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Abstract
This article examines how local public administrators, nonprofit providers, and elected officials in the suburbs of Erie County, NY perceive impediments to fair housing. This article is based on research conducted from 2007–2008 for the Analysis of Impediments for Fair Housing Choice in Erie County, NY. The research involved an examination of trends related to fair housing and housing discrimination complaints between 2000 and 2006. It also involved a series of focus group interviews with local public administrators, nonprofit providers, and elected officials. The results from this research indicate that key stakeholders emphasize specific issues and groups when discussing impediments to fair housing. These predispositions result in uneven policy implementation. In particular, there is a tendency to emphasize impediments encountered by the elderly while paying less attention to those impacting minorities, families, the disabled, and the poor. The article concludes with our recommendations to promote a more balanced approach to fair housing in suburban communities.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Scott Gehl and Kenneth Gholston from Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) for their assistance in collecting discrimination complaint data, and Jennifer Willett, Nathan Drag, and Mousumi Yerawar for assisting with focus group administration, GIS mapping, and other data collection. We also thank Barbara Rittner and Adjoa Robinson for their invaluable comments. Finally, we thank Casey Dawkins, Katrin Anacker, and the two anonymous reviewers from Housing Policy Debate for their comments on earlier versions of this article.
Notes
1One method commonly used to measure segregation is the calculation of a white/black dissimilarity index. This index identifies the percent of blacks who would have to relocate in order to produce a completely integrated community. Hyper-segregation is suspected when the white/black dissimilarity index is well above a value of 0.70 and minorities remain concentrated in a core city area that has experienced general population decline for several decades. Among other mechanisms, the presence of various forms of housing discrimination across a metropolitan area is considered to be a contributor to sustained hyper-segregation over a period of decades. Although other factors exist that contribute to a metropolitan area's hyper-segregation, such as population decline and economic stagnation, the fact that an area is hyper-segregated signals a need for increased efforts to promote residential mobility among minority residents.
2In paired testing, minority and white individuals with equivalent income and employment profiles attempt to rent or purchase housing units. The results of testers' experiences in a housing market are compared in order to identify instances of differential treatment.
3We were hired to conduct this research by the Erie County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Consortium and the towns of Amherst, Cheektowaga, and Tonawanda. The research was mandated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) since the communities studied were recipients of CDBG funds.
4The fair housing complaints identified in this research were reported to a single agency. The vast majority of complaints were determined to have merit by the receiving agencies. For example, between 1996 and 2005 there were 2,395 incidents of discrimination reported to HOME in its multi-county service area and 83.6 percent of those complaints were judged to have merit.
5Cases filed for legal action represent a subset of complaints that were judged to have merit and not conciliated outside of the courts.
6Focus groups were selected as a data collection technique for a number of reasons. The research was initially part of an applied project and we were interested in understanding the perceptions of stakeholders in order to develop recommendations that would influence the implementation of fair housing policy. We also decided to hold focus groups in collaboration with our nonprofit research partners and housing administrators from Erie County and the local municipalities that commissioned the study. This decision was influenced by past practices adopted by our partners as well as time and resource constraints that the applied project entailed.
7The Center for Urban Studies at the University at Buffalo works with residents and stakeholders in inner city communities to promote neighborhood revitalization and improve race relations in metropolitan regions. The Buffalo-Niagara metropolitan region serves as the center's laboratory where faculty and community partners conduct theoretical and applied research aimed at transforming distressed inner-city communities and the larger urban metropolis.
8The elected officials who participated in the focus groups were drawn from a list of mayors of cities and towns in Erie County and supervisors of villages. In New York State the highest ranking elected official of a city or village is the Mayor, while the highest ranking elected official of a town is the Supervisor.
9During the course of this applied research project regular meetings took place between us, our nonprofit partners, and the project sponsors. These meetings were intended to review the progress of research for the project and allow for feedback on preliminary findings. To supplement these meetings, written correspondences were exchanged in hard copy and electronic mail format between us, our nonprofit partners, and the project sponsors. Housing administrators from Erie County and the three towns that co-sponsored the project also responded to question by telephone, and provided data and other materials.
10In Erie County, only two outer-ring suburbs had black populations exceeding 3.7 percent, the Town of Alden (6.8 percent) and the Town of Collins (22.4 percent). This anomaly was the result of a noticeable number of blacks in the institutionalized populations in these towns. The Buffalo Correctional Facility and the Wende Correctional Facility are located in the Town of Alden. The Gowanda Correctional Facility and the Collins Correctional Facility are located in the Town of Collins.
11The findings from the focus groups related to transit-oriented impediments were echoed in a 2006 study conducted by the Homeless Alliance of Western New York. This study, entitled Left Behind: How Difficulties with Transportation are a Roadblock to Self-Sufficiency, describes how inadequate public transportation impeded employment and housing searches for the homeless and working poor in Erie County. This issue was particularly problematic for individuals in the City of Buffalo who tried to access jobs, housing, and other services in the suburbs.
12The “face of affordable housing” concept discussed by focus group members is similar to the concept of “workforce housing.” In some places workforce housing is promoted as an approach to public policy that focuses on providing affordable homeownership to critical members of the workforce like teachers, nurses, fire fighters, and police officers. This approach is criticized for narrowly targeting the lower-middle class while neglecting to address the housing needs of the poor and working poor. Although there are similarities between the two concepts, focus group participants did not adopt the workforce housing terminology in their discussions and seemed to be unaware of its existence.
13Mobility counseling is offered to Section 8 recipients in Erie County through HOME. However, participation in the mobility counseling program is not required. Due to the voluntary nature of the program, it only reaches a fraction of voucher recipients.