Live Local Act – Florida Housing Finance Co
Live Local Act Makes It Easier to Develop Affordable Housing in FL
Miracles Do Happen, Governments Can Act Humanely
So, a law passed in the House of the FL capital will hopefully start to turn the tide, but how will builders react to the mandate, businesses, it is not a magic wand, will it lift people, and families out of poverty, allow them to rent, and live?
Introduction
So, on the surface, this bill is being celebrated as a great breakthrough and a much-needed answer. However, after a quick look and a deeper listen, many questions begin to arise about its true nature. If one can understand the money breakdown, the organizations involved, and the rules and regulations, then maybe there is hope.
But for now, it is a long-awaited, missed shot that caused many to simply shake their heads. It is another Attempt, veiled though it may be by the Homeless Industrial Complex to hide in plain sight.
Let’s look at His word as we start today
1 Timothy 5: 18
For scripture says, “Don’t muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and the worker deserves his wages,”
Colossians 4: 1
Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and good, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven
What say you…
Well, miracle of miracles, something changed! Housing that is deemed ‘attainable’ for average-income workers in the most expensive retail market of FL, wow!
Could this be a model for moving forward, or is it a one-hit wonder and the likes of it will not be seen again, NIMBY folks must be getting nervous, it’s not over
Shutting Down Stereotypes
“Together, we are shutting down affordable housing stereotypes and creating attainable housing options needed by the majority of our workforce, the backbone of Florida’s economy.”
That quoted statement makes it sound as if hammer and nail guns are going to be picked up tomorrow and housing and rental units magically made available from thin air, not happening. Yes, a record amount of money is being set aside to a government agency to work on behalf of getting housing moving forward but it is a government agency. Yes, the bill has been signed into law at the state level but then you have the countries, cities, and other governing bodies that impact how it is carried out and the money is spent.
The founding fathers of this nation knew that big, involved government was a problem on many levels. They always aimed for and worked toward a small and limited government for the people to be free to live and work as they chose. So when you have a problem such as housing, which to a degree is government-caused, and then you involve the government in solving it, does not work.
Word Salad of Acronyms/Words
Okay here we go, this is a list of the agencies involved: SAIL, SHIP, Hometown Heros, FHFC, Job Growth Grants, Zoning, Subsidized, Non-Subsidized, Above or Below a given AMI, Density and Height Restrictions, Variances, I think that is all of them that are currently involved.
If you think that $711 million has been set aside for housing development that is deemed affordable and will go directly to construction-ready projects you must have a far better understanding of that mixed-up word salad. With every agency that requires paperwork, approval, and information, money changes hands and that means less money for accrual housing development.
So, the money is approved by a bill signed by the Governor, now the plan is being developed, but to get to the finish line, which is a completed, affordable housing unit, it is a marathon of a hundred handshakes, compromises, and agreements. How much money will be left for the actual construction? The list of agencies and acronyms must be few along the way.
NIMBY Will Still Have to be Faced
One thing that is not discussed with magic money bill is the method they plan on deploying to overcome entrenched NIMBY syndrome. You can speak, plan, and prepare to build attainable, affordable housing to the very best of your intents, but there are places where people just do not want that type of housing in their neighborhood. You are not going to build attainable, affordable housing in Wynwood, Las Olas, or South Beach, there is just no way.
Florida is especially so, they have very specific areas where a specific type of homes, housing, and people are simply not welcome, which may impact their perceived value of the neighborhood and the worth of their lifestyle. No matter the strength of the wording of a bill signed into law it cannot overcome NIMBY, it is entrenched. This is one of many reasons housing is in such a shortage right now.
No bill, law, or amount of money is going to easily change NIMBY-ism, it is entrenched and so much so that the acronym salad is the near-perfect protection for it. Meaning this, it can hide behind the regulations, wording, and protections of the bill so that it is hidden in plain sight. By the time handshake deals, and money and quid-pro-quos are all done housing will be built, but will it be attainable, affordable, and non-NIMBY?
What About the Missing Group of Humans
There is absolutely no mention of a growing, desperate group of Florida residents that need help and intervention more than any other. What intended or unintended impact will this bill have on getting the homeless off the streets, or were they of no concern in getting this bill passed? Low income and extremely low income are mentioned with the requirements to qualify, but never the homeless.
With all the specific regulations of this or that amount of a person’s income that must be measured to find out if they are low income or extremely low income and if they do or do not qualify, how is it possible that it is a long-term solution? From what I was gathering it sounds as if every time a lease is made or renewed the qualifying must be redone, and that is not simple and may increase instability.
I simply do not understand how this is a celebrated breakthrough bill for attainable/affordable the homeless are never part of the equation. It is like they have been thrown out with the bath water and we no longer have to be concerned with them because the jails will handle them. I believe that if we brought truly affordable housing to all of Florida homelessness would decrease greatly, but this bill will not bring that to pass.
Does not Form Communities, Solid Foundations
What I have been witnessing is the destruction of single-family homes and the related and connected communities over the past 5 years or so and the building of high rises. The removal of single-family homes is the removal of communities and communities are what make a city or town strong, keep crime down, keep kids more stable, and prevents the overall decay of the city.
Multi-family housing projects are all you are hearing about and where they can and cannot be built. What they do not provide for is stability within a given community like those old neighborhoods where the kids of the 50’s 60s and 70’s few and everybody knew everybody. Life was different and better; the village was able to help ensure kids grew up right and strong. These crazy plans throw that out the window and just make families accept a roof over their heads.
These are what are projects in the developing stage, where gangs came from, broken homes, absent fathers, working moms, latchkey kids, and so much that is now coming into maturity in this nation with a bunch of bad fruit. Yes, we need more affordable/attainable housing, but at what cost to the moral fabric of this nation that is already fraying at the edges. We have to be very careful when we constantly allow the government to be the source of our answers and not God, when that happens, we are snared not blessed.
Conclusion
Senators, Representatives, and the Governor have all sounded the triumphant victory shout over this bill being passed into law, but is it a victor? The agencies, and counties and cities involved for approval are longer than a criminal’s records. So, will housing be built?
This does nothing to address NIMBY-ism or any of the entrenched stereotypes that prevent housing and affordable projects from being built quickly and effectively. The requirements of income within a given range make qualifying hard and repetitive, ineffective
Finally, has anything truly changed? Or is it more black letters on white paper for people to feel as if something has been done?
CTA…
Answer this,
How do all these programs qualify to have a hand in the pie that divides the $711 million dollar pie for attainable/affordable housing, how, greed, inclusion, and handshakes?
Do people qualify easily for attainable housing, or is the process made purposefully difficult so that it makes it seem as if there is little need
The homeless, the forgotten, growing, struggling portion of Florida, do they not deserve a chance, do they not deserve a shot at a roof and a warm bed
Quick Note before Releasing
The Live Local Act has been passed, that is great news, not the full answer, but a start. Now we are finding out the state has passive massive financial reform and funding bills on condos in FL, how will this impact the building, re-filling, and moving forward effort of the Live Local Act? Within months of the reforms being passed, thousands are teetering on homelessness, so we work to fix the left hand, but the right is now about to fall off the radar, what good has been accomplished?
