Mayors across the country are making headlines with their efforts to bolster affordable housing in their cities. Among them are newly elected Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who plans to introduce a $1 billion affordable housing plan to provide more access for housing; Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser, whose administration has sparked the creation or preservation of more than 9,600 affordable units; and Oakland, Calif., mayor Libby Schaaf, who recently announced new financial incentives to ease the city’s housing crisis.
In fact, mayors in cities large and small list housing affordability and availability as one of their top concerns, according to the 2017 Menino Survey of Mayors released Tuesday by the Boston University Initiative on Cities.
The nationally representative survey, named in honor of late Boston mayor Thomas Menino and supported by Citi Community Development and The Rockefeller Foundation, focuses on the ways mayors are tackling urban issues, from housing to climate change. Throughout summer 2017, 115 mayors from 39 states were interviewed, providing a sample of mayors and cities nationwide.
Over half of the mayors interviewed cited housing costs as one of the main reasons their constituents move, outpacing other key issues like schools, public safety, and jobs. The majority of mayors also said they see room for improvement in their housing stock, with only 13% saying their available stock meets residents’ needs “very well” or “extremely well.”
While housing stock is a nationwide issue, it is more pronounced on the West Coast, with 45% of the mayors reporting that the available stock meets residents’ needs “slightly well” or “not well at all.”
“Over the years, the city has done well with jobs, not enough with housing,” said one mayor of a midsize Western city. “We have quantity issues everywhere.”
The mayors’ responses differed when it came to how they would like to see housing change in their cities. Two areas cited as priorities for at least 20% of mayors in each of the four regions include increasing homeownership rates and increasing the availability of affordable multibedroom units. In addition, 40% of mayors in the Midwest and the Northeast prioritized modernizing and replacing older housing stock.
Dwindling state and federal funds tops the mayors’ list of obstacles preventing the improvement of housing access. In addition, mayors cited getting bank financing as a top barrier for middle-class families and residents of colors.
