A few columns back, I discussed legislation that would improve the housing crisis in our community. Notice the specific reference and use of the word 'community.' It's not an oversight but intentional, for it describes actions our legislators took to make homeownership more feasible in our area.
I'm returning to this issue, because it is, I hope, a base camp from which the ascension presses on -- with continued pubic encouragement. The question is are we ready to adopt a philosophy embracing a comprehensive solution that's regional in approach and scope and that moves beyond the traditional thinking which has separated and cut off these seven hills from the rest of the region at large?
It takes a region to raise a community, not just a city, and the strategy of the future must encompass an approach that involves rejecting the traditional precepts of 'what's yours is yours and what's mine is mine.'
While the onus remains on the city, a regional approach must be implemented that inculcates better thinking on a macro level regarding infrastructure improvements and how they're financed. Legislative and programmatic methods must be forged to reduce the complexities of obtaining affordable housing in the suburbs. Low-income requirements should be of high quality and evenly distributed throughout our community, with public housing concentrations becoming mixed in income.
David Rusk, author of Cities Without Suburbs, says our inside game needs to be supplemented with an outside game. Cincinnati, like many places across America, engages in a policy of defacto low-income housing.
One needs to look no further than the Over-the-Rhine to see this as a prime example. What could be a treasured gem on the edge of our business district struggles in part because of the persistent belief and stigma that it's a problem for the city solely, not the community at large.
While the development of low-income housing is essential, its scope must be regional in orientation. A balance needs to be found that alleviates the city from being the primary provider of low-cost homeownership.
The city of Cincinnati should bear no more responsibility to find solutions than any other regional entity. In theory, the solution should be to appropriate new development equally, with the city, county and region sharing proportionally.
At some point, our community needs to move beyond the micro self-centered territorial behavior that prevents us from thinking outside our own box, limited only by our geography and societal will. In the abstract, it's not difficult to conceive that where the capital goes so do the people, the jobs, the money, the homes and the opportunities.
The issue is not do we have the resources but do we have the political will to devise a strategy of judicious distribution across the territory? To stem the flow, renters must have something to rent, current homeowners must have reason to stay and move up and new arrivals must have more options than what are currently available.
Our city is a community waiting to happen if and when all of us pull together. We must create an environment where more than the air is shared among all the inhabitants of the land.
STEVEN J. LOWENSTEIN, a native of Cincinnati, is a Realtor with Coletta & Associates Realtors. He's a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and holds a Master's degree from North Texas State University.
