Pensacola Grapples with Housing Affordability Crisis by Dakota Parks Stagnating wages, increasing rent and homeownership costs, rising construction costs, restrictive zoning and building codes and NIMBYism— all of these issues are in flux with America’s affordable housing crisis. Since 1960, the median income in America has increased by a mere five percent while the median rental cost has increased by 61 percent and the median cost of a home has increased by 114 percent, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. On the local level, The Florida Housing Coalition painted a grim picture at an Affordable Housing Task Force meeting in June 2020 when they shared that only one of Pensacola’s top 10 jobs can support a two-bed apartment without being costburdened. Cost-burdened is paying more than 30 percent of their income on mortgage or rent, utilities, insurance and taxes. The Affordable Housing Task Force partnered with the Florida Housing Coalition to create a report that outlines recommendations for the city to reach its goal of creating 500 Homes in Five Years, a directive led by City Council President Jewel Cannada-Wynn. “I became passionate about housing from my background as an educator. Teachers would constantly tell me they can’t afford housing in the city limits,” Councilwoman CannadaWynn explained. “Housing prices were going up by private developers that were way outside of the financial needs of most of the people that I know. Many developers are also putting these homes in poor areas; therefore, those opportunities for housing evaporate.” The task force concluded its meetings in September 2020 by sending its report, which outlines six strategies and 24 action 44 | Business Climate | 2020 / 2021 Downtown Issue
steps for creating affordable housing, to the city council to vote on and initiate the next steps of funding, land use, partnerships and establishing a new city staff position dedicated to following through with the report. Though the task force is bound to the jurisdictions of the city limits, including downtown, Escambia County is also working closely to address affordable housing.
Part of addressing that need, as Whittaker explained, is educating the community on what affordable housing actually means to curb the “not in my back yard” (referred to as NIMBYism) responses. “When people think of affordable housing, they think the worst. They picture a high-rise tower or bars on the window dropped in the middle of a neighborhood,” Whittaker said.
The six strategies in the report include the following: engaging in strategic partnerships, collaborating with the private sector to identify incentives for the creation of affordable housing, leveraging existing city property to create affordable housing, supporting tax credit developments, identifying sites for suitable infill development and identifying adaptive reuse possibilities.
In the Pensacola area, the average median income is $48,686. The average renter in the area is earning 66 percent of the area median income at just $32,004, while the average homeowner earns $65,329. When the median cost of a house currently sits around $200,000, low-income families would fall into the range of housing at $125,000 to $130,000. Whittaker explained these income brackets at the annual housing summit hosted by the Pensacola Habitat for Humanity.
“The task force has come up with some really actionable strategies to implement and I think that’s going to make a difference. We need to be looking at the entire spectrum of need in our community from that entrylevel person just moving out of their parent’s home into an apartment to the person that’s trying to become a homeowner,” Marcie Whitaker, housing director for Pensacola said.
Whittaker and Councilwoman CannadaWynn were both strong advocates of rehabilitating homes to keep neighborhoods intact, while allowing homeowners to stay in their communities and build their wealth. Whittaker also stressed the importance of engaging strategic partners such as Pensacola Habitat in these efforts.