Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Kyle Rini at kyle.rini@colorado.edu
The Conference on World Affairs has panels focusing on a variety of topics this week, mostly concerning subjects like terrorism, global trade and the presidential election. But on Thursday, panelists Liz Blake, Eugene Sepulveda and Frank Shafroth met to discuss something much closer to home for the students and residents of Boulder — the fight to establish more affordable housing.
Moderated by University of Colorado Assistant Professor Georgia Lindsay, the panelists detailed their views on the current lack of affordable housing in the U.S. Blake, a former senior vice president of Habitat For Humanity, cited some grim statistics on the situation, most notably that “80 percent of people in the United States spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.”
She also explained that the lack of decent housing can lead to a decrease in education and worse health for citizens. The panelists generally painted a dark picture of the housing market with Sepulveda, a senior advisor to the mayor of Austin, Texas, noting that countries like Romania, China and Mexico now have higher rates of homeownership than the U.S.
The panelists also gave possible solutions to the problem, often citing programs that they are a part of in their respective cities. Shafroth talked about his successful efforts to ban discrimination against single mothers looking for housing in Washington, D.C., as part of a broader goal to eliminate barriers for low–income residents. Blake noted that Atlanta, the city where Habitat For Humanity is headquartered, has seen success in its Eastlake and Belt Line restoration projects. These projects have cleaned up impoverished neighborhoods and replaced the crumbling federally-funded apartments known as Section 8 housing with better neighborhoods designed for people of various races with mixed income and mixed education. She claimed that for these projects to be successful, it takes patience within the community and solid planning with the city.
In the question portion, the panelists were asked what they believe can be done about the decrease in affordable student housing in Boulder, and the exploitative practices of property managers in the city. Sepulveda claimed that the problem lies in the university’s lack of funding for student housing, a problem he says didn’t exist in his college days as higher education was seen as a good investment and thus received stronger funding from the government. He also pointed out that only 2 percent of the university’s funding comes from the federal government.
“It’s complete bullshit,” Sepulveda said, drawing applause from the students in the audience. He blamed the greed of private developers for the lack of university-led housing efforts.
Panelists were also asked how they would recommend getting around high–income and conservative opposition to affordable housing projects. Blake talked about her experience in building a Habitat For Humanity neighborhood in Aurora, Colorado, wherein a developer wanted to use expensive building materials and install garages for every property. Blake said she compromised by using materials that looked more expensive for some properties and using the real thing for others, thus altering the pricing and allowing the neighborhood to be of mixed income.
