RALEIGH -- There's been a great deal of discussion about the new Wake County school board's desire to move toward neighborhood schools and eliminate the school system's diversity policy. What's missing from this conversation is the effect these decisions have on neighborhoods and housing patterns. Where you can afford to live determines where you go to school.
The central question is how we can prevent schools of concentrated poverty while offering all families a choice. Ultimately, this challenge exists because historically we have separated our neighborhoods and allowed our growing communities to develop in a way in which low- and moderate-income folks have few if any choices about where they can afford to live.
Instead of ensuring that housing is affordable for all incomes throughout the county, our lack of planning has resulted in entire areas becoming unaffordable to rent or purchase for families earning below the median income of $76,900. It has also created areas of concentrated poverty, in part because of the lack of inclusionary housing in newly developed and redeveloped areas around Wake County.
We encourage the Board of Education to prevent schools of concentrated poverty in its plans and to push for new planning ordinances that will increase the supply of good, affordable housing throughout the county. This will allow all Wake residents to choose high-performing schools in their neighborhoods, with a modest concentration of students from low- and moderate-income families.
Several school board members have cited examples of successful "neighborhood schools" policies, including Montgomery County, Md. What has not been mentioned is that prior to shifting to neighborhood schools, Montgomery County instituted the most aggressive and thriving inclusionary housing policies in the nation, as cited by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition, Montgomery County is ranked fifth in the nation by Forbes magazine for investment in schools.
A year ago, the U.S. Census Bureau named Raleigh-Cary the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country. The Wake County Growth Issues Task Force found that in four years, between 2003 and 2007, school enrollments here increased by 28 percent (adding 29,541 students). This rapid growth has been one of the major factors in school reassignments. Therefore, to ensure a high-quality education for all students, officials must encourage mixed-income and inclusionary housing programs.
Two great examples of mixed-income housing programs are Madison Glen in northwest Raleigh and Capitol Place in downtown Raleigh.
Madison Glen is an attractive multi-family mixed-income rental property with 120 units developed by DHIC Inc. within an area with a 5.5 percent poverty rate. DHIC developed the property in part with loans from the Raleigh and Wake County governments and the N.C. Housing Finance agency. Over half of the units are rented at the fair market rate, with the remaining 42 percent rented to working families, seniors and persons with Section 8 vouchers.
Capitol Park, in contrast, is a HOPE VI project that rehabilitated a public housing site, Halifax Court. It has 209 affordable and market-rate properties. Capitol Park was developed by the Raleigh Housing Authority and its nonprofit affiliate, Capitol Area Developments, using the agencies' own funds, state tax credits and money donated by the City of Raleigh. This development includes townhouses, senior apartments and single-family homes. Capitol Park is in the heart of downtown Raleigh, with easy access to groceries, economic opportunities and green space.
The N.C. Housing Coalition had the pleasure of meeting with Wake school board Chairman Ron Margiotta on Monday and board member Debra Goldman on Wednesday. In both these meetings, we made the case for improved housing patterns as the ultimate solution to their school assignment goals and encouraged them to consider advocating inclusionary housing policies as a means to diversified school assignments.
In the face of changing school policies and continued growth in our community, the Wake County school board and municipal governments must make conscious and coordinated decisions to incorporate affordable housing throughout the county.
Chris Estes is executive director of the N.C. Housing Coalition. Carley Ruff is the coalition's policy and outreach coordinator.
