Right-Sized Housing
Defining Right-Sized Housing
Housing is more than a structure or a unit of infrastructure. It is the place where we sleep, hunker down when we are sick, raise families, and build our lives. Insecure housing is one the greatest health and well-being risks one can face. Yet a secure home is one of the most impactful positive social determinants of health for a household.
While there are many ways to speak about housing, we use ‘right-sized’ to speak to (a) affordability, (b) physical space, (c) proximity, (d) quality, and (e) safety. Each of these aspects looks different for various household makeups.
Focus Residents
Our focus residents for said housing are our neighbors, with a keen interest in development not coinciding with displacement. While the nature of communities means there will be others who also come to live in our neighborhood, our primary priority is our current residents, and our secondary priority is resettling refugees who have long been moving into the neighborhood due to its proximity to resources regularly accessed.
Current and Growing Housing Crisis
According to the 2020 Census, 15-25% of the housing stock in the neighborhood is vacant, most of it unlivable without significant renovations. Upwards of 65% of the homes in 13208 are renter- occupied, and just less than half of residents live below the poverty line. Between 2021 and 2023, the median rent rose by $240/month, as compared to $40 in Albany and $71 in Buffalo. This has led to homelessness increasing by 30%, and family homelessness by 41%; 75% of these people have never been homeless before. There is a tremendous need for affordable housing, defined as a rent payment that does not exceed 1/3 of a tenant’s income.
A similar price increase has hit the housing market for potential homebuyers, up 21% in the City of Syracuse. This coupled with the nationwide construction cost increases of 12-22% since 2020, purchasing disinvested properties and renovating them is harder to access.
Other Pressing Concerns
Even before the last three years of plummeting into a housing crisis for the Syracuse area, we had a myriad of urgent housing issues in our neighborhood, including:
Lack of affordable housing for single adults to live independently
Lack of 3+ bedroom rental units for large or multi-generational families
Lead poisoning risks in the majority of neighborhood housing stock Irresponsible to predatory landlords
Crumbling retaining walls and inter-property infrastructure
Deteriorating housing stock due to age and other factors
So what are we looking to do?
The West Pond Alliance looks to facilitate sustainable development in our focus areas, including right-sized housing. Our approach, partners, and otherwise are still under development, but we look forward to sharing as those things come to be. If you are interested in being a part of the collaborative team working to be a part of this, please email westpondalliance@myhopeprint.org.