Affordable housing in Charlotte: What does it take to create opportunity?
by Asha Ellison
Housing affordability involves much more than the price someone pays for a roof over their head. Discussions about the price of housing and associated costs are just the beginning of the conversation.
This summer, in collaboration with the City of Charlotte, the Charlotte Urban Institute began a series called “Affordable housing in Charlotte,” exploring the city’s Housing Trust Fund, or HTF, and what its investments mean for the people and communities they serve. The HTF uses voter-approved housing bonds to help create and preserve affordable housing by supporting the construction of new units and the conversion of existing housing into affordable units.
The first three articles in the series examined why sustained investment matters, who lives in HTF-supported housing and what we know about resident outcomes, and how housing stability and supports beyond rent can shape residents’ experiences. Together, they point to bigger questions. One, what does it take for affordable housing to be and do more than provide a place to live? And two, what impact does the investment in affordable housing have on Charlotte residents and their families?
This fourth and final article considers two additional parts of that question: whether the location of affordable housing connects residents to opportunity and what research tells us about the outcomes of affordable homeownership.
So, does the location of affordable housing affect access to opportunity?
Where affordable housing is located can influence how easily residents reach jobs, services and other resources, particularly for households that rely on public transportation.
To examine this connection, Liz Morrell and Faria Amin compared transit access at 82 HTF-financed multifamily properties with 164 similarly sized market-rate properties across Charlotte in the brief, “Assessing Level of Access to Public Transit for Charlotte Housing Trust Fund Financed Properties.”
Their analysis found that transit access was broadly similar between the two groups. More importantly, they determined the location of a property appeared to matter more for transit access than whether it received HTF financing. Access varied considerably across Charlotte’s geographic submarkets, reflecting differences in transit infrastructure as well as the challenges of securing land near transit for affordable housing.
The findings highlight an important consideration for affordable housing investment: how can housing be connected to the transportation, jobs and services that expand access to opportunity?
What does research tell us about affordable homeownership?
Affordable housing is not limited to rental housing. Homeownership is also a component of HTF funding and can offer another path toward long-term housing stability.
In “Expected Outcomes for Individuals and Families Participating in Homeownership Programs Supported by the Housing Trust Fund Initiative,” Sydney Idzikowski, Kerrie Stewart and Naason Hernandez review existing research on affordable homeownership programs, including homebuyer education, down-payment assistance and shared-equity models.
The existing research base is relatively small and outcomes vary across programs, but several themes emerge. Affordable homeownership can support financial stability, well-being, educational outcomes and longer-term housing stability. At the same time, buying a home does not eliminate financial vulnerability. Mortgage payments, maintenance and repair costs and other debts can create ongoing challenges, suggesting that financial assistance may be more effective when paired with education, counseling and support that continues after the purchase of a home.
The research also points to the importance of where affordable homeowners are able to live. Some programs have helped participants move into neighborhoods with better conditions than where they previously rented, but those neighborhoods may still offer fewer opportunities than the surrounding county. Homeownership can be an important step toward stability, but the location and long-term affordability of that home matter, too.
What does the research tell us about affordable housing and the HTF overall?
The research examined throughout this series brings to the surface a broader takeaway: the value of affordable housing cannot be measured by the number of units alone.
Across all four articles in the series, researchers considered the need for sustained investment, who affordable housing serves, whether residents and neighborhoods experience stability, what supports residents can access, where housing is located and what opportunities it can provide. The research also makes clear that there is no single measure of success — or single intervention that guarantees positive outcomes.
For Charlotte, these findings underscore the importance of sustained investment alongside continued data collection and evaluation. They also point to the need to consider the conditions surrounding affordable housing, including transportation, neighborhood opportunity and supports that can help residents build stability and remain housed.
Ultimately, affordable housing is about more than creating a place to live. It is about creating the conditions in which people and communities can find stability, opportunity and a path forward.
ChatGPT was used to assist the author with summarizing the briefs on public transit and affordable home ownership