Can you imagine an Athens where everyone has an affordable place to live?

In Athens, like many places around the world, housing means different things for different people. For some, finding to get can seem impossibly out of reach. For others, it's a stable place to live. Some, both people and corporations, use housing as an investment to make money off of. And for many, housing is a reminder or a fear of having to move, of being displaced. But one thing that everyone wants is a safe place to lay their head at night, and a place that feels like home, with people that feel like a community. Athens Community Journalism asked around, "Can you imagine an Athens where everyone has an affordable and stable home, safe from displacement?" >> I don't think they care. I I can't I can't see it. You know, and maybe again, I'm not paying attention to all the right things, but the progression that they've seen like Just going back to my grandma. She's 93. Like, who Where are these people supposed to do? They've been here servicing the community for my I think my grandma's been here my entire life, for over 30 years, and you know, her grandkids have to usher in and help her with certain things because they've increased the wages. I just don't see it happening. >> Can you imagine an Athens where everybody has that access to affordable housing? >> No, but that would be nice. It would be nice. I think a lot of Athens residents feel like we're forgotten because of UGA and the priority of the students and their luxury housing and the resources and the investors that are allowed to come in and sully our beautiful city. You know, things like that really make me angry. I wish we could keep this more local. Athenians making money instead of, you know, out-of-state investors and big corporations. >> Can you imagine an Athens where everyone has an affordable and stable home, safe from displacement? >> I mean, I try. I try to imagine it. Um I know it's I know it's going to be tough. I know it's going to be a long road. I know that I can be naive sometimes. Um I like to consider just being hopeful. >> Um I I bet people were asked similar similar questions during the Civil Rights Movement or or pre-emancipation, you know, before slavery was ended, chattel slavery here in the US. And so, uh there were people that came together though that could imagine a different type of future, a different way of being, a different way of existing. And it was those people that moved the needle little by little and kept chipping away chipping away until those things uh came crumbling down. And so, I imagine housing affordability for everyone being one of those similar type things, you know, where we have to address capitalism. We have to address the horrors of capitalism, the exploitation, the egregious things that happen under capitalism, uh where people have this unchecked and unfettered ability to make as much money as possible when it relates to housing. >> But we do need good for affordable houses. We got people out there on the street homeless and stuff like that. They need somewhere to go. And and and when I was growing up in the community, we you you didn't have to see too many people on the street like that. We people in the neighborhood would take them in. But you don't have that now. People don't look out after people like they used to do when I was coming up. You know, they they always told me it take a village to raise kids and >> [music] >> stuff like that. It's not like that now. >> Where do you start at? You start at the top with with your with your with your councilman. You got to go down there to the meeting. We got to go down there and sit down with them and talk to them about it. And get a good understanding with them. And see see what what would it take. You know, we can talk about it all day long, but they're the ones who control the zoning and how how you how how everything got to be zoned and and this and that cuz there's a lot going to that, you know. There's a lot that people don't know. There's a lot. There's a lot. >> ACJ wanted to look at possible avenues to making this dream a reality. So we talked with two Athens residents who have been putting in work to research, write, and advocate for proposals to make housing in Athens more available and affordable. Broderick Flanagan is a visual artist and community organizer and also enjoys Latin dancing and hiking along rivers. ACJ spoke with Broderick in Newtown, where his grandmother, Teresa Flanagan, used to own two properties on Cleveland Avenue. >> Uh but yeah, she was definitely the matriarch of our family and and kept everything together. We used to have a lot of gatherings here at this home. We had a lot of family gatherings during the holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, um birthdays, especially my grandmother's birthday. Uh we would come here and and you know, just celebrate family and everybody would congregate and and come to this house. And a lot of people actually lived here, too. Uh people that were in precarious situations, struggling with certain things. Uh they always had a safe haven here at Grandma's house. Um I remember my family lived here at one point. We were being displaced. Um we lost our house. Um and then end up having to move to public housing and then we lost our apartment in public housing. And so we had to end up living here with my grandmother on a few different occasions. And so it was like a family house, you know, where people could come when they were, you know, not in such great situations so we wouldn't be out on the streets. But at an early age, I kind of heard the adults around me talking about how important property was and how important it is to have ownership, how important it is to have somewhere to live and how you should value that land ownership. And so that kind of shaped some of my early foundations about how important housing is and how crucial and sacred it is. >> Danielle Gilmer is a woodworker for a small business and realtor for first-time homebuyers. And also enjoys cooking and growing vegetables. As a kid, Danielle and her family moved around from her grandfather's basement to apartment to apartment. As an adult working in the restaurant industry, she continued to move around a lot. And at one point, lived out of her car after the house she was living in changed ownership and she was given 30 days notice to leave. Danielle described what changed for her when she moved to Athens in 2014 and was able to purchase a home. >> It's It's hard to describe if you don't own your own home or didn't come from a home that was owned in the family. Um it's really hard to just describe, but I can say that for someone like me that had moved around my entire life, I've had 28 known addresses. Um being able to purchase my own home gave me this sense of security, the sense of foundation, this root in the community. Um Just so much that I did not anticipate being a thing from purchasing a home. So, after that, I realized how important it is, what a big piece it can be um to just build yourself up and to continue building on yourself once you have that safety um around you. >> In 2020, Danielle became a real estate agent to try to help other first-time home buyers get that feeling of housing stability. But, she struggled to realize that goal in the transaction-based industry. Then, a colleague who saw Danielle's passion invited her to fill in on an affordable housing panel. And after that, Danielle became more and more engaged. She attended community events to learn more and was later invited to be a part of the Athens team of the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing, which we'll refer to as the Get Committee. >> It just kind of capped um yeah, building on itself. And I I would like to say because I'm I'm okay with saying I don't know something. I'm okay with being curious. I'm okay with asking questions. So, I'm not afraid at this point in my life to say, "Hey, I I would like to know more. I would like to be a part of this. Is this possible?" >> Broderick started paying more attention to local politics in 2014 when he noticed that decisions were being made about black communities without black people being present in the decision-making process. Since then, he has been part of several efforts related to housing, including knocking on doors to encourage residents of inner East Athens to form a neighborhood association so they can have more of a voice on proposed developments. In 2022, Broderick worked to support residents of Hidden Pines, Lexington Heights, and Rosemary Place after an investment company from Florida purchased resident homes, increased the rent, and stopped accepting Section 8 vouchers. >> We also had to help a few people move though because after the investment company bought properties, they stopped taking Section 8 vouchers and other vouchers. And so there were many people who lived in the neighborhood for 20 years almost, at least two people I can think of off the top of my head that lived in the neighborhood for 15 to 20 years. They had to move because they were no longer accepting their vouchers that they had, their subsidy government subsidies. And so that's what those are the things that led me to doing the housing work and some of the ordinance local ordinance work that I highlight some of the things that I >> Working with Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, Broderick helped to gather community input in writing ordinance, a law that they are pushing for Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission to vote on, approve, and enact. The ordinance includes proposals for ACC to improve housing affordability for renters and homeowners by doing the following and more. Establish a second chance rental assistance program for renters with prior evictions or criminal history using money from the local housing fund. Invest in building more affordable housing by expanding use of the acquisition strike fund, low-income housing tax credit, and more. Establish more protections for tenants. Establish an emergency rental assistance subfund within the local housing fund for eviction prevention and wrap-around services. Provide more down payment assistance for first-generation or income-eligible homebuyers in historically underserved neighborhoods. Support community land trust and advocate the state government to allow local governments to use rent control to limit big private landlords from raising the rent too high. >> I would probably say the the rent control idea is one of the most important because it covers all facets of community. There are renters from every racial demographic, every gender, um you know, every social economic status. There are people who rent and some people, you know, their their situation changes and um you know, it it it goes up and down sometimes. And so, people who are renting are always under threat of like living with the the idea that they may lose their housing if their economic situation changes and vice versa. >> Or if they get bought out by somebody else. >> bought out by somebody else and they raise the rent overnight. Um and so, I think that is one of the biggest ideas. Again, that can't happen uh by right at a local level. And so, we need a mayor commission to sign on to advocate at the state level. And so, I want us to be just as bold as the people who are proposing to put people in in cages and to rip families apart. There are people literally proposing policy that would allow um you know, these these agents, the unlicensed agents, you know, they're giving they're deputizing them to basically destroy families, displace families, tear families apart, kidnap people. And and policy is is some policies are behind that, you know. Uh and so, we we want to of course stop those policies, but we want to be just as aggressive just as as aggressive in terms of rectifying the harms that have been done to people in those situations. And so, that's what That's the Athens that I want to see, you know, and that's what we need. We need to to be more aggressive with our policy that's going to have a policy a positive impact, you know? That's going to challenge that status quo. That's going to challenge that billionaire millionaire capitalistic mindset, you know? >> In addition to the tools and strategies outlined in ADM's affordable housing ordinance, zoning is another tool that can be used to create more affordable housing. But, what is zoning anyways? >> So, at a basic level, zoning is how government regulates land uses and densities on private land in most US cities and suburbs. Um, that's to say that zoning controls how big of a building you can build on a particular lot and whether you can use that building for any given residential, commercial, or industrial use. The original purpose of zoning was to promote the health, safety, and welfare of residents by separating residential uses from industrial or other noxious uses. >> But, throughout history, zoning was used as a tool for segregation. The 1948 Supreme Court case Shelley v. Kraemer and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 made it illegal to segregate neighborhoods based on race. But, white majority local governments across the country found that they could still use race-neutral zoning laws to keep neighborhoods segregated. >> According to our citizens, Athens is a hometown with beautiful subdivisions and quiet shaded streets. Homes with yards that give children room to play. It's a city that again and again welcomes newcomers. >> Zoning is pretty much has been used since the early 1900s up until now um to segregate minorities and to segregate uh lower-income families. Um it's used in that way by saying that you can only build a certain size house on a certain size lot. And what they started to exclude was um cottage courts, townhouses, quadruplexes, homes that were smaller than 1,200 square feet. So, anything that was affordable became excluded from a lot of cities and suburbs in a way of um segregating it without segregating it. >> We want to recognize that these are not new ideas. >> During the January 13th mayor and commission work session, Danielle and other members of the GIG committee proposed six zoning changes intended to make housing more affordable. >> Right now, if you were to build on a current the minimum lot size, the minimum size house that is legal to build here in Athens, um you're going to be spending any developer, contractor, any local person who's building is still going to need to spend at least $200,000 that's just the scope and the size. You're purchasing the land, you're building the house. So, a a handful of the proposals that we have are to reduce the minimum size of the home to make it legal to build smaller, to build um starter homes, and to reduce the size of the lot needed to build those homes on. So, you're already taking away two of the big top costs of building. >> The GIG committee also proposed to allow accessory dwelling units, infill town homes, manufactured homes, lot subdivisions, and reduced parking minimums. The hope is that these changes will make it easier to build affordable homes primarily for the benefit of local residents without creating an opportunity for student housing to overwhelm neighborhoods. >> Because what we're trying to do with these six, um, ideas is to make more housing, um, of every variety, but more specifically of the type that is smaller, um, and more of the type, uh, that folks here in Athens are going to choose. When we talk about this with the student studentification of Athens, typically they have more money to spend, typically they live, you know, four or five to an apartment or a house and want to live close to downtown. >> At the March 3rd Mayor and Commission voting session, commissioners approved a resolution to direct the planning department to review each of the GEC Committee's proposed zoning changes. They are expected to turn each one into an ordinance for Mayor and Commission to vote on with votes expected to happen sometime this summer. You can access GEC's full proposal by going to the January 13th work session agenda starting on page 16 or read more about it on Athens Politics Nerds website. AADM has launched a petition for people to show their support for the affordable housing ordinance. AADM's ordinance is available in legal language, plain English, plain Spanish, and via audio. There are many tools and strategies our community can use to create more affordable housing and protect people from displacement and many people and organizations working to make it happen. For now, how can we get more people organized and engaged? >> Also, we can go out and and and and voice our opinion on what we'd like to see done. I like to see all communities get behind this program. You know, and see can we make it work. >> Okay. >> Yeah, I mean again, as somebody who's turning 50 this year and only getting really engaged in the last couple of years, um, it's hard to know where to start. Um, all I can say is if you're if you're concerned about it, if you're worried about it, if you want to do something about it, um, talk to your neighbors, uh, talk to your friends, talk to your commissioners. Um, there's so many amazing humans and organizations here in Athens already doing the work. Um, hopefully it doesn't take long to just kind of plug into the one that really kind of resonates with you. Um, and just show up and be curious. I think the hardest thing for me for a long time was just feeling like I didn't know what to do or what or what to say. Um, it doesn't matter. Just be in the room. Just listen to just listening, um, I think is the biggest step. >> I think government, um, in its purest form, I'm not saying it operates like this today, but I'm saying in its pure in its purest form, it is designed in theory to balance things when they get out of whack. When things are disproportionately affecting a certain community, that's when policy is supposed to kick in. When things are unequal or not fair to certain communities, that's when policy is supposed to kick in to rectify, to redress, and to make sure that those harms don't happen to anyone else. And so, I can imagine a future where housing is accessible, attainable, sustainable, and stable for families. And that's the the Athens that I want to help to create. >> Last question, since we're here at The View at Noda, um I'm wondering, you know, is this the type of place this the type of development that you would want to see more of? >> Yeah, this is actually This is really nice. Like, I can't remember the last time I seen a space where the kids can actually play and not get hurt, you know? And um for it to be low I think it's income-based. Um I was I was telling my brother that helping him move in, like, bro, this is nice. Like, this is somewhere I can see people like staying in there. You know, it's going to give them a breath of fresh air. You know, they can get their their finances in order if they just take a little time to get the time to relax. And this this seems like this is I mean, look at it. It seems like this is exactly what we need. So, the progression is there. The progression is there. Just, you know, >> More of >> takes a little time, a little longer than some people got, you know? >> Thank you so much.