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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Affordable Housing – Colorado, Texas

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  • Report: Low-income Coloradans priced out of rentals, By Howard Pankratz, April 23, 2012, Denver Post: “People with the lowest incomes in Colorado are being priced out of rental properties, a report issued Monday by the Colorado Division of Housing said. ‘Rental housing in general since 2009 has become more scarce for many households as vacancies fall and rents rise,’ said Ryan McMaken, a spokesman for the Colorado Division of Housing. ‘But when one is at the lowest income levels, the impact of the growing demand for rentals can be especially severe as once-affordable units are priced out of range.’ The report said that among households with the lowest incomes, there are twice as many households as there are affordable rentals units in Colorado…”
  • Affordable housing fenced into poor areas, By Karisa King and Ryan Murphy, April 23, 2012, San Antonio Express-News: “Plans to build an affordable apartment complex for seniors in one of San Antonio’s most fashionable neighborhoods had been posted for barely a week in January when the fury hit. Residents feared the 68 apartments, which were competing for funding with federal tax credits, would spoil the affluent Stone Oak neighborhood. In a storm of emails, calls and letters to local and state officials, they predicted bitter results: damaged property values, more traffic and an increase in crime. ‘It just didn’t fit with us,’ said Francisco Martinez, president of the Mount Arrowhead Homeowners Association, one of about a dozen groups that opposed the apartments. ‘These are single-family homes. Anything that takes away from that takes away from why we bought into it.’ By March, the neighbors had prevailed. The project and any chance of public funding this year were dead. In Texas, where tax-credit proposals often need community support to survive, the project’s demise illustrates how the largest national program to create affordable housing pushes low-income developments away from desirable neighborhoods…”