An Unexpected Barrier to Affordable Housing

The scale of the affordable housing crisis the nation faces is well known, and its importance has not been lost on real estate developers and planners. But for many eager to enter the market, one of the main challenges they face is not financing or the nuts and bolts of the construction process but how to win community support for their projects.

Of developers and planners, two-thirds in a July survey stated that their most active projects in the next six months will be building affordable and supportive housing. The survey was conducted by coUrbanize, a company that uses AI-generated data reports to facilitate online engagement.

Although 94% of respondents attempted to gain community input and support through public meetings, many were frustrated by low attendance; few thought the process was productive. “We don’t seem to be connecting with people the way they want,” one respondent lamented. Some 60% named lack of staff time as their greatest barrier to engagement.

Even when community feedback is received, only 55% of respondents said they modified their plans based on that input. “This creates a cycle in which community members are less likely to engage because they don’t expect their ideas will be used,” coUrbanize commented.

Another factor that discourages attendance is the time commitment required from people who already have significant family and work responsibilities, even when meetings are online. Respondents also admitted that they didn’t know how else to reach these groups or linguistic minorities.

“Research has shown that the community members who attend public meetings tend to be wealthier, whiter, and more opposed to housing development than their community at large,” coUrbanize noted. To reach beyond this group, it advised developers to seek “opportunities to engage that aren’t limited to a single point in time.”

“Being able to demonstrate support with data is the most effective way to remove risk for these crucial projects,” said Karin Brandt, founder & CEO of coUrbanize.