Even 'Best Places' Have Housing Needs

By Karen Free

In late 1999, Money magazine published its picks for the "Best Places to Live 2000." It sorted through U.S. Census and demographic data of the 300 largest metropolitan areas, and focused on economy, education, culture, recreation, as well as street, air and drinking water safety issues, to come up with the following results:

Best big cities to live in: San Francisco, Calif. Austin, Texas New York City, N.Y.

Best small towns to live in: Rochester, Minn. Boulder, Colo. Columbia, Mo.

Despite giving a "Best Places" designation to the cities, the magazine acknowledged that lack of affordable housing was also a real issue for most.

To learn more about the particulars of each city or town, check out the November 1999 issue from your local library, or visit Money magazine's Web site at www.money.com.

To learn what Habitat's affiliates are doing to meet the housing needs in each of these "Best Places," read on.


Best Big City:
San Francisco, Calif.
Since November 1992, San Francisco HFH has been a quiet presence in this huge city, renovating one house and building nine new ones.

The greatest challenge it faces -- not surprisingly -- is finding affordable land it can purchase. Once land is secured, San Francisco HFH begins accepting applications. In just the past two years, it has fielded more than 1,000 requests for housing.

Other challenges include a lack of wholesale providers of construction materials in the area, and earthquake-resistant regulations that require the pouring of 30-foot-deep pilings, both of which add considerably to the construction costs of a Habitat house here.

Among San Francisco HFH's "wish list" items: a need for skilled volunteers, construction materials and land. If you can help in these areas, call San Francisco HFH at (415) 750-4780.


Big City Runner-Up:
Austin, Texas
Austin HFH has been at work for the past 15 years, having built 90 houses. Its building goal for this year: 18 houses. According to Austin HFH executive director Caroline Larson, hundreds of people interested in becoming Habitat homeowners attend quarterly information meetings, which are conducted in both English and Spanish.

She says the greatest challenges Austin HFH faces are meeting the city planning and zoning regulations.

On the affiliate's "wish list": new telephone and computer systems, and increased office space. If you can help, contact Austin HFH at (512) 472-8788.


Big City Runner-Up:
New York City, N.Y.
Fourteen-year-old HFH New York City chronically struggles to be a part of the solution to the need for housing in New York City.

Over the years, it has built three new houses, and renovated 56. This year, it will build at least 20 houses. That's because former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, will travel to the Big Apple in September to lead the annual Jimmy Carter Work Project and renovate 20 units along with scores of other volunteers and the prospective homeowners.

In addition to the enormous challenges presented by that opportunity, HFHNYC has another it faces all the time: Office administrator Judith Warner says she receives an average of 15 calls daily from those seeking affordable housing.

Its "wish list" has these items on it: office furniture, a computer network, donations of postage, paper, office supplies, and volunteers with trade skills. If you can help, call HFHNYC at (718) 246-5656.


Best Small Town:
Rochester, Minn.
Rochester Area HFH has seen a lot of changes since it first started addressing the affordable housing issue in the area in 1990.

The world-renowned Mayo Clinic -- employer of 1,900 physicians -- and IBM and Western Digital technology plants have made it possible for the city to boast a 1.4 percent unemployment rate. However, the flip side is a severe affordable housing shortage. In fact, the Mayo Foundation and Rochester Area Foundation recently announced they will fund the construction of 875 starter homes over the next three years by offering interest-free loans to be used for a $10,000 down payment on a house.

For its part, Rochester Area HFH has renovated one house, moved seven others to secured lots, and built 11 new houses over the years. Its building goal for this year is five houses.

Among the challenges faced by Rochester Area HFH is a need for skilled volunteers; among its "wish list" items: land. If you can help, contact Rochester Area HFH at (507) 252-0849.


Small Town Runner-Up:
Boulder, Colo.
Just north of Douglas County, Colo. -- the least-poor county in the nation (see "The Income Gap Widens") -- sits Boulder County and HFH of Boulder Valley. People move to the Boulder area because of its beauty, clean water supply, high rate of educational attainment and culture. They don't come because an acre of land costs $275,000.

So, one of the greatest challenges facing 7-year-old HFH of Boulder Valley is finding undeveloped land (for which it typically must pay $5,500-$5,700 for a 3,300-square-foot lot) to build on. Since 1993, it has built 16 new houses and has another six under construction. In the last year alone, HFH of Boulder Valley has responded to calls from 165 families in need of affordable housing.

At the top of its "wish list" are a small office telephone system and a new computer. If you can help, contact HFH of Boulder Valley at (303) 447-3787.


Small Town Runner-Up:
Columbia, Mo.
When Show Me Central HFH organized 12 years ago, there was no way to know that it would one day dwell in a city boasting the lowest unemployment rate in the country. Instead, it slowly and quietly went about learning how to create safe, simple and decent housing on a grassroots level.

Over the course of time, Show Me Central HFH has built 32 houses and plans to build five more this year.

Its greatest challenges are finding land and exploring the staffing needs required to support its annual building goals. Among its "wish list" items: A volunteer to manage its 6-month-old ReStore.

If you can help, contact Show Me Central HFH at (573) 499-1202.


Karen Free is associate editor of Habitat World.


"Unfortunately, housing is a real expensive thing to provide. But when families become homeless, it costs eight times as much to get them back into the mainstream."
-- Laura Barrett, Housing Comes First, a housing nonprofit based in St. Louis, Mo.


Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, February/March 2000.
This article may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
©2000 Habitat for Humanity International