Housing Inequality in America

Introduction

At the corner of Byrne and Glendale Avenue in South Toledo sits a large parking lot. The surrounding area, Southland shopping center, includes fast food restaurants, a gym, a Big Lots, a bank, and a quaint Cuban restaurant struggling to keep the lights on. A quarter mile to the west is the University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC), one of the largest employers in Toledo. At the southern end, off of Glendale, a TARTA bus stop provides public transportation. Despite all of the nearby amenities, the parking lot sits mostly empty.


Image of the parking lot. Ramseth, Luke. "Two apartment projects clear first hurdle with Toledo Planning officials." The Blade. 13 January 2022.

In 2021, a proposal was made to rezone the area to allow developers to build an apartment complex in the parking lot. At first glance, the space seems a perfect fit to build housing. It is close to public transit, a large employer, would provide patronage and employees for the nearby businesses, and is centrally located between South Toledo and Maumee. Perhaps most importantly, it would alleviate pressure on Toledo’s tightening housing market. While the city is hemorrhaging population and has a relatively poor economy, housing costs in Toledo are higher as a portion of median income than San Francisco. Research shows that building more housing, specifically dense housing like multiplexes or apartments, brings down housing costs and decreases rent burden for low-income households. 

But many nearby residents did not agree. In January, several attended the first Toledo City Planning Commission hearing on the project to express their concerns. They feared it would drag down the values of their own properties and “generate additional crime in our backyard”. The neighbors organized. They created groups on Facebook and Next Door to oppose the apartments. They attended community meetings and even went door to door to garner support for their cause. But they also wanted to make clear that they did not oppose new housing per se. “We support low and moderate income housing in the city of Toledo,” said one resident. “The issue we have is with the location of that property, which is totally inappropriate for this place.”

To the chagrin of the organizers, Toledo city council voted to approve the project. What happened in the Southland neighborhood is not unique, but part of a larger nationwide movement of local residents who fight tooth and nail to prevent development of any kind near their homes. It is called NIMBY, which stands for “not in my backyard”. NIMBY is a movement of individuals who are opposed to change or development in their neighborhood while not necessarily opposing these same changes or developments elsewhere. NIMBY is not a new phenomenon, and it isn’t limited to housing. But as a nationwide housing shortage exacerbates wealth inequality and increases rent the burden for low income households, opposition to new housing has unleashed new social tensions. To overcome this opposition, it is important to understand the movement’s origins, its motivations and goals, and its strategies.

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