One of the most interesting ideas for neighborhood development is coming to Philadelphia—Inclusionary Housing. It is being brought to you by a new alliance, the Campaign for Housing Justice.
You can be there for the premiere if you come to a
Rally for Housing Justice
Tomorrow, Thursday, June 14,
9:30 at the Clothespin (15th and Market).
Inclusionary Housing is a policy that requires residential developers who are getting a tax break, zoning variance or other benefit from the government to provide affordable housing in return. Developers of large projects are required to set aside a certain percentage of their units for affordable housing. Developers of small projects are required to contribute to a fund for affordable housing, such as our Housing Trust Fund.
(The policy is called inclusionary zoning in other places, but for reasons we don’t need to go into here, we have adopted another name in Philadelphia.)
The beauty of Inclusionary Housing is, first, that it does not cost the government any money and, second, that it is designed to encourage the creation of communities that are economically and racially inclusive, diverse and integrated. It is an affordable housing policy that doesn’t just provide housing for people. Instead, it takes advantage of economic development in what were until recently predominantly working class and poor neighborhoods. And it seeks to break down the political, economic and cultural isolation in which most low income people have lived in the last sixty years.
The Campaign for Housing Justice has a broad and growing membership that at present includes the following groups: One Philadelphia, Disabilities Law Project, Penn PIRG, Action Alliance of Senior Citizens, New Jerusalem, Women’s Community Revitalization Project , AFSCME/District 1199C, Tenant Union Representative Network, ACORN, SEIU District 1199P, Kensington Welfare Rights Union, Neighborhood Networks, Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Raise of Hope, Liberty Resources, Project H.O.M.E., Philadelphia Senior Center, Disabled In Action, SEIU Local 32BJ, Circle of Hope Church, Prevention Point of Philadelphia, Jobs with Justice, Philadelphia Unemployment Project, United Communities Southeast Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Affordable Housing Coalition.