A new plan proposes to inject new life into the City of Syracuse’s depressed housing market. The 70-page Syracuse Housing Strategy aims to pump money into so-called “middle” neighborhoods, that have the potential of deteriorating.
This plan is part of a multi-year focus on the Salt City’s housing crisis. A study last year outlined a housing market in distress: a gap where the cost to build or rehabilitate housing is more than the market can afford.
The Syracuse Housing Trust Fund was created earlier this year to offer loans and grants to property owners to help bridge that gap. This latest study zeros down on where that cash might go — not to distressed low-income neighborhoods, but those in danger of decline.
Michelle Sczpanski, Deputy Commissioner of Neighborhood Development, said this strategy is different from traditional housing development projects that use funding streams with tight income constraints that limit work in more middle-income neighborhoods.
“This has really called into focus as the need for us to make sure that we're taking an intentional approach and addressing conditions in those kind of middle neighborhoods that are very much vulnerable to decline if left up to their own devices," Sczpanski said.
The initial areas chosen for the plan are the city’s west side, and Salt Springs neighborhood, with funds available starting next year.
"We looked really, really intentionally to kind of make sure that the areas that we were picking first had some type of relevance to neighborhood strengths and community assets and resident capacity and involvement as another big priority," Sczpanski said.
Onondaga County Legislator Mo Brown is a member of the Housing Strategy Steering Committee. His initial reaction?
"I don't think it's the best strategy," Brown said. "However, it is data-driven and I do think it can work. Like the numbers suggest it should work and these are places that we can build outward from."
Brown also emphasizes this particular plan shouldn’t ignore other ongoing initiatives meant to bring a depressed housing stock back to life.
"I feel like the narrative is going to be like, 'We're going to just scrap everything, no more work on the South Side, no more work on the North Side and only work in these neighborhoods,'" Brown said. "And that's not the case, that's not what's happening. This is just a specific new initiative that's being proposed, and I think overall it's a net positive."
There will be a community open house on the strategy Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Northeast Community Center.
