|
Sprawl: Columbus Tries to get Its Urban Groove Back
After years of decline due to disinvestment and poorly planned sprawling development, Columbus is undergoing a revival, with efforts underway to revitalize the community and create a city of vibrant, thriving, diverse neighborhoods. This reinvigoration could make Columbus a leader in the kind of development that is good not only for the region, but for the environment. However, a major obstacle to revitalizing the urban core is the city's lack of affordable housing. Pastor Victor Davis of Trinity Baptist Church on Columbus' near east side knows the challenge from first-hand experience. Davis's church tries to assist people in meeting their most basic needs, but the job is growing ever more challenging as needs outpace resources. Making matters worse, the Bush administration has repeatedly put essential affordable housing programs on the budget chopping block. "Because of the Bush administration's funding cuts over the past two or three years, we've had to double our rental assistance," explains Pastor Davis.
Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) was awarded $42 million from HOPE VI in the mid-1990s. According to Stephen Havens, the Director of Business for CMHA, the HOPE VI program has been a great success in Columbus. "It's an important program," he says, "because it is the only program meant to revitalize public housing." Since the mid-1990s, however, CMHA has applied for two grants and has been turned down both times. They do not plan on applying for any more grants because they know that the money just is not there. There is currently a bona fide affordable housing crisis in Franklin County.1 More than one in three rental households was cost-burdened in 1999, with housing costs taking up more than thirty percent of total household income. A worker earning the minimum wage in Franklin County must work 92 hours per week in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment listed at "Fair Market Rent." Nearly one in four homeowners was cost-burdened as well. Affordable housing helps rebuild communities and reduces the pressure to sprawl into farms, wetlands, and open space. Poorly planned sprawl development results in more driving, traffic congestion, and air pollution. Urban neighborhoods like those in Columbus help to combat sprawl because they were designed for pedestrian use, so residents don't have to rely solely on cars to get to jobs or shopping. Sprawl also has the unfortunate effect of concentrating poverty in Columbus' established urban neighborhoods, as people who can afford to do so move out of the downtown area into the suburbs. Racial minorities in Franklin County are disproportionately affected by poverty; although African-Americans comprised 17.9 percent of the Franklin County population in 2000, 22.9 percent had incomes below the poverty level, compared to 8.2 percent for non-minorities.2 By cutting programs like HOPE VI and Community Block Development Grants which fund housing projects and economic development, the Bush administration's policies make our dream of a renewed Columbus much more difficult to achieve. "In this neighborhood, most of the properties are over 50 years old," explains Pastor Davis. "Most of the landlords are absentee landlords. You're talking about dilapidated housing, bricks falling off houses, alleys full of trash." With ever-increasing need and decreasing federal funds thanks to Bush administration policies, Davis and others in his ministry are facing challenges trying to meet the needs of their communities. For more information contact:
Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
||||||||||||||
