Will Dallas’ affordable housing plan lock in poverty rather than relieve it?
“Too often it seems that affordable housing efforts are a case of the tail wagging the dog. The discussion seems to go, we have a high number of poor people in Dallas (too high, everyone agrees); therefore, we need to ensure affordable housing for that number. The problem with such an approach is this: If a given percentage of a city’s housing stock is available and permanently restricted to poor people only, don’t act surprised if at least that percentage of the city’s population is forever poor. The goal should be to reduce the level of poverty in Dallas, not lock it in. No one ever seems to formulate the discussion as, what level of poverty in our city is acceptable or inevitable? How do we get to that level, and how do we ensure that the hopefully fewer remaining poor have some dignity?”