Addressing our affordability crisis for residents struggling in different ways
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By Stephanie Hirsch
Alderman at Large

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Last year, I had the unique opportunity to knock on about 13,000 doors and to ask people about their hopes for Somerville. People told me funny stories, showed me pictures of their kids, and talked about national politics. Common across households, though, was one point. A majority of people — of all ages, stages, and situations — said they struggle with housing affordability.

The weight of those stories rests on my mind in sleepless nights and tough calls on Board of Aldermen (BOA) votes. Sitting around the BOA horseshoe, I know my colleagues have in mind their own compilation of stories they’ve heard as we wrestle with doing what’s right. We don’t want to leave anyone behind, or have any need go unmet. We know we must act, but there is no silver bullet to address the affordability problem. Every option is a hard one.

Here are some of the stories I’ve heard plus data that tells the same story in a different way. I hope this will help frame the hard discussions. (Note that the datasets aren’t perfect and require making some assumptions.) Stay tuned for part two of this column in coming weeks, in which I’ll share what I think we should do to address the needs.

Different Types of Landlords:  There are different kinds of landlords in Somerville, and here are two I met when door knocking.

• Joseph: One evening, I walked down a small street near the Capuano School. Two men in their early 80s sat on a terrace, enjoying the dusk and a conversation. The first man, Joseph, said, “I’ve lived here for 50 years, and this is Antonio. He has been my tenant for 35 years.”
• Investor Landlord: On another day, on another block across town, I approached a triple-decker. I could tell from the voter file that long-time residents lived here, most likely an extended family. A young man stood on the porch, and I asked if he was part of the family. He said, “No, I just purchased this building as an investment property. I live in Lexington.” As I moved down the street, I watched as he met young, prospective tenants.

These are two different types of landlords. Joseph rents to one of his oldest friends. Joseph likely does not raise the rent much each year, and would probably be heartbroken to displace his tenant. His property is a home, and not a business. The second, the investor-landlord from Lexington, probably hopes to make as much money as possible from the property, and has no ties to his new tenants. The property is his business, not a home.

As we think about the tools to address housing affordability, how do we help people like Joseph and his tenant? And at the same time, how do we get more from people like the Lexington investor?

Different Types of Affordability Struggles: Just as there are different landlords, there are different types of affordability struggles. Here are some patterns:

• Senior homeowners: Seniors are more likely to own a home than other age groups (About 52% of people ages 60+ own vs. about 1% of people under 30). They more likely to have lower earning potential (27% of people 65+ have bachelor’s degrees vs. 77% of people ages 25-34). Even seniors who own may face hardship with rising city taxes, utilities, and fees.
• Young renters: In contrast, very few younger residents own. Most have higher earning potential, but few will be able to afford to buy here.
• Middle class and middle age: There are adults in between – in age and income. Adults who bought after average home prices topped $500K may struggle to pay their mortgage while also paying for childcare, student loans, and college tuitions.
• The sweet spot: Some households make $300K or more per year, and some bought while properties were affordable but also have higher income. They are the lucky ones.
• On the edge: In contrast, many households neither own nor make enough to live. About 11,000 people live below the poverty level. Many are seniors or families with children. These households are the most vulnerable of all.

How do we help residents who have different challenges and resources? Should any one group subsidize another?

Our Community Values: Across groups and ages, Somerville has said it values community and diversity. Many residents love it that people of different backgrounds share our blocks. We live shoulder-to-shoulder, close enough to hear our neighbors’ dinnertime conversations. We are a city of people-watchers and stoop-sitters. As I was knocking on doors, residents often worried out loud about declining neighborhood ties. Seniors, in particular, said they missed days when they knew their neighbors and kids played next-door.

Can our policies put our community values into action?

What Policy Should Do: The tools we elected officials at the state and local levels have are, at best, imperfect. However, as best we can, our approach should achieve these goals:

• Support owner-occupied landlords: Many landlords like Joseph have been providing a stable home to residents for decades. As Ward 4 Alderman Jesse Clingan said in a recent meeting, “I am only able to live in Somerville because my landlady makes it possible by keeping the rent at an affordable rate for my family.” About 23% of adults rent in a home where the landlord also lives. Many of these landlords fix the faucets, hold the line on rent increases, and stop by to visit. We need to support these housing heroes.
• Help extended families continue to live together: About 26% of the adults living with an owner-occupant are family members of the owner. We should support those families. Perhaps they want to transfer ownership between generations or undertake a renovation to make living together better or easier.
• Help owners tap into value: While today’s young people may be more accustomed to carrying debt, many older owners worry about tapping into the value of their homes, especially when they may not have a great retirement plan. We should help owners lessen their household costs, while ensuring that their home asset is protected.
• Protect and enlarge the middle: To qualify for a housing subsidy, a family can make no more than approximately $110,000 per year, and very few subsidies exist for households in that range. However, to purchase the average home, a household must make at least $170-$210,000 per year. That means, there are many people in the middle who will not find a place to buy in Somerville. That middle matters – they are more likely to send kids to public schools and can be the glue that connect all groups. In particular, our municipal employees, including teachers, custodians, and police officers, are a group of people in the middle who are invested in the city and who can add so much to our community.
• Incentivize what we need: The investor/developers who purchase or manage properties – especially those who do not live in the city — should be treated differently than owner occupants. About half of adults – 53% — live in housing where the landlord lives elsewhere or is a corporation. More of our housing should be owned by people in Somerville.
• Support the most vulnerable, including children and seniors: While we want to help everyone who struggles, some people are extremely vulnerable. Seniors with low income and no assets are one group, and children are another. Children are almost twice as likely to be living in poverty, and families face extra challenges with finding housing. Moving across a municipal boundary means changing a child’s whole world. School is where they spend their day, chart their future, and meet their entire social network.

Though we have only blunt tools to implement goals like these, we can use a combination of tools to do our best to tackle this impossible problem. In the second installment of this column, I will share how I think our policies and laws could help support these goals. In the meantime, what do you think? Do you agree with the goals?

About the Data Sources and About Stephanie: Stephanie Hirsch is one of our new Aldermen at Large. To learn more about the data shared in this column and assumptions made and about Stephanie, visit http://www.somervilletogether.com/data, or contact Stephanie via: https://www.facebook.com/stephanie.hirsch.12, stephanie@stephaniehirsch.org, or 617-512-4847.