Seeking a Better Life, Section 8 Renters Encounter Resistance

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

LANCASTER, Calif. — This city in the high desert, at the far northern edge of the Los Angeles sprawl, is filled with cozy cul-de-sacs, stucco homes, green lawns and gleaming sedans.

And a three-room home rents for the same price as a small apartment in Los Angeles, 70 miles to the south. So it is hardly shocking that the number of renters here who use the federal Section 8 housing subsidy has more than doubled in the last decade, to roughly 3,500, at a time when housing values have crumbled at the exurban fringe, driving prices even lower.

The once booming town, like hundreds of others at the edge of major metropolitan areas across the country, is also facing stark changes in its demographic mix, going in a few decades from a small, overwhelmingly white city to a much larger, ethnically diverse one where whites make up a third of the population. Fault lines have opened, with some residents worrying that neighborhoods are inundated with crime, and others seeing racism.

Mayor R. Rex Parris has contended for years that the area has been treated as a “dumping ground” for the poor of Los Angeles County. Mr. Parris has repeatedly said that Lancaster should be “waging a war” against the Section 8 program, which provides housing vouchers to low-income families, because there are disproportionately more recipients living in the area than in the rest of the county. It is a “problem that is crushing our community,” he said.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/us/11housing.html?pagewanted=all

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Radio report about this

[TwilightGardener]

1. Go after the landlords, if there's issues with tenants or properties.

On to a separate issue: a TEN YEAR waiting list for a Sec. 8 voucher? Holy crap--do the people who apply just figure they'll still qualify (and be poor) in ten years? What good does it do anyone to wait that long for housing assistance?

[SenoritaBonita]

2. Section 8

The section 8 waiting lists are long and the application processes vary from city to city.

An applicant doesn't maintain they will ALWAYS be in a negative financial position; certainly an applicant knows their current financial situation. Once one becomes employed, gets a promotion, children leave the nest and finances improve the application is no longer needed. All situations change. I applied for housing vouchers after losing my job running a small office. Shortly thereafter I had brain surgery and lived on unemployment benefits. SSI benefits came through for me. Section 8 helped me obtain an apartment and go on with my life. Thanks

[man4allcats]

4. Welcome to DU!

Hope life is better for you now. :hi:

[skyounkin]

3. They apply hoping that things get better by then- but

unfortunately it doesn't always happen.

[jwirr]

5. Depends on the age makeup of the housing. I lived in Secion 8

senior housing and people go to the nursing home/die on a regular basis. For families it is another matter. Housing vouchers that allow you to rent from a private owner also have a long waiting list.