PLANNING FOR FAIR HOUSING & SOCIAL/RACIAL INCLUSION

Jason Reece, AICP

Senior Researcher

The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity

Reece.35@osu.edu and www.kirwaninstitute.org

Guest Lecture June 1st 2009

City and Regional Planning, The Ohio State University

2

TODAY’S LECTURE

What is fair housing? Why do we advocate for fair housing?

Understanding our history Discrimination in housing (historical view) Events leading to the Fair Housing Act

Understanding the Fair Housing Act Content

The Fair Housing Act after four decades Have we produced fair housing? Outstanding challenges Case study: Thompson v. HUD

3

WHAT IS FAIR HOUSING?

Freedom to live anywhere you can afford to live without fear of intimidation or discrimination

How can the housing market be unfair? (examples) Discriminating by race, nationality, color, gender,

age Excluding the disabled or families with children Policies that exclude by income/class?

4

WHY DO WE STILL ADVOCATE FOR FAIR HOUSING?Fair Housing and Access to Opportunity

Housing

Childcare Employment

Education

Health

Transportation

Effective Participation

5

OPPORTUNITY MATTERS: SPACE, PLACE, AND LIFE OUTCOMES “Opportunity” is a situation or condition that places

individuals in a position to be more likely to succeed or excel.

Opportunity structures are critical to opening pathways to success:

High-quality education Healthy and safe environment Stable housing Sustainable employment Political empowerment Outlets for wealth-building Positive social networks

Section 2

6

6

OPPORTUNITY MATTERS: NEIGHBORHOODS & ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITY

Five decades of research indicate that your environment has a profound impact on your access to opportunity and likelihood of success

High poverty areas with poor employment, underperforming schools, distressed housing and public health/safety risks depress life outcomes A system of disadvantage Many manifestations

Urban, rural, suburban People of color are far more

likely to live in opportunity deprived neighborhoods and communities

7

PLACE HAS A PROFOUND IMPACT ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT, HEALTH AND WELL BEING

8

UNDERSTANDING OUR HISTORY: EVENTS LEADING TO THE FAIR HOUSING ACTPLANNING FOR FAIR HOUSING & SOCIAL/RACIAL INCLUSION

THE 1960’S: URBAN UNREST AND URBAN DISTRESS

9

WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?HISTORICAL POLICIES CONTRIBUTING TO RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION AND ISOLATION10

Segregation as policy Jim Crow in the south

The Great Migration North FHA policies upholding segregation

Redlining, discouraging mixed race neighborhoods Blockbusting, racially restrictive covenants and other

forms of discrimination in the housing industry Urban renewal, highway construction and public

housing policy Suburban sprawl and white flight

11

POLICIES ENFORCING INEQUITY:HISTORICAL GOVERNMENT ROLE

“If a neighborhood is to retain stability, it is necessary that properties shall continue to be occupied by the same social and racial classes. A change in social or racial occupancy generally contributes to instability and a decline in values.”

–Excerpt from the 1947 FHA underwriting manual

REDLINING MAP OF PHILADELPHIA

12

13

THE “WAILING WALL” IN DETROIT

http://www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol2no1/sugrue.html

14

THE RISE OF SUBURBIA:BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE

In the suburb-shaping years (1930-1960), less than one-percent of all African Americans were

able to obtain a mortgage.

FHA HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION IN CINCINNATI – DEMOLISHING MUCH OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN WEST SIDE

15

16

URBAN RENEWAL IN BOSTON

17

URBAN RENEWAL & NEW ATTEMPTS AT PUBLIC HOUSING Superblock Public Housing

Stateway Gardens in Chicago being completed in the late 1950’s 33 Acres of Public Housing Eight High Rise Buildings More than 1,600 Public Housing Units

UNPRECEDENTED CONCENTRATED POVERTY:

THE RISE OF CONCENTRATED PUBLIC HOUSING

18

19

FROM MARVEL TO DISASTER: PRUITT-IGOE IN ST. LOUIS

20

THE FAIR HOUSING ACTPLANNING FOR FAIR HOUSING & SOCIAL/RACIAL INCLUSION

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FAIR HOUSING ACT Signed into law by President

Johnson on April 11th 1968 Direct result of the

tremendous efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King in opening up segregated communities

Bill passage tied directly to Dr. King’s assassination on April 4th

The last plank of significant legislation passed during the civil rights era

22

THE FAIR HOUSING ACT (1) The 1968 Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the 1968 Civil Rights

Act) Bars discrimination in the private sector housing market (based on

race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status or disability) In the sale and rental of housing In mortgage lending Illegal to coerce, intimidate or interfere with someone’s fair housing rights Illegal to advertise limitations housing availability based on race, color,

national origin, religion, sex, family status or disability Some exemptions (owners with four units or less; private clubs,

single family homes sold without a broker) Also contains provision that the U.S. Department of Housing

and Urban Development has a duty to affirmatively further fair housing “administer the programs and activities relating to

housing and urban development in a manner affirmatively to further the policies of this subchapter”

23

THE FAIR HOUSING ACT (2)

1988 Amendments to the Fair Housing Act Provided more stringent penalties for violating

the act (financial) Changed enforcement provisions (more

involvement by HUD in enforcement) Although Department of Justice remains the primary

agency to apply punitive measures to Fair Housing cases

Expanded coverage to include the disabled and families with children

24

OTHER HOUSING LAWS/TOOLS

Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) – encourages depository institutions to help meet credit needs for undercapitalized communities

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) – lending institutions must report public loan data (includes data on race)

25

OTHER LOCAL FAIR HOUSING TOOLS e.g. State or local government fair housing laws

Ohio’s passed in 1965 The law gives all persons in the protected classes the right to live wherever

they can afford to buy a home or rent an apartment. It is unlawful on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or

ancestry, disability, or familial status to: a. refuse to rent, sell, finance, or insure housing accommodations or residential

property b. represent to any person that housing accommodations are not available for

inspection, sale, rental or lease c. refuse to lend money for the purchase, construction, repair, rehabilitation, or

maintenance of housing accommodations or residential property d. discriminate against any person in the purchase, renewal, or terms and conditions

of fire, extended coverage, or home owner’s or renter’s insurance e. refuse to consider without prejudice the combined income of both spouses. f. print, publish, or circulate any statement or advertisement which would indicate a

preference or limitation. g. deny any person membership in any multiple listing services, or real estate broker’s

organization. Source: Ohio Civil Rights Commission

26

HAVE WE ACHIEVED FAIR HOUSING?PLANNING FOR FAIR HOUSING & SOCIAL/RACIAL INCLUSION

27

HAVE WE ACHIEVED FAIR HOUSING? Progress but no victory yet

Homeownership increases Slight decline in segregation but still very

prevalent Decline in incidence of housing discrimination

but still prevalent Isolation from opportunity?

New challenges in the future Sub-prime lending and foreclosure

28

ACTS OF EXPLICIT HOUSING DISCRIMINATION REPORTED

Only 27,000 reported in 2007 ¼ race based ½ disability based

¾ related to rental discrimination These figures miss unreported acts/subtle

acts of discrimination, class based exclusionary housing and fair housing challenges related to subsidized housing

29

RACIAL STEERING AND DISCRIMINATION

Recent studies by researchers and the federal government (HUD) found that racial steering, discrimination and exclusion are still prevalent in the housing marketCreating barriers to housing access outside

of cost impediment Orfield and Luce (2005); Iceland, Sharpe and

Steinmetz (2005) Dawkins (2004); Pendall (2000); HUD HDS (2000) Galster (1998); Schill and Wachter (1995); Massey, Gross and Shibuya (1994) HUD HDS (1989)

30

CONTINUED SEGREGATION IN HOUSING: CONTEMPORARY DRIVING FACTORS De facto segregation

Exclusionary zoning Subtle forms of housing discrimination

Racial steering, editorializing Subsidized housing policy Reverse redlining

Buy here pay here, rent to own, payday lending, subprime mortgage loans

31

EXCLUSIONARY LAND USE POLICY

Minimum Lot Size for Single Family Home

5,000

8,0008,400 8,400

10,000 10,000 10,000

11,000

3,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,0009,000

10,00011,00012,000

Sq

uar

e F

eet

32

RACIAL STEERING IN DETROIT

33

34

NEW THREATS: THE CREDIT CRISIS AND FORECLOSURE CHALLENGE

The result of the sub-prime & foreclosure crisis in the US may significantly erode fair housing gains and further isolate inner city neighborhoods More than two million foreclosures

expected in the next two years Nationwide, nearly 55% of all high cost

loans went to African American borrowers

Experts estimate that the loss in home equity to African American and Latino homeowners will exceed a quarter of trillion dollars

Why, direct asset loss (foreclosure) and loss in home value due to the geographic concentration of foreclosures in minority neighborhoods

Source: United for a Fair Economy

35

PREDATORY LENDING AND RACE: EXAMPLE (CLEVELAND)

Maps: Produced and adapted from Charles Bromley, SAGES Presidential Fellow, Case Western University

36

PREDATORY LENDING, FORECLOSURE AND RACE: EXAMPLE (CLEVELAND)

37

MORE ON THOMPSON V. HUDA Case Study: Current Issues in Fair Housing

38

WHAT IS THOMPSON V. HUD?

Litigation brought on behalf of class of 14,000 African-American residents of public housing in response to history of racial segregation of public housing and concentration in poor, distressed neighborhoods in Baltimore Plaintiffs include Maryland ACLU and NAACP Legal

Defense Fund Originally defendants included the local public

housing authority and the US Department of Housing & Urban Development

Began in 1995…judge issued liability ruling in 2005

Remedial trial held in 2006 Still waiting for final remedial decision

39

FAIR HOUSING IN BALTIMORE Some facts and figures….

Baltimore is the 14th most segregated metropolitan region in the USA (as of 2000)

Approximately 67% of Baltimore’s African American or White population would need to relocate to integrate the region (based on the regional dissimilarity rate of .67

More than 53% of African Americans are physically segregated from jobs in the region

African American neighborhoods on average had poverty rates nearly 3 times the rate found in the average White neighborhood and vacancy rates more than double rates found in White neighborhoods

Nearly 3 out 4 African American kids would need to change schools to integrate the region’s schools

The average African American student attended a school with a 42% poverty rate in 2000, double the average for White students

In 2003, in the Baltimore City Schools: 3 out of 4 students were poor, more than 1/3 of classes were taught by non

highly qualified teachers, less than a 1/3 of students passed proficiency exams

40

SEGREGATION, SUBSIDIZED HOUSING IN THE BALTIMORE REGION Subsidized housing

opportunities in Baltimore are generally clustered in the region’s predominately African American neighborhoods

41

42

MORE ON THOMPSON V. HUD In January 2005, US District Court Judge Garbis

found HUD liable for violating the federal Fair Housing Act, for not providing fair housing opportunities to Baltimore’s African American public housing residents "Baltimore City should not be viewed ... as a container for

all of the poor of a contiguous region“ HUD failed to affirmatively promote fair housing by failing to

consider a regional approach to desegregating public housing “[T]he failure adequately to take a regional approach to the

desegregation of public housing in the region that included Baltimore City violated the Fair Housing Act and requires consideration of appropriate remedial action by the Court.” [Hon. Marvin J. Garbis, Memorandum of Decision. Carmen

Thompson et. al. vs. US Department of Housing and Urban Development et. al. January 6, 2005: 104]

43

OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS Use of 14 indicators of

neighborhood opportunity to designate high and low opportunity neighborhoods in the Baltimore region

Indicators of Opportunity (General) Neighborhood Quality/Health

Poverty, Crime, Vacancy, Property Values, Population Trends

Economic Opportunity Proximity to Jobs and Job

Changes, Public Transit Educational Opportunity

School Poverty, School Test Scores, Teacher Qualifications

44

African American’s are generally clustered in the Baltimore region’s lowest opportunity neighborhoods

45

Subsidized housing opportunities in Baltimore are generally clustered in the region’s lowest opportunity neighborhoods

46

FINAL PLAINTIFF’S PROPOSED REMEDY

Plaintiffs propose providing desegregative housing opportunities in the region’s high opportunity neighborhoods to remedy HUD’s fair housing violations With the goal of providing nearly 7,000 affordable

housing opportunities in high opportunity communities to public housing residents who volunteer to relocate in ten years

Flexibility in implementation (new construction and vouchers)

Aligned with proposals to provide support services for residents who volunteer for the program

47

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS CASE OR THE INSTITUTE, PLEASE VISIT US ON-LINE AT: WWW.KIRWANINSTITUTE.ORG