In suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, homeowners are losing the battle to keep affordable housing our of their neighborhoods. This Pioneer Press article includes a video that nicely shows both sides of the issue.
"Greg Bogut lives in a $575,000 home. He can afford it. To him, that makes it affordable housing.
What bothers him is affordable housing that people can't afford without a government subsidy - such as the town homes he can see from his front porch. The affordable complex has slashed the value of his Woodbury house, he says.
"If I had known then what I know now," Bogut said, "I wouldn't have moved here."
He would have had many alternatives. While Woodbury embraces affordable housing - government-subsidized or not - dozens of Twin Cities suburbs don't. Traditionally, homeowners like Bogut have made the suburbs hostile territory for affordable housing. The lack of affordability is written into building codes, integrated into local regulations and woven into suburban culture.
But the anti-affordable way of life is under attack."
FULL STORY: Affordability is tough sell in suburbia
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research