low-interest, potentially forgivable debt and working equity to locally managed neighborhood investment funds.

A one-time, $2-billion capitalization of these funds would yield $80 million at 4-percent interest to loan annually without touching the principal.

A 10-percent add-on to each transaction for working equity to support local capacity-building would consume less than 0.5 percent of the principal balance.”

The local neighborhood investment funds would allow residents of eligible geographic areas — together with other public, private, and nonprofit investors — to collectively purchase and develop or redevelop land or buildings in commercial corridors in the targeted areas.

REVITALIZING, REBUILDING & REPURPOSING

THE BENEFITS AND TECHNIQUES TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

Tracy Hadden Loh is a Fellow at The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program-Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking. 

She co-authored an inclusive neighborhood revitalization report proposing that the federal government partner with state and local governments to facilitate the local ownership of real estate in disinvested urban and rural commercial corridors.

The report looks at more than $100 billion spent by Community Development Block Grant, empowerment zone and opportunity zone programs, plus a host of other federal spending programs and their relative failure at uplifting poor, marginalized communities. 

Many of the failures are because the programs are directed at outside capital, which doesn’t deliver cash to local entrepreneurs that can build wealth in a poor community and who understand the unique needs of the community. 

Funding zones also often are too geographically broad, so money is not invested in the areas that need targeting the most.

REVITALIZING, REBUILDING & REPURPOSING

THE BENEFITS AND TECHNIQUES TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

Stephen L. Atkins, principal & managing director of SouthEast Development Group, said the pro forma calculated $1.75 per square foot to make the deal work and new leases are going at $3 per square foot — an endorsement for urban living in Jacksonville. Twenty percent of the Residences at Barnett rent as workforce housing.

“We didn’t receive any incentives, other than financing. We financed under the new market tax credit structure. 

Also, my company has a subsidiary certified to do tax credits, so we used federal historic tax credits.”

He noted that occupying the Barnett building helped spur his more than $70 million mixed-use project across the street, featuring an Autograph Collection hotel, 170 multifamily units and commercial developed out of a trio of historic buildings plus an infill new build.

“Jacksonville, like a lot of cities, was not the greatest steward of the golden age of buildings,” Atkins said.

“A lot of great buildings were torn down and replaced with postmodern stuff. The thing about adaptive reuse is if you don’t make it work and support it, once the great buildings are gone, they’re gone. 

No amount of subsidy can take you back in time to preserve a razed building. 

People want to be in a vibrant downtown environment and converting old office buildings to residential creates that.”

REVITALIZING, REBUILDING & REPURPOSING

THE BENEFITS AND TECHNIQUES TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

Stephen L. Atkins, principal & managing director of SouthEast Development Group in Jacksonville, Fla., helped preserve that city’s most-treasured landmark after several attempts failed. 

Barnett National Bank once was Florida’s largest commercial bank, and its 1926-vintage, 18-story Renaissance Revival-style headquarters would be at home among the best of New York or Chicago skyscrapers.

The redeveloped building features 107 residential units on the top 13 floors, offices below that and a bank branch on the ground floor. 

A change in office tenants may allow for another 45 apartments in the building.

The Barnett National Bank building in Jacksonville, Fla., was repurposed into a mixed-use development.

“We delivered the project right in the middle of COVID, but it had 100-percent occupancy in a few months, and we have a waiting list of 40 or more,” Atkins said.

“The smallest studio is about 540 square feet and the biggest two bedroom is more than 1,000. It’s mostly young professionals, but we have a mix of business executives, empty nesters, the arts community.”

REVITALIZING, REBUILDING & REPURPOSING

THE BENEFITS AND TECHNIQUES TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

The historic Luna Lodge on Route 66 in Albuquerque, N.M., was converted into affordable housing

Ultimately, the historic features were preserved, and 28 units of affordable housing were created, earning an award from the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition. 

The NAR report notes the heavy subsidies the project required, including: $3.3 million from out-of-state buyers of tax credits, $1.24 million from a City of Albuquerque Workforce Housing Construction Loan Grant, $344,120 in historic tax credit equity, $210,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas Affordable Housing Program and $100,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency/New Mexico Environment Department.