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4. Affordability and Displacement Everett Housing Action Plan 45 <br /> <br />4. Affordability and Displacement <br />INTRODUCTION <br />Review of Housing Displacement <br />As our community continues to grow and housing development continues, many households may face <br />greater obstacles with meeting their housing needs. Higher housing prices, lower vacancies, and <br />changes in available housing can mean that households will face greater pressures to access safe, <br />affordable, and appropriate housing. <br />These market pressures can result in housing displacement, where households are excluded from <br />living in certain neighborhoods they could access in the past because they can no longer find <br />appropriate and affordable housing. This displacement can take many forms: <br /> The existing residents of a community may not be able to support increases in housing costs and <br />may be forced to find lower-cost options elsewhere. <br /> Current residents may also be displaced if their housing is redeveloped, and there are simply no <br />other suitable options in the area, even if some options would otherwise be affordable. <br /> Potential residents that might otherwise be able to move into a particular neighborhood are now <br />unable to do so because of higher rents and a lack of affordable housing options in the area. <br />While these concerns are often focused on costs, there may be other shifts as well that can impact <br />access to housing. One factor can often be with the size of available housing units: <br /> For owner-occupied housing, especially single-family housing, new housing may be built to be as <br />large as possible to maximize profits, which can price out many households even if the market <br />value of smaller housing would be more affordable. <br /> For rentals, new housing may include more smaller units (e.g., studios and one-bedroom <br />apartments) that are not as appropriate for families with children, which may not be able to find <br />appropriate housing in the community. <br />Although households being shut out of the city can reflect general housing supply issues and additional <br />cost burdens on households to access housing, there are other effects that need to be considered: <br /> For individual households, alternative housing options may require longer commuting times and <br />greater transportation costs; displacement of children from local school districts; relocation to <br />areas with fewer services and community connections; or occupying housing that is unhealthy, <br />unsafe, or otherwise inappropriate. In many cases, displacement may also lead to homelessness. <br />These can pose considerable financial, social, and health impacts on households. <br /> For different social and cultural groups in the city, both the displacement of existing residents and <br />the exclusion of new residents can affect the long-term sustainability of these communities. <br />Changes in the cultural character and makeup of a community can reduce important social <br />connections, and local businesses supporting members of these communities may no longer have <br />the customer base to continue. This can contribute to a decline in local support networks and in <br />the diversity of the community.