Editor’s note: This commentary is by Charles Winkleman, the chair of the Burlington Progressive Party and an early childhood educator who has worked to help families access housing resources.
[L]et’s sum up what we already know: Burlington lacks sufficient affordable/low-income housing, and if current trends hold, the problem isn’t going away anytime soon. The city’s 2014 Downtown Housing Report states that Burlington renters spend an average of 44 percent of their income on housing, a percent far outstripping the conventional affordable benchmark of 30 percent. While steps have recently been taken to assess and eventually address Burlington’s affordable housing needs, I write seeking concrete answers from the mayor and City Hall: when, and, more importantly, how?
The Housing Action Plan, Burlington housing action plan championed by the mayor and approved by the City Council in October, relies on trickle-down housing economics, which suggest that if enough market-rate housing units are built, wealthier citizens will vacate the cheaper, more affordable properties, which would in turn lead to more of the affordable housing units becoming available on the market. This is in line with a 2012 Chittenden County housing report by Allen and Brooks, which found if enough new units were built at market rate, rental prices in Burlington would stabilize over the next few years, leading to the eventual curbing of average annual 3 percent inflation. However, this plan fails to address the needs of Burlington’s most impoverished residents, as even if rental prices stabilize around this new standard, this plan simply won’t alleviate the already too-high cost of living in Burlington.
While additional mixed-income housing is needed at all income levels, it would be reassuring to low-income families to know that their specific needs will be addressed as well, and that policy won’t simply have them wait for the scraps as Burlington’s wealthier citizens move into bigger and better apartments.
The Housing Action Plan defines affordable housing as “housing built with subsidy and generally intended to help those at or below 80 percent of average [sic] median income (AMI),” which in Burlington happens to be approximately $65,000 for a family of four, many times over the annual income of those working service sector jobs, and to say nothing of those working jobs for minimum wage. The plan even calls for “… Burlington to re-dedicate itself to addressing its housing affordability challenge by expanding the resources dedicated to low- and moderate-income residents,” but fails to provide concrete timetables for development, and falls especially short in that it lacks specific affordability benchmarks to meet the needs of families with different income distributions, say at 60 percent AMI or 40 percent or 20 percent.
Simply put, there’s no guarantee that individuals and families at the lowest income levels will see positive change. While additional mixed-income housing is needed at all income levels, it would be reassuring to low-income families to know that their specific needs will be addressed as well, and that policy won’t simply have them wait for the scraps as Burlington’s wealthier citizens move into bigger and better apartments. This is particularly vexing since in Burlington’s recent past, bottom-up progressive policies were so successful; when Bernie left the mayor’s office in 1989, rental vacancies reached an historic 5 percent, which was accomplished by the city hall’s push to build affordable housing across Burlington.
As an early childhood educator working in a Head Start classroom, I’ve spoken with many low-income parents who are concerned about a lack of affordable housing, and who worry that the city doesn’t have a concrete plan for how to provide said housing. Mayor Weinberger was elected in 2012 in part because of his reputation as an affordable housing developer, and I look forward to him continuing to put his skills to work for the city. I once again call upon the mayor, City Hall and City Council to help allay the fears of low-income families by outlining concrete measures and timetables that will ensure that all residents — not just some — have access to affordable housing.
