Housing Initiatives of Princeton Hears a Call: 'Reimagine the Public Role in the Housing Market'

Princeton, NJ -- The weather outside the Princeton home of Tibbie and Greg Samios on a recent Sunday afternoon was gray and dreary. Inside their home was a different story. The atmosphere was sunny, upbeat, with the spring benefit Garden Party for Housing Initiatives of Princeton (HIP) in full swing with a sold-out crowd of nearly 90 guests.  The drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and jazz trio contributed to animated conversation among attendees, all passionately committed to eliminating housing insecurity for residents in the Princeton-Trenton area.

Princeton University Assistant Professor of Sociology John Robinson III, the guest speaker, provided the food for thought at the fundraiser. His menu featured three items: the enormous affordable housing crisis in America; public housing’s role in that crisis; and society's responsibility (individuals, nonprofits, for profits, government organizations) to care about the welfare of others and work together to create urgently needed accessible and affordable housing.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

HIP Board Chair Tom Pinneo added a little spice to the occasion with the following question:

“Has anyone in this room ever lived in public housing?” asked Tom.

No one in the crowd of affordable housing advocates responded in the affirmative. Tom then noted that even though no one could claim to have lived in a public housing projects, most at the event have lived in publicly supported housing, either through a federal home mortgage or through mortgage interest income tax deductions.

John Robinson, 40 years old, who lives with his wife and three-and-a-half-year-old son in Princeton, never has lived in a public housing project. But he has had extensive experience with public housing – academically and personally.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPINTO APP FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS. AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE STORE AND THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE .

He is a sociologist (doctorate in sociology from Northwestern University, master’s from George Mason University, bachelor’s from Hampton University), whose research examines how inequality shapes access to housing, money, public aid and assistance, and other basic life necessities. His talk at the HIP reception was adapted from the book he currently is writing, “Banking on Dystopia: How Affordable Housing Became the Investor's Dream and the Renter’s Nightmare.” In the book, John explores the roots of today's affordable housing crisis – “a crisis that has been raging for decades, getting worse over time,” he says.

His brief talk whetted my appetite and made me crave a full meal of his wisdom on these topics.

Q: What inspired you personally to pursue a career focused on strategies to help others?

A: “I can’t help but to think back to my own upbringing. My father was and still is a Baptist minister and pastor of a local church in the Washington, DC area. You may or may not know this term, but they call us ‘PKs’--short for preacher's kids.

“Anyway, one thing that I learned growing up as a PK is that being a pastor is not about preaching. Most people think that’s all pastors do -- preach. But being a pastor is fundamentally about something else. It's about taking care of a congregation of people -- folks who may be dealing with anything from addiction to domestic violence, chronic health troubles, grief over the passing of a loved one, or anything else under the sun, folks who may not have friends or family.

“So that kind of service to a larger ‘us’ was a big part of my childhood. And it's a theme that I want to hold up -- a theme that was reinforced by my mother. My mom went to Allegheny Community College. She was a sociology major. She started out in psychology and then switched over to sociology. Her approach to life’s problems had a real impact on me.

“A particularly life-changing event for me was Hurricane Katrina, which occurred when I was an undergraduate at Hampton University. My desire to help others during this humanitarian crisis took hold and never left me. I led one of the groups of college kids who gave up spring break partying to go to New Orleans to help the residents.”

Q: What made you choose affordable housing as your academic focus within the field of sociology?

A: “Raised on the border of Southeast Washington, D.C., in Prince George's County, Maryland, my two siblings and I (plus my two adopted siblings – in fact, my cousins who were raised by my parents) remember having conversations about housing projects in Washington from the time we were little. My parents, both still alive, could have responded ‘yes’ to Tom Pinneo’s question. They each grew up in public housing projects -- and had very different public housing experiences.

“Public housing was at the center of my parents’ lives, and it became the center of family conversations, particularly around the time when Washington, D.C., was tearing down its public housing. My father had a mostly negative opinion about public housing and considered it a necessary but undesirable transition to a better life, as symbolized by moving into a row house -- which is what happened when his mom moved into a row house on Alabama Avenue. My mom, on the other hand, talks about public housing in glowing terms. She lived in a D.C. project called the Hill, and she loved the community and the support and companionship it provided.”

Q: Public housing projects suffer from a negative stereotype (large, crime infested, poorly maintained projects) in America. What is your opinion about the value of public housing?

A: “I always say -- and it is only a slight exaggeration -- that we've never really tried public housing in the United States. Compared to other Western nations, the U.S. only ever produced very little of it. And we poorly funded even that small amount of public housing that we built, which meant that many properties fell into bad shape. And then we demolished a significant share of that already-small number of properties because they had fallen into bad shape. Even despite all of that, and despite popular belief, most public housing properties were an excellent source of affordable housing -- safe and well-maintained.

“We need to give public housing a real, solid try. Public housing means public-led development and ownership of real estate. It does not have to look exactly like we did it before. And if we give it a real, solid try this time, my guess is that it won't look much like it did before.

“Additionally, I think we also need to reimagine public housing (or as I would put it, reimagine the public role in the housing market). Smart voices have proposed things like:

“public banks to help us to better manage money in the public good to fund things like affordable housing;

“a renter's tax credit that would help get renters on better financial footing;

“expansion of things like community land trusts to preserve affordability of land over the long term;

“expansion of regulations like rent control and zoning reform to stem runaway inflation and open more areas to affordable housing development.

“All of the above involve a modest or strong public/government role in the housing market, all are options we need to consider to fix the affordable housing crisis, and none would likely work without a stronger commitment to providing support for renters (a 2017 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that the U.S. spends over $130 billion on support for homeowners — most of that captured by the richest households -- but only a little over $50 billion on support for renters).”

Q : In your talk at the HIP fundraiser, you talked considerably about the role of community non-profits and community volunteers as being a pivotal and inspirational force in achieving changes in society that truly benefit others. Can you expound on that?

A : “What we see in the history I've touched on today is that nonprofits -- the folks who have stepped up to take care of that larger ‘us’ -- have been some of our biggest innovators. HIP, for example, is a superb example of what can be accomplished by a nonprofit fueled by volunteers. Nonprofits have:

“tackled some of our most challenging problems;

“worked up some our most creative solutions;

“shown us that mutual aid and care--the simple commitment to looking out for one another--is really a force of imagination and ingenuity.

“And yet, despite this profound impact, the reality is that the homes produced by community-based nonprofits are sadly just a drop in the water.”

Q: How would you describe the current state of affordable housing in this country today?

A: “America's housing woes are enormous. Just recently, the New York Times reported that the average renter is now cost-burdened, which means they must pay too much of their income on rent.

“When renters are cost-burdened, it means they often must make tough tradeoffs that no individual or family should have to make between affording a place to live versus paying for groceries, medicine, daycare, transportation to work or other necessities.

“And remember that's the average renter. Things are exponentially worse for lower-income renters, who face a far more severe shortage of decent, affordable homes.

“In summary, when ‘affordable housing’ comes up, people understandably roll their eyes. The term feels empty. The housing often isn’t very affordable. And there isn’t nearly enough of it to go around.

“’Banking on Dystopia’ details the invention of ‘affordable housing’ as we know it. At the heart of this tale lies a paradox. On the one hand, since the 1970s, lower-income renters have faced a housing crisis that has grown only more dire over time.

“On the other hand, big banks and corporations today are investing in affordable rental housing like never before. Bank of America, for example, boasts of funding more than 270,000 affordable rental homes since 2005. For corporate leaders and politicians, this affordable housing finance industry counts as one of American capitalism’s big success stories. ‘Banking on Dystopia’ explains how these jarring realities fit together.

“The book connects the tiniest details to the big picture. It unearths the rich stories of specific housing projects through the years. It follows a lively cast of changemakers as they confront dilemmas and take actions that shape the future of housing policy, often in unexpected and unintended ways.

“It chronicles how American capitalism has failed renters through the ages. And that history, the book shows, has led us to a harrowing moment. Today, high-end tax accountants, investment firms, and commercial banks have taken over affordable housing. The public sector has faded away. As a result, corporate investors hold great power to dictate renters’ struggles finding a home— and with that, their very survival.”

Editor’s note: HIP’s mission statement: Assist local individuals and families experiencing housing insecurity build toward a sustainable future via stable housing, better employment, and a network of support services.

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net