Results from the Syracuse Housing Study are in and they could mean a huge challenge for the city.
Beginning last October and concluding this May, the Syracuse Housing Study was designed to figure out and understand current housing conditions, trends and needs in the city. The City of Syracuse partnered with the Maine consulting firm czb LLC for the study — which the city can use to develop housing strategies moving forward.
The study’s central findings outlined main issues lie in the city’s market and affordability gaps. Peter Lombardi, director of revitalization planning at czb, said this will be hard to overcome when looking for effective strategies.
“One of the challenges with developing sound strategies for a city like Syracuse is that if you’re making progress on your market gap, you risk widening your affordability gap at the same time and losing ground there,” Lombardi said.
The market gap is the difference between the cost of building or maintaining housing and what households with enough income are willing to pay. While the affordability gap is the difference between the cost of building or maintaining housing and what households are able to pay. Both gaps have an impact on investment opportunities and the extent to which the city can provide aid. Charles Buki, president of czb, said Syracuse is going to have to help itself in order to close those gaps.
“You’ve got a big financial gap, a challenge ahead of you, that will not get solved by Albany, is not solvable by Albany, will not get solved by Washington, is not solvable by Washington and can only be solved here,” Buki said.
Syracuse Common Councilor Chol Majok said the city has to help strengthen its people to provide better assistance with housing gaps
“When we talk about helping our city become a stronger city, it’s a holistic view on how do we strengthen folks,” Majok said.
A proposal for a second phase to solve the housing issue in Syracuse is being planned by the Neighborhood and Business Development Department.
