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Affordable Housing in Carrboro: Let’s Work Together to Make It Happen

A perspective from Douglas MacKay

The Town of Carrboro is considering a proposal to build affordable housing on two parcels of Town-owned land on Pathway Drive. The parcels in question constitute one of three sites the Town has identified as suitable for development. 47 Town-owned parcels had been initially considered, but the vast majority were excluded because they satisfied one of seven exclusion criteria, including being within a conservation easement, being within a 100-year floodplain, or not having water or sewer nearby.

The proposal is preliminary: there is no concrete plan regarding the number of units etc. The next step is to engage with the community to discuss key features of the project design, including the goals of the property, the type of housing to be built, and the populations to be served. The final step involves a request for proposals from developers and a development review process. The proposal is part of the Town’s strategy to address its affordable housing gap. Comparing housing demand with housing affordability, the Town claims this gap is 1,079 units.

Understandably, there is significant concern with and opposition to the proposal by some residents of the Spring Valley, Fair Oaks, Waverly Forest, and Webbwood neighborhoods. A flyer circulated to residents of these neighborhoods last week argued in favor of maintaining the property as is on the grounds that (1) the property is not suitable to development given problems with erosion and stormwater run-off; (2) the property is used for recreation by residents; (3) the property plays a valuable environmental/ecological role as a forest of continuity; and (4) the forest plays an important role in mitigating emissions, keeping air temperatures cooler in the summer and sequestering carbon.

I’m neither an ecologist nor a civil engineer, and so I lack the expertise to evaluate all of these concerns. I’m therefore not in a position to argue that the Town should definitely build, say, 12 townhome units because the erosion and run-off concerns can be adequately managed. But I am a resident of Spring Valley whose backyard is within a few feet of one of the parcels and a strong proponent of affordable housing. Building affordable housing in our neighborhoods is a moral imperative and I think we should give the Town’s strategy the best possible chance of success we can.

I think everyone would agree that affordable housing is crucial for people’s health and well-being. It prevents homelessness and also ensures that people can put food on the table, save for retirement, invest in their kids’ education, and take a vacation. If we don’t ensure affordable housing in Carrboro, we’ll quickly find ourselves in a situation in which many of the people who work here cannot afford to live here. For too many, this is already the case. Teachers, nurses, plumbers, and restaurant servers, among others, struggle to afford to live here, instead living in other towns and counties with long commutes to work.

Affordable housing in neighborhoods like Spring Valley, Fair Oaks, Webbwood, and Waverly Forest is also important for social mobility. A strong predictor of children’s life prospects — e.g. income, education, health outcomes etc. — is where they grow up. Neighborhoods like these, with good schools and strong social capital, provide excellent environments within which kids can thrive. If we’re committed to equality of opportunity, the idea that kids shouldn’t be advantaged or disadvantaged by factors like race, gender, religion, and socio-economic class, it matters where we locate affordable housing, not only that we build it. There’s a strong case for building affordable housing on the Pathway site rather than somewhere else.

If, as in Carrboro, housing is unaffordable because there is high demand and limited supply, building more housing has to be part of the solution. We’ll only have affordable housing in Carrboro if people in established neighborhoods are willing to accept development in their backyards.

The Town’s proposal, if it is carried through and affordable housing is built on the land parcels, is not without cost for existing residents of the surrounding neighborhoods. Opponents of the proposal highlight the above four concerns and suggest they are weighty enough to justify not developing the Pathway site. They too are proponents of affordable housing but hope that the forest can be preserved as is and housing can built elsewhere in Carrboro. At this point, I’m not convinced by these arguments and think we should give the Town’s proposal the best chance of success we can.

First, residents of the surrounding neighborhoods have raised concerns about erosion and storm water runoff. Indeed, the houses at the bottom of the hill in both the Waverly Forest and Spring Valley neighborhoods are already struggling with erosion, drainage, and flooding issues that are likely to get worse in future years as storms continue to intensify. I completely agree with my neighbors that these concerns need to be addressed, but it’s not clear that they can’t be. I don’t think we’ll know this until we develop a concrete plan and conduct a proper environmental assessment. If the assessment shows that the development is not feasible given the above concerns, then so be it, but we should check first. Moreover, it’s likely not a develop or not-develop question. There is likely some plan that is feasible, and every unit that is built is one family that is not burdened by unaffordable housing.

Opponents also point out, second, that people currently use the property for recreation, sledding in the winter, walking their dogs etc. I sled on the hill with my kids too but we’re spoiled with recreational opportunities in these neighborhoods – the Carolina North Forest and Martin Luther King Jr Park are a 5-10 minute walk down the road, and the property directly abuts the Bolin Creek Conservation Area.

Here’s another way to think about it. I’m guessing people would be willing to pay a lot of money to rent or purchase one of the planned units. How much would each of us be willing to contribute to maintain the parcel as is? An equivalent amount? I’m doubtful, and it seems a reasonable course of action for the Town to opt for the more valuable use of the land.

Not everything is reducible to money of course, but the Town needs to make a decision on which use of the land is best for its residents, and it needs some metric by which to adjudicate among people’s diverging preferences. Asking how much people would be willing to pay for various uses is not a bad start. If I’m honest with myself, my first preference is for the land to stay as is without having to pay anything for it, but, on reflection, this completely discounts the interests of the families who would move there. I’m sure residents of the surrounding neighborhoods are glad someone made the decision to develop the land their houses sit on in the past, rather than leave it for residents of older neighborhoods to enjoy as a forest.

What about the concerns about conservation and carbon emissions? On the former, perhaps the two land parcels play a key role in the broader ecosystem and this is so important that it justifies not developing the land. But, before we give up on the proposal, let’s hear from an ecologist on this point. We should also note that the Town has not arrived at this judgment. The two parcels were chosen in part because they are not conservation easements. One possible reason for this is the parcels of land are right next to the large Bolin Creek Conservation Area. We’re not short of conserved forest land in this part of Carrboro. We can also explore whether we can build housing while maintaining much of the existing tree cover and a pathway for wildlife.

The same point holds for carbon emissions. Yes, forests are good for carbon sequestration and help cool the surrounding neighborhoods, and the Town has also set itself goals to lower emissions. But the Town needs to be smart about where it cuts. The Town needs to cut back where it can without sacrificing valuable activities, such as building affordable housing. It also needs to consider all sides of the equation, looking not only at the emissions that will be caused by development, but also all the emissions that will be prevented by development. If families don’t have the option of living on Pathway, they might instead choose to live in less dense housing that is farther from school and work. If we’re going to oppose the development because of a concern for climate change, shouldn’t we be pretty sure that not building has fewer emissions than building? Has anyone actually conducted a back of the envelope estimate here?

More generally, if I’m being honest with myself, opposing this development because of a concern for climate change seems a bit rich. Why would I be concerned with the clearing of this forest but not others (not near my house) for the purposes of building new housing (see developments along Hillsborough and Homestead)? Why would I think it so important to fight climate change here, where it suits my interests, rather than change aspects of my lifestyle which I enjoy but which contribute greatly to my carbon footprint? Aren’t there ways to combat climate change that don’t require contributing to unaffordable housing in Carrboro – e.g. purchasing offsets?

Let me close by making a broader point. We on the left in North Carolina often complain about the Republican-dominated General Assembly and its policy priorities. If only we had control, we tell ourselves, we’d expand Medicaid, invest in our schools, promote racial equity, and construct an egalitarian society. But, we actually don’t see this in many cities and states controlled by Democrats. In particular, despite our claims that housing is a human right, our lawn signs that proclaim that “Black Lives Matter” and “diversity is our strength,” and our commitment to equality of opportunity, we really struggle to get housing policy right. To realize all these goals, we need to build affordable housing in our backyards and we’re often unwilling to do so, sometimes because we’re concerned about preserving our neighborhoods’ character, other times because we’re concerned about conservation. As Council member Susan Romaine puts it:

“The fact that there’s so little land left and we have this rare opportunity to do this, I hope that we will really prioritize that when we move forward with these projects…These are, of course, the most housing cost-burden community members. Many have been historically excluded from the private market and many are going to be community members of color. So, let’s build them a home here in Carrboro.”

Richard V. Reeves illustrates the above points powerfully in his recent book, “Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do About It.” He argues that the chief obstacle to equality of opportunity in the U.S. is not the top 1%; instead, it’s the top 20%. It’s me, and people like me: highly educated, highly paid professionals who buy homes in expensive neighborhoods with strong schools and then take steps to prevent low- and middle-income people from moving there, among other tactics. (This New York Times video offers another illustration of these points).

The Town’s proposal has the potential to reduce the housing costs of low-income families, promote social mobility, and advance racial equity. We shouldn’t assume that those same housing units will be built elsewhere, or built in a neighborhood as conducive to kids’ thriving. Let’s give the proposal the best chance of success we can and see if we can address the concerns many of us have. Let’s live up to our values.

(If you agree, please let the Town Council know: council@townofcarrboro.org)

“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.

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