| What is
it like to be unable to obtain affordable housing for your family outside
of the poorest of neighborhoods? What is it like to live in an
increasingly segregated community that is more and more isolated from
employment and educational opportunities? And what is it like to be
essentially locked out of communities where these opportunities exist? For
low-income families, these are but a few of the consequences of urban
sprawl.
What is sprawl? It is more than endless strip malls and congested roads.
Sprawl has been defined as uncontrolled, scattered suburban development
that increases traffic, saps local resources and destroys open space.
Sprawl-related development spreads rapidly on the fringes of existing
communities and leads to a greater dependence on the automobile, increased
infrastructure costs and pollution. In its wake, sprawl creates urban
decline and increases social isolation.
Although the economic
and environmental effect s of sprawl have been receiving increased
attention from local governments and advocates for change, a troubling
aspect of sprawl not receiving much attention is the negative social
effect sprawl has on the fair housing rights of low-income families in
need of decent affordable housing.
HOME is very
concerned about sprawl's discriminatory impact on the Buffalo metropolitan
area. As Buffalo's suburbs have grown, Buffalo has become more and more
racially segregated - creating the 4th most segregated metropolitan area
in the country. As of the 1990 US Census, 85% of minorities (92% of
Blacks) and 71% of low-income families in Erie County resided in the city.
And as fair housing advocates know, where people live impacts on every
other aspect of their lives - from access to schools to employment
opportunities.
Some in Western New
York have said that sprawl is not a major issue here due to slow
development and the stagnant upstate economy. Opponents of sprawl respond
that development without corresponding economic and population growth is
precisely the problem in Buffalo and Western New York. According to the
University at Buffalo's Institute for Local Governance and Regional
Growth, since the 1950's, when the population of Buffalo peaked, Erie and
Niagara Counties have seen a 132% growth in the urbanized area while these
counties have experienced a 10% population decrease over the last 30
years. Simply put, Western New York's suburbs have grown at the expense of
its cities - with Buffalo seeing its population shrink to one-half its
peak.
How does sprawl
affect Western New York? In every way imaginable: from increased traffic
congestion and longer commute times to higher taxes to pay for services
(police and fire departments) and infrastructure (new schools, more roads,
new water and sewer lines). Sprawl has led to the erosion of Buffalo's tax
base and downtown commerce as well as the increased concentration of
poverty and unemployment in the city. Sprawl is largely responsible for
the destruction of the character of the city of Buffalo and its
surrounding communities.
HOME Executive
Director Scott Gehl has seen the negative impact of sprawl on Western New
York and the fair-housing rights of its citizens. Gehl states: "Sprawl has
resulted in a significantly higher concentration of poor and minority
families in Buffalo neighborhoods that are increasingly isolated from
opportunities. Communities have become more and more polarized between the
haves and have-nots which has resulted in an increasing level of
socio-economic and racial segregation in the Buffalo metropolitan area."
Low-income city
residents (see below) witness deteriorating housing in their communities
and a severe shortage of affordable housing opportunities for families in
the suburbs and the more affluent neighborhoods in Buffalo. They see jobs
leave for the suburbs and poor public transportation that does not link
them to those dispersed job opportunities. Without a car, a city resident
is simply cut off from seeking employment in many areas of Western New
York.
This lack of
connection between the city and surrounding areas also has an impact on
businesses choosing to locate outside the city as increasingly,
entry-level jobs are harder to fill. In spite of this, housing developers
continue to lack the courage to propose affordable housing for families in
suburban communities fearing they will meet fervent (and sometimes
hysterical) opposition from local officials and the communities they
represent.
What is at the root
of the opposition? Is it the resurfacing of the old fears that the influx
of poor and minority families necessarily leads to declining property
values? The current pattern of developing housing only for middle and
high-income families serves to reinforce these stereotypes. Only by
developing mixed-income neighborhoods in Buffalo and its suburbs can a
more positive socio-economic and racial balance be achieved.
What is
being done?
In
recent years, concerns about the negative effects of urban sprawl have
received increased attention from elected officials and advocates of
changing the way local governments allow for growth in their communities.
Much of their discussion tends to focus on the economic and environmental
impacts, rather than the social impact of sprawl.
Here in Western New
York, the
League of Women Voters
has launched a grass-roots campaign to educate the general public about
all aspects of the topic. Led by the League, the Coalition for Education
on Sprawl (of which HOME is a member) has launched the Education Campaign
on Urban Sprawl. The Campaign is chaired by Katherine Tarbell, a Friend of
HOME and a member "since the beginning."
Ms. Tarbell, who has
been a League member for over 40 years, is "personally committed to make
local government responsible to public interest." According to Ms. Tarbell,
it is in the public interest to know what sprawl is costing us
economically, environmentally, and socially. "The fact that we are
developing more housing, and industry on the fringes of existing
communities means that we're increasingly segregating people by income.
Commercial development makes new jobs inaccessible to people, especially
those without cars."
While the word
"regionalism" has begun to creep into the vocabulary of some elected
officials and planers, a loc al leader who might advocate for controlling
sprawl needs to have strong public support if he or she is to be heard.
During this debate, an informed public must insist that that the
under-emphasized social costs of sprawl are addressed. Decreasing
segregation by economic status must be among the goals. At the very least,
it will be essential to provide improved public transportation throughout
Western New York and affordable housing opportunities in suburban
communities where very little currently exists. Throughout the debate, the
shared interests of all residents of Western New York in a strong and
vital community must be paramount.
The impact
of sprawl on one family's search for opportunity
When Ms. L received her Section 8 voucher, she was excited at the chance
to move out of public housing and relocate to an area that held more
educational and employment opportunities for herself and her four
children. However, her search for affordable housing outside of declining
and poverty-stricken neighborhood s is proving to be more of a challenge
than she had imagined.
She, along with many
other residents of public housing received an "equal opportunity voucher"
as a result of the settlement of the Comer lawsuit which alleged
discrimination in government-assisted housing. These "equal opportunity
(housing) vouchers" were designed to remedy the damage caused by the
alleged discrimination by giving low-income minority residents of Buffalo
public housing the opportunity to find housing in "non-traditional" areas.
Anyone accepting the vouchers was therefore required to use them outside
of areas with a high concentration of poverty and minorities. There is a
time limit of four months to find appropriate housing or the voucher is
forfeited and the family remains on public housing.
After three months of
looking for suitable housing, Ms. L's initial excitement at receiving her
voucher is turning to frustration. Even with rental assistance
supplementing what she makes at her job, much of the housing in the areas
she needs to be looking in is still more than she can afford. Due to this
dearth of affordable housing, she is feeling a growing apprehension that
in spite of her voucher she may not be able to find suitable housing for
her family.
With the help of the
staff of the Community Housing Center, Ms. L. is continuing her search.
But many of the difficulties she is experiencing in her declining
inner-city neighborhood and the obstacles in finding an acceptable place
to use her voucher are attributable to the impact of urban sprawl. |
