Newsletter

Upcoming events and the concept of 'localism'

Where do you fit into the 'more housing' playbook?

We’re so happy you’re part of the housing conversation in Central Ohio. As a broad coalition of pro-housing voices, our members have dozens of different reasons they support more housing. From climate change to economic and racial integration, the inspiration to foster a more compact, walkable, and mixed-use urban environment can be adapted for many different perspectives. At N4MN—Columbus, we focus on educating and empowering residents with the information you need to be involved in critical housing conversations.

We formed with the intention to organize folks to engage with the City of Columbus’ zoning code reform, and we still intend to do this! We’re waiting for an update on that process and hope that public engagement opportunities will be available soon. In the meantime, let’s focus on strengthening our local coalition of diverse pro-housing voices! Build 🔨 more ⬆ housing 🏘

Research Spotlight: Should existing residents have more ‘moral authority’ in housing discussions than other voices?

In conversations about particular development proposals, existing residents are typically extended some amount of deference during the review process. This practice, termed ‘localism’ by scholars, effectively constructs a gatekeeping paradigm that allows incumbent (or existing) residents to have unwarranted control over future housing supply that impacts the entire region.

A 2021 paper by Manville and Monkkonen at UCLA helps clarify this concept and reveals problems inherent to such a biased process.

The researchers define localism as “a perspective that grants moral authority to incumbent residents” and argue that it “conceals profound imbalances that favor the affluent.” Using survey data from California, Manville and Monkkonen conclude that “localism is concentrated among white, affluent homeowners.”

One major issue with the elevation of existing residents’ concerns is that is absolves them of their own impacts on regional land use and transportation systems.

“When congestion is blamed on new people, existing residents need not think about the amount of driving they do. When cities blame affordability problems on new development, residents need not consider the effects of adding jobs but not housing in affluent parts of the city, nor pay taxes on their own growing land values to help finance affordable housing. Assigning blame for social problems to new development shields existing residents from their own responsibility for those problems, and perpetuates a reassuring but wrong idea that these problems can be solved at little cost or inconvenience to them.”

What do you think? Should existing homeowners receive special treatment and essentially hold veto power over the right to housing for future residents? Do you think homeowners have an outsized voice when it comes to housing discussions in Central Ohio?

Reference: Manville, Michael & Monkkonen, Paavo. (2021). Unwanted Housing: Localism and Politics of Housing Development. Journal of Planning Education and Research.

September 13: Evening event featuring Gene Slater, author of Freedom to Discriminate: How Realtors Conspired to Segregate Housing and Divide America (2021)

What: Building Inclusive Communities’ Speaker Series
Who: Gene Slater, Author and housing policy expert
When: Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 7pm
Where: McConnell Art Center, Bronwynn Theatre
777 Evening Street, Worthington, OH (or virtual)

A thought provoking evening with Gene Slater, housing finance expert and author of Freedom to Discriminate: How Realtors Conspired to Segregate Housing and Divide America. Gene's presentation will reveal the origins of U.S. economic segregation and will be followed by a conversation with local experts about improving economic integration and housing accessibility.

Moderator: Shiloh Todorov, Move to PROSPER

Panelists

Michael Wilkos, Senior VP of Community Impact, United Way of Central Ohio (and N4MN—Columbus member!)
Keryna Johnson, Project Coordinator of Convergence Columbus

Learn more

October 13: YWCA’s Activists and Agitators 2022 Event

Theme: ’Confronting Our Past, Constructing Our Future'
When: Thursday, October 13, 2022 at 5pm
Where: Columbus State Community College, Mitchell Hall (or virtual)

A solutions-oriented conversation with local experts and community organizers focused on repairing Columbus’ housing system. The featured speaker will be Dr. Jenny Schuetz, Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institute and author of Fixer Upper (2022). Dr. Schuetz’s work on housing supply, economics, and policy has been integral to advancing the national conversation around housing production and equity.

Learn more