Affordable housing key to Dayton’s long-term future
“You and a friend are having a picnic by the side of a river. Suddenly you hear a shout from the direction of the water — a child is drowning. You both dive in, grab the child, and swim to shore. Then you hear another child cry for help. You both jump back in the river to rescue her as well. Then another struggling child … and another … and another. The two of you can barely keep up.
Suddenly, you see your friend wading out of the water, seeming to leave you alone. “Where are you going?” you ask. Your friend answers, “I’m going upstream to tackle the guy who’s throwing all these kids in the water.”
This is a public health parable, adapted from the original commonly attributed to Irving Zola.
In Connections, the quarterly newsletter published by the city of Dayton, city leadership said, “When we learned we would be receiving $138 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, city leadership began working on a framework that aims to disrupt multi-generational poverty and health disparities in our city.”
On June 2, the Dayton City Commission adopted a resolution to invest proceeds from the American Rescue Plan Act into six areas, and found that housing was a high or moderate priority of 76% of residents who responded to a poll. However, the city moved to allocate only 5% of the $138 million in ARPA funds to housing.
Our fellow citizens and elected officials in Louisville, Ky., get it. The city of Louisville Metro Council’s budget committee is considering spending $80 million of its $263 million ARPA funds on affordable housing and homeowner programs.
The plan calls for $40 million to go to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund — 30% of its ARPA money — to build homes and apartments, with $32 million to build permanent housing for homeless citizens, and $4 million for down payment assistance.
Dayton officials need to follow the Louisville’s lead. The allocated $7 million of the $138 million available represents an investment of 5% of the city’s ARPA funding.
This takes us back to the fable about “upstream effects.” We have two cities, one that considers its upstream efforts with housing as an investment that compounds over time, versus a city whose efforts reflect a shortsighted focus.
Homeowners tend to buy more local goods and servies, bolstering the economy. And research shows that housing provides many social benefits, including increased volunteerism, improved health and less crime.
An analysis by the National Association of Home Builders shows that building 100 single-family homes typically adds $28.7 million to local income, provides $3.6 million in taxes and other revenue for local governments, and creates 394 local jobs.
Teachers, firefighters, policemen and many others who are the backbone of our communities are finding it increasingly difficult to live in the cities and towns where they work.
We must do better, and demand better, and the Home Builders Association of Dayton and our members are committed to being a part of the solution.