Economic Development Relative to Low Income Housing Creation (Housing)
21 October 2005
Good Morning,
An objective of this column is to present quality information about supportive housing for low income persons. In this entry is a link to a report about the effect of recreation as an economic development strategy in rural communities and notes about a couple of other programs that have been available in the past from federal sources.
By Richard J. Reeder and Dennis M. Brown
Economic Research Report No. 7 (ERR7) 38 pp, August 2005
"The promotion of recreation and tourism has been both praised and criticized as a rural development strategy. This study uses regression analysis to assess the effect of recreation and tourism development on socioeconomic conditions in rural recreation counties. The findings imply that recreation and tourism development contributes to rural well-being, increasing local employment, wage levels, and income, reducing poverty, and improving education and health. But recreation and tourism development is not without drawbacks, including higher housing costs. Local effects also vary significantly, depending on the type of recreation area."
Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ERR7/ on 21 Oct 2005 by rmcox.
I’ll have to look at this data more to see how useful it will be in stating the case that the High Country is not as well off as other places & needs support from external funders to develop our social structure. What it does show is that Watauga and Avery Counties (part of the Southern Appalachian Resort category) experienced positive growth over the decade 1990-2000, although not as much as some other categories (Ski Resorts, for example).
Creativity in developing projects that can meet a broad range of consumer needs located in an area of limited economic means is key. Low income housing needs to be built where services exist; it would take a concentration of residents to entice business into a region, I imagine.
HUD’s HOPE VI program recreates decrepit public housing into viable mixed-income communities. Section 4 Capacity building programs support nonprofit community development corporations—this is also a HUD program. (Have to keep an eye on the Department of Commerce for changes in direct service/non-housing programs transferred from HUD—and proposed to roll into an under-funded block grant.
Ouch! Don’t let people know you are working without a job description. They don’t want you to be bored & will put things on your plate for you. Over the past couple days I “joined” a variety of committees—granted I will learn a lot about making programs stronger—that are peripheral to want I want from this position. What I want from this position may be irrelevant. To present a vision for supportive housing for consumers of MH/DD/SAS in northwest NC & to make that vision reality. That is the challenge.
