Ontwikkeling van gemengde inkomste behuising
Development of Mixed-Income Housing
Mixed-income development generally refers to housing configurations that offer affordability for individuals and families with different income levels. This term is frequently applied to projects that include a blend of market-rate and dedicated affordable units (limited to low-income households) within the same building or development. These units may be intermixed on the same floor, separated in different buildings, or located on various levels or wings of the same complex. Block or neighborhood districts may also be described as mixed-income when they contain a diverse housing stock that is affordable for residents across a range of income levels.
In various localities and contexts, the term mixed-income can be used to describe different ratios of affordable and market-rate units. Determining which income level (or range of income levels) constitutes the affordable units in a mixed-income development can vary, as can the array of subsidy programs that may be employed and combined to reach the lowest-income households. This includes the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit—a dollar-for-dollar tax alleviation against federal tax liabilities, granted to developers based on criteria outlined in the state's qualified allocation plan. This is the primary source of funding to increase and maintain the supply of affordable rental housing, along with project-based vouchers. All these factors differ depending on the community and the type of assistance utilized.
Community revitalization, economic mobility, and other social objectives can also impact the target income mix within a specific development. In redevelopment projects, a greater share of affordable units may be more desirable if the primary goal is to prevent displacement and maintain social networks among existing residents. Reserving a larger share of units for higher-income residents can lead to better maintenance and amenities in the development (as it must compete with market-rate developments) and help increase economic diversity—a description of variety, not equivalent to racial equity or inclusivity. In fact, research does not substantiate the hypothesis that mixing lower-income households with higher-income households in the same development results in stronger social connections. Evidence to date indicates that interactions across income groups have been limited, with no significant changes in the economic status of families in assisted housing units.
The need for integrated schools can be promoted through integrated housing, especially in growing areas of the country, said Megan Gallagher, a principal research associate at the Urban Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center. Districts and urban planners can utilize the same language and tools, as in many respects they currently operate in parallel universes, yet their decisions impact the same families.
Understanding Current Barriers to School Integration
Just a few blocks from Yale University lies New Haven's highest performing public school, the Worthington Hooker School. With the top scores in English, math, and science tests in the system, the school has long attracted families to move to its district. However, Worthington Hooker looks different from the rest of New Haven's public schools.
In a city that is nearly 30 percent white and 5 percent Asian, New Haven's public school enrollment consists of 83 percent Black and Latinx students. Meanwhile, enrollment at Worthington Hooker is about 60 percent white and Asian. These discrepancies are significantly attributed to longstanding housing segregation, with the school located in the affluent East Rock neighborhood, where the median house sale price exceeds $500,000.
Overall, school officials rely on a range of strategies—offering school choice programs, redrawing school attendance boundaries, and increasing transportation alternatives—to overcome housing segregation and integrate public schools. Depending on the local context, one, two, or all three of these strategies may not effectively or even viably address the issue.
New Haven heavily relies on an intradistrict school choice program, which has produced some success stories, but most of New Haven’s public schools still do not reflect the broader community. A no-bus rule specifically for Worthington Hooker largely prevents students from other neighborhoods and districts from attending the high-performing school, exacerbating demographic inequalities. According to Marquelle Middleton, director of school choice and enrollment for New Haven Public Schools, at least six families—all Black families—from another district with more affordable housing were offered seats last year, but they declined as they could not get their child to and from school.
Choice, according to Gallagher, is largely viewed as a market-driven strategy that brings free-market forces into public education to provide families with multiple options. By giving families more choice about where their child goes to school, the idea is that schools will not unconsciously recreate the surrounding housing segregation. However, there are clear shortcomings.
First, to reach the school they chose, families still need physical access, whether it is the ability to walk to a nearby school or access transportation alternatives, which, as Worthington Hooker shows, is not always available. Secondly, a family may decide entirely to withdraw their child from the public system.
Some withdraw from the system because they are not enrolled in their chosen school, a situation Glenn Carozza, assistant superintendent for school choice, planning, and assignment in Wake County Public Schools in North Carolina, has repeatedly witnessed. In Wake County, a new charter school recently opened outside district lines, and many families chose to transfer their students to the new school instead of attending their neighborhood public school. This balancing act of trying to understand how much choice can dictate how your schools will look and feel is what Carozza emphasizes.
Other families may decide to leave their neighborhood school due to families from other schools or districts choosing to attend. Dunia Fernandez, program and policy development advisor for the Los Angeles Unified School District, refers to this as the unwritten racism of school integration efforts. According to Fernandez, these parents may feel that their neighborhood school now serves students from outside the community, and that change is not welcomed.
In addition to school choice and transportation, redrawing school assignment boundaries is another primary tool available to school officials. However, this option is also fraught with issues. School officials must seek political support from local families to redraw the lines, which Middleton has never witnessed in his five years in New Haven. Even when overcrowding or new school construction necessitates boundary adjustments, community input often leads to new boundaries that reinforce clear segregation.
Ultimately, the current tools available to school officials are limited because none address the overarching cause of school segregation—housing segregation. But educational stakeholders do not need to strive for integration alone. By using data to better understand local relationships between housing and education, school officials can partner with housing stakeholders to address housing segregation and provide students with a diverse, holistic learning experience.
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