Editor’s Note: This is
part two of a three-part series examining affordable housing in the
Victor Valley. For a look into life in low-income homes, read Tuesday’s
edition of the Daily Press. Click here to read part one.
Low-income housing aims to ensure that everyone, no matter their income level, can find a place to call home.
Many residents say it also means crime, blight, lower property values and an unfair market rate.
“The low income housing has the most crime and drug abuse,” one
VVDailyPress.com reader commented on a recent story. “They have the
most gang activity, it is proven.”
But local law enforcement officials say it’s not necessarily the low-income tenants that put a neighborhood at risk for crime.
“Here in Adelanto, when we run the addresses of incidents, they are
not all centered near low-income or Section 8 housing,” said Staci
Johnson, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Adelanto
station. “I think there is a misconception that the majority of crime
happens in these locations.”
A state agency supports the claim that the income level of residents doesn’t impact the local crime rate.
Not one study shows a link between violent crime and high-density or
affordable housing, according to the California Department of Housing
and Community Development. And once incomes are taken into account, HCD
said the effect of high-density housing on non-violent crime is
insignificant.
Instead, the HCD claims high unemployment rates and lack of
community services that often accompany low-income communities lead to
higher crime rates — factors that could be addressed by local
governments.
Adelanto apartment owner Hanan Levin said he regularly has to evict
or kick out tenants of all income levels for unruly trouble-making at
his 200 units throughout the Inland Empire, where he houses many
Section 8 tenants, whose rent is subsidized by 80 to 100 percent in
federal funds administered by county housing authorities.
One thing Levin said he doesn’t have to worry about with subsidized residents is getting paid.
“Even though the people themselves are maybe on the down-and-out...”
Levin said, “the tenant has to pay a very small portion of the rent, so
the rents are usually guaranteed.”
That’s precisely why Ian Bryant, a Deep Creek resident who also owns
private apartments, spoke against the senior housing project Apple
Valley plans to build.
Bryant cited the slew of affordable housing projects in Hesperia,
which he said have completely eliminated the market rate in the city.
He said regular landlords can’t compete with the subsidized rents
offered in those complexes, which means even more vacancies in existing
developments while cities continue building more low-income units.
Across the country, resistance to multifamily housing is growing,
according to a 2007 study by The Saint Consulting Group, with 44
percent opposed — up 10 percent from the year before.
Levin said an apartment complex “needs constant care-taking and a
lot of attention. Otherwise things can easily get out of control,
especially in hard times and in low incomes,” he said. “It’s not easy
to run apartment buildings like this — it really isn’t.”
Steve Lantsberger, deputy director of economic development for
Hesperia, said apartment owners seeking more tax credits and subsidies
often sign maintenance covenants promising to keep the units up to
standards that the city dictates.
“The council’s policy is to mandate that these apartment units look
like just any other apartments you see,” Lantsberger said, with no
distinction between affordable and unrestricted housing.
Once a year, city staff visits the units to ensure the occupants
still meet income requirements. Lantsberger said they also make sure
they are being maintained and the grounds kept up.
But some residents remain adamant that this monitoring system isn’t effective.
“We have all seen these ‘low-income’ apts (sic) start off really nice, then wind up badly,” a VVDailyPress.com commenter wrote.
One solution that’s proven successful locally is a partnership with
local code and law enforcement called the Crime-Free Multi-Housing
program, where owners and managers screen tenants and get the backing
of deputies.
Under this program, the turnaround for the Sherwood Villa Apartment
on Arlette Drive in Victorville has been amazing, according to Lisa
German, manager of the complex.
Johnson and other officials said the way to curb crime in any area
is for citizens to get to know their neighbors and work hand-in-hand
with their local sheriff’s department.
“People need to take pride in their homes and neighborhoods again,”
said Johnson, and “work to get any criminal element out of their
neighborhoods no matter if it’s low-income or not.”
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