From Buffalo to Montauk, New York State is in the midst of an affordable-housing crisis.
The National Low-Income Housing Coalition's Out of Reach report found someone working at the current minimum wage would need to work 99 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom rental. Along with stagnant wages, rising inflation has also led to higher housing costs.
Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator for the group Housing Justice for All, said legislative action must be taken, so people can afford to have a place to call home.
"The most important thing New York needs to do right now is pass good-cause eviction tenant protections, which would require landlords to have a good reason to pursue an eviction, and to raise the rents more than 1.5 times the rate of inflation," Weaver outlined. "Right now, that would be around 10%."
She added protections are critically important for neighborhood stability. The Good Cause Eviction Bill was first brought before the Legislature in 2019, and has been reintroduced since. The bill's opponents argued it encroaches on the rights of a landlord. The measure is under review by the state Senate's Judiciary Committee.
Beyond legislation, constructing new affordable housing is also an issue. Earlier this year, New York City Mayor Eric Adams proposed converting empty commercial spaces into affordable housing.
Rafael Salamanca Jr., a New York City councilman, believes it would create a swath of much-needed affordable housing.
"We can create up to 20,000 units of housing in Manhattan alone and other parts," Salamanca contended. "We can create up to 20,000 units which, in essence, will create housing for about 40,000 New Yorkers."
The need for some relief to the lack of affordable housing is growing, as Manhattan rental prices hit an average of $5,000 in 2022, according to a report from the Douglas Elliman real estate firm.
While there are many solutions to the crisis, no one is a silver bullet.
Emily Goldstein, director of organizing and advocacy for the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, said there are certain aspects of the affordable-housing conversation which need to be considered.
"I'd say the first thing is to start from a perspective and a principle of being really honest about who needs what kind of affordable housing," Goldstein urged. "Then, focusing both policy and financial budget tools towards that."
She added a holistic approach needs to be taken to zoning, and tenant's rights need to be addressed as well. Relief might be on the way, although it will take some time. In her 2023 State of the State Address, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a proposalto develop 800,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade to meet expected needs.
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The Des Moines City Council has passed an ordinance to reduce the homeless population and help people find alternatives to being on the street. Critics call it mean-spirited and regressive.
The ordinance bans tent camping, and makes sleeping in public a crime that can result in a $15 fine.
City officials say the move is designed to get people off the street, adding that Des Moines' ultimate goal is to help them find permanent shelter.
But American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa Executive Director Mark Stringer argued that unhoused people should not be criminalized.
"If you don't have anywhere to sleep and you fall asleep in a public place, you are now a criminal in the eyes of this ordinance," said Stringer. "It's a small fine, but it's still a fine - and that fine puts you into the criminal justice system."
Des Moines announced over the summer that it would take a harder-line approach to getting people off the street, and would help get them into assistance programs to improve their lives.
Documents uncovered by a local group show the city has been working with companies and nonprofits to penalize homelessness in Des Moines since early 2023.
Stringer said he believes the ordinance is driven by people who want to shape the image of the city.
The focus has been on gentrifying its downtown with high-end housing, restaurants and entertainment venues - where he added that people living on the streets can be considered an eyesore.
"It seems like there are people who want to not have to look at the homeless, and that's really what's driving this," said Stringer. "The presentation of the idea has its gloss of 'we want to help the homeless.' Well, you don't help the homeless by criminalizing them."
Stringer added that the downtown Des Moines makeover has added to the city's affordable housing shortage, and increased the number of unsheltered people - a problem many U.S. cities currently face.
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New Mexico houses cost less to buy than in many other states but there's also less inventory and one data expert does not expect a building boom to return.
Ali Wolf, chief economist for the data and consulting firm Zonda, said in the three years leading up to the 2008 Great Recession, homebuilders started about 2 million homes a year. Because the pandemic followed the financial crisis, housing starts never fully rebounded.
"We are seeing reasonable levels of growth," Wolf explained. "A lot more construction in the Southeast and the Southwest but these regions are really trying to play catch-up with the amount of in-migration that they've seen."
Since 2010, builders nationwide have started about 1 million new homes a year on average, far below the 1.6 million needed to keep up with population growth. Across New Mexico, there is a shortage of rental homes affordable and available to extremely low-income households with incomes at or below the poverty guideline of 30% of the area's median income.
To offer more inventory, Wolf argued builders need to feel comfortable that they can sell a home. At the same time, developers getting vacant lots ready need to feel confident that somebody's going to buy the land. Right now, she said, the number of vacant developed lots is still 40% below its pre-Great Recession level.
"The building community is saying, 'We don't want to get over our skis,'" Wolf observed. "I think that we will continue to see growth in housing starts. I just don't think we're going to see housing starts look anything similar to what we had seen before the great financial crisis."
Federal housing assistance used to focus on poverty, which helped New Mexico families where immigrants make up slightly more than 11% of the labor force. Now it is also a middle-class support program. If elected, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has promised financial assistance for both first-time homebuyers and developers who build their housing.
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Renewal Village, a converted Clarion Inn featuring 215 units of permanent supportive and transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness, has officially opened in Denver's Globeville neighborhood.
Darrell Watson, a Denver city council member, said his family frequently faced housing insecurity while he was growing up and his adult sister died while living on the streets. He emphasized the project, spearheaded by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, is an important step to ensure that more people can exit the cycle of homelessness.
"Oftentimes when you throw out numbers and they feel like simply digits," Watson observed. "But each of those 215 folks to me are the faces of my sister, the faces of many others who are struggling to live in this city."
Per-unit housing costs for converting existing buildings, like hotels, are typically less than half the cost of new construction. Clarion's old bar and cafe are now common areas featuring a coffee lounge and dining room. The old ballroom is now where case managers connect clients to mental and medical health care, substance use treatment, job placement and other services they need to get back on their feet.
Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said homelessness has long been a top issue for her constituents. She noted the project's strong partnerships, including with the Colorado Division of Housing, Adams County and the city and county of Denver, helped tap $4 million in federal funding to create a new home for families.
"Not just that, and this is the important thing, they'll have a place to call home and they'll have the supportive services that they need to be able to achieve more and more for themselves and their families," DeGette stressed.
Last year, more than 75,000 people received homelessness services in Colorado, recently named the eighth-least-affordable state in the nation.
Mike Johnston, mayor of Denver, said he is committed to creating more opportunities like Renewal Village in coming years.
"When you have traveled a very hard road, you've been on the street or unhoused or been on friend's couches or not sure you would ever find your way back to your own unit, with your own key, and your own space," Johnston outlined. "This offers that new hope again, that sense of renewal."
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