How Would You Create More Affordable Housing in New York?
November 6th, 2008, 8:42 am
At the first annual Jane Jacobs Forum last night, an expert panel considered how to house a million more New Yorkers over the next twenty years, and how to do this while retaining neighborhood character and diversity. Panelists also suggested ways of making housing affordable in an increasingly land-poor city, and described the kind of changes in city infrastructure they think are necessary to accommodate all these new New Yorkers.
Panelist Jerilyn Perrine, director, Citizens Housing and Planning Council, said (jokingly) that she would like to see Staten Island swapped for portions of New Jersey that are well-connected to regional mass transit, and (seriously) the extension of the 7 train in both Manhattan and, more importantly, in eastern Queens where affordable housing could be built to serve growing immigrant communities.
But, what would you do to make housing affordable? What improvements to the city’s infrastructure do you think the city and federal governments should focus on? Tell us.
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Previous Questions & Feedback
Comment from Lauren Comunale
I am recent college grad with a background in finance. I am interested in working in the real estate development industry for similar reasons that community planners work in their field. I have only attended two MAS events thus far, but I much more thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s panel discussion for its insight and thought provoking dialogue.
In hindsight, I do not recall any discussion of what role major real estate developers play in community planning, as I am sure it is largely negative, and how community planners coexist with developers. Ideally I would like to find a job that fairly links the two as a means to sustain affordable housing and community culture.
Comment from Tracey Mantrone
The way to make housing affordable is to commit to accepting New York’s diversity of all kinds. What struck me about the panel discussion was the willingness of some panel members to see people with lower incomes be moved out of the five boroughs to cheaper housing in the NY Metro area. This displacement will not only create sterile neighborhoods within the 5 boroughs but lead to an enormous amount of resentment. Not everyone can make a lot of money and lack of a high income should not doom someone to a four-hour round trip commute each day from New Jersey.
In addition, the city’s infrastructure is already overburdened. If you live in an outer borough, you are condemned to constantly flooding sewers due to overbuilding and subway trains packed like cattle cars for the entire hour-long commute into Manhattan. Build a new subway line in Queens – don’t just extend the 7 line. Improve the sewer system, which is flooding the subways lines in the rain.
Comment from Holly Kallman
Really this is from Lance Jay Brown, my Professor and now beloved colleague since I graduated from CCNY.
Move the UN to Governor’s Island, freeing up thousands of apartments in prime midtown east. The glut of apartments will bring prices down!
Comment from Sverde
After mortgage and real estate taxes, fuel and energy can be some of a residential property owner’s highest expenses. I think reducing these costs would go a long way to making housing more affordable, and without necessarily having to resort to new construction, at least in the short term.
Therefore, I think major incentives in the forms of either tax deductions, rebate or simply lower rates should be extended to those residential property owners, who are using or will commit to convert to renewable energy sources for electricity and heating fuel needs. Additionally a tax for those using fossil fuels should begin to be phased in as a means of subsidizing the incentives and expansion of the renewable energy infrastructure.
Comment from Luis Benzant
I think the federal government sould give more tax credits to these builders who want to keep their properies within the section 8 programs.
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