Meeting Date: September 25, 2024
To: Human Rights Commission
From: Emery John, Community Development Intern
Title
2024 Fair Housing Month presentation
Body
Action Requested:
None
Summary Report:
The City of Northfield adopted a Fair Housing Statement in 2023. The Fair Housing Statement is meant to be a living document. An annual proclamation acknowledges the importance of Fair Housing and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to our community. An annual proclamation also acknowledges that there are still barriers to equal housing and our community actively works to break those barriers down. An annual proclamation also fulfills the City's obligation to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing as a recipient of Federal Funds through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).
The Housing and Redevelopment Authority passed its Fair Housing Month resolution with support from the Human Rights Commission this spring. The HRC requested more information about how Fair Housing should be measured and tracked.
Today I am outlining some aspects of Fair Housing, namely affordability and equity. We can understand these initiatives through both quantitative and qualitative metrics. Two recent housing studies, one by Maxfield LLC and the other by Enterprise in partnership with HCI, speak to both affordability and equity in housing in Northfield.
Maxfield quantifies the affordability of housing in Northfield by renters and homeowners, measuring for whether households are spending more or less than 30% of their income on housing. This metric is considered standard for assessing "Cost Burden." In Northfield, 21% of owner households are cost burdened, compared to 18% in the Twin Cities, and 15% in our Primary Market Area (PMA). In contrast, 35% of renter households in Northfield are cost burdened, compared to 44.9% in the Twin Cities, and 42.8% in the PMA.
Northfield is committed to providing equitable access to our housing programs. Housing Vouchers are an important s...
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