Out of Reach
By Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston
President, The United States Conference of MayorsAmerica’s housing industry is strong, but our commitment to housing for all remains weak. While our housing market has bolstered a sagging national economy, too many American families are falling behind in their ability to find safe, decent and affordable housing.
As the Mayor of Boston, I hear the stories every day. Stories of working families whose rents have been doubled by their landlords for no other reason than greed. Stories of people who work in the service economy by day and sleep in a shelter at night. And stories of senior citizens fearful that their government assisted housing will be sold and their homes with it.
People have said to me, “Well, that’s Boston. Your regional housing costs are higher considering the students, the high quality of life and your strong economy.” But that’s not the whole story. If it were, I wouldn’t be getting letters from mayors from all over the country – Democrats and Republicans – offering to participate in a national campaign to put housing back on Washington’s agenda.
I have made housing my number one priority as the President of the United States Conference of Mayors. We have endorsed a range of housing initiatives, from the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign, led by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, to President Bush’s homeownership tax credit. We will push for more employer-assisted housing and we will advocate for amending the Low Income Housing Tax Credit to produce a real income mix in pending developments.
But the data contained in Out of Reach tell us that we must do even more. As housing prices continue to rise and incomes stagnate, the gap between the minimum wage and shelter costs continues to grow – nearly five percent between 2001 and 2002. Despite the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit nationally and the growing number of “living wage” campaigns locally, this year’s research shows that the poor are getting poorer relative to the cost of decent housing. To counter this trend we need better education, better job training, and more affordable health care and child care to raise more families out of poverty.
Solving our national housing crisis involves everyone. It’s not just the mayors of our cities; it’s also the selectmen and councilors in our smaller towns. It’s not just HUD’s programs; it’s also Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac redefining their roles to stimulate more affordable housing production. And it’s not just the great work of CDCs; it’s also finding new means for the private sector to build more reasonably priced housing.
Once again, the National Low Income Housing Coalition has issued a report that is a call to conscience for all Americans. My fellow mayors and I pledge to work with NLIHC to raise the housing issue all across America, attract new partners to our cause and secure the policies and resources needed to put housing back within reach of millions of needy Americans.
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