FACE the Housing Crisis Contest 2008 WINNERS

GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Greg Field of Waiamanalo works at Alu Like, non-profit helping Native Hawaiian community with financial literacy & goal-setting. Former editor, Waiamanalo News. All 4 responses made the final round.

HOMELESSNESS: Imagine a musical game of chairs with too few chairs for the number of players. When the music stops some decent, hardworking people are without chairs. Safe, secure, decent dwellings should be available for all homeless families with children with at least one employed adult. Dwellings should include adequate cooking and food storage and furniture.  Shelters would provide qualified child-care so that parents could go to work or school to increase employability. Employed single male or female could rent single room occupancy (SRO) units that could be built inexpensively in structures similar to portable classrooms.  SROs would have small fridge and sink in each room but would have shared bathrooms and cooking facilities.  The SRO building would be secure and safe. Make this an issue for coming elections. Anyone who is or has been homeless, or is related to someone or is in danger of becoming homeless, or who works with or whose children play with children of homeless families, show up at the first day of legislature, and the second, and the third…

AFFORDABLE RENTALS: Our housing crisis could be compared to a ladder where the first rung is too high for many to reach and the other rungs are spaced too far apart. We need affordable rental housing near workplaces in denser urban cores connected by multiple efficient transportation options. In an inelastic market, the supply/demand equilibrium happens way before all customers are satisfied. Pent-up demand keeps the price per unit high enough for developers of new units to maximize profit. Military personnel are a large part of the demand for housing. COLA contributes to pushing up price. If the military provided a greater percentage of personnel housing then the demand would drop and the equilibrium would reestablish itself at a lower unit price. Extend federal and state tax credits to increase investment in the low end of affordable housing. Allow more mixed use and mixed income neighborhoods. Make this an issue for coming elections. Anyone who canʼt find affordable rentals, who works too many jobs to pay the rent, show up at the first day of legislature, and the second, and the third…

HOME OWNERSHIP: Six obstacles impede affordable homeownership: money, infrastructure, land, development capacity, innovative financing and political will. Raise money by doubling the conveyance tax on the sale of expensive homes–those that cost over 200% of the median price for each county. State bonds could provide the funds to build roads, water and sewer, which would provide more jobs. Homes built would be resource efficient. Land costs need to be zero, either by long-term $1/year state leases, community land trusts or the state sharing equity with the homebuyer. An affordable homeownership trust fund (from conveyance tax) would increase non-profit self-help housing organizationsʼ capacity by making no-interest construction loans to purchase materials. Recruit retired contractors, developers and tradesmen to increase organizational capacity. Promote financing options like matched savings Individual Development Accounts, or Graduated Payment Loans where payments start low and go up over a predetermined schedule. Make this an issue for coming elections. Anyone who wants to buy or whose children have moved away because they canʼt afford, show up at the first day of legislature, and the second, and the third…

KEEPING THE COUNTRY COUNTRY: In order to keep the country country we need to make the urban areas cities. Increase the density of our existing communities being mindful that more people in an area increases the need for urban parks. Reinvest to double the capacity of our energy, communication, water, sewer and waste transmission systems and reinvent ways to double their efficiency. Connect our tighter urban core with multiple efficient transportation systems. Identify what needs to remain country and restrict the use of those areas. Make those uses profitable through farm incentives, collaboratives, no excise tax on locally made/grown products and restructuring property tax. Create markets for local products— produce, cut flowers, native herbs. Create local products for existing local markets—lumber for construction, recycled glass to make ceramic tiles. Accept wind farms as a beautiful new part of the landscape and seascape. Make this an issue for coming elections. Anyone who wants open space between our communities, who wants to show your grandchildren where fruit and vegetables come from, show up at the first day of legislature, and the second, and the third…

WINNER HOMELESSNESS: Kanekoa Crabbe of Hau’ula, HPU student, member La’ie 10th Ward Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints

Close down one of the military bases on Oahu (Schofield, Hickam, Ft. Shafter, et al) and turn it into an educational/transitional area equipped with a homeless shelter, affordable housing, community college branches, word development programs, AA, NA, religious denominations, and other job-training opportunities.

WINNER AFFORDABLE RENTALS: Michael Kimmitt of Honolulu, UH grad student working toward PhD Economics

The affordable housing crisis presents a dilemma — on the one hand, we want to create smaller units for people to live in, so that they can afford homeownership. On the other hand, we want to avoid the Low Income High Density trap which can lead to ghettoization. I have two proposed solutions: “Small House” ‘ohana Houses, and amending our zoning to allow for higher density in neighborhoods such as Mo’ili’ili. The first solution is the more interesting. There has been a recent movement toward “small houses” (an excellent site is Tumbleweed Tiny House Company http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/) which efficiently use their space to reasonably accommodate a person in 100 square feet. If we could create a zoning system which would allow single-family owners to build a “small house” on their property (similar to our ‘ohana apartment exceptions), then rent it out, we could create a raft of affordable houses intermingled with comfortable residential neighborhoods. This would be especially effective in areas near our Universities, with students who have need mainly of a comfortable and safe space, not of a great deal of elbow room. This is Hawai’i — we have the luxury of living much more outdoors than many places. So we can keep our indoors small. Secondly, Neighborhoods with high property values in central locations such as Mo’ili’ili remain trapped in relatively large single-family lots that do not promote reasonable density. It would be reasonable to investigate the feasibility of creating a zone for something like Pullman homes — houses of 2-3 stories with small yards on lots slightly larger than they are. Traffic concerns could be addressed by additional bus service and emphasis on the walkability of the neighborhood. Housing crises are often zoning crises, and there may be untapped types of buildings that we are preventing with our current system. Experimentation in this area could be most fruitful.

WINNER HOME OWNERSHIP: Albert Del Rio of Honolulu, 20 year+ resident, works in real estate

Longer mortgages, more height in existing towns, facilitate concentrated urban plan with higher buildings for more inventory, to increase liquidity and resale of older units at affordable prices. Must facilitate entry into resale market rather than competing with resale market, by placing additional requirements on developers. Bring down cost of delivering new projects. Lower impact fees, taxes, and infrastructure assistance, speed up approval process.

WINNER KEEPING THE COUNTRY COUNTRY: Lisa Galloway of Honolulu, Kalani High School Teacher

Pass legislation that forces new development up, not out. Draw lines in our red dirt now where development must not encroach, allowing special lands for “off the grid” sustainable housing (small eco- villages with wind & solar power, gray-water & limestone sewage treatment, green roofs & water catchment, recycling & low-waste pick-up, and no paved roads).