Rural Voices: Policy & Rural Housing

The Summer 2000 issue of Rural Voices examines some aspects of government policies on the federal, state, and local levels, and their impact on housing conditions for low-income rural residents.

Rural housing is not a significant issue in this year’s elections, but the election results will affect rural housing policy. The Summer 2000 issue of Rural Voices examines some aspects of government policies on the federal, state, and local levels, and their impact on housing conditions for low-income rural residents.

First, although the internal workings of Congress do not often make news headlines, decisions on rural policy can be influenced by the way members of Congress work together. Addressing this fact in a special version of our usual View from Washington column, two representatives explain what they hope to accomplish through the recently revived Congressional Rural Caucus.

Next, the President of the National Low Income Housing Coalition summarizes the status of housing issues in the presidential campaign, and describes a postcard campaign that seeks to raise housing’s profile.

A different perspective is provided by Sharon Bias, the West Virginia Commissioner of Banking, who suggests applying a business model, rather than a political model, to the housing industry. Some of her conclusions may be borne out by the piece that follows hers, in which an experienced housing developer reports on some of the ways federal housing policy affects local rural housing in California.

Three articles address the importance of policy on the state and local levels. The director of the New York State Rural Housing Coalition examines his coalition’s changes over its twenty-year history. More recent events are the focus of the president of the Utah Housing Coalition, who describes her state’s affordable housing crisis and how the state is handling it. Finally, a currently popular aspect of state and local policy-smart growth -is described by an expert at the Urban Land Institute, and some findings from HAC research illuminate the effects of smart growth on affordable rural housing.