Focus Any City Of Their Choosing That Faced Housing Issue

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Introduction
New York is considered on the largest cities in the United States with a population of more than eight million people. Over the years, the population has been growing relative to the rural to urban migration along with immigrants from other cities. This is a trend that can be traced back to the period after the First World War. The prestige of living in the city has over the years yielded some mixed feeling about the state of the city especially with reference to residence quality and access (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,). Affordable housing is one of the most challenging aspects of the city and one the government at the national and largely the local level has been battling since the First World War. The main issue can be traced to the fact that, the supply of the houses and the demand for the same has not achieved an equilibrium for the longest time in history ("Problem - NYC Housing Plan"). Every other New Yorker deserves to live in a city that offers an environment that is safe and affordable (Glen, Alicia). For the most part of the history of the city, the have been some significant challenges as to how the element of affordable and safe housing can be achieved.
Housing in New York
Over the last twenty years, the wages of the New York renters have stagnated. The only notable or significant change in increase that has taken place with reference to the income the average New Yorker earns, has been less than 15% (Glen, Alicia). It is important to note that this after the same has been adjusted for inflation. This is low relative to the pressure the new Yorkers have to deal with in light of the tidal changes in the economy and in this not in their favor. One of the element to consider in this paper is the fact that, the average rent in New York over the last twenty years has increased over 40% (Glen, Alicia). Compared to the less than fifteen percent of increase in the salaries and wages of the people living in New York, this is a huge and impossible bargain to work with. This means that over the years the new Yorkers have had to put up with an ever-increasing margin in the amount they have to sacrifice from their income to pay for their rent. What is most important is that the rent increase in the city affects all the five boroughs (Glen, Alicia). New Yorkers have to struggle constantly to put a roof over their head. This is significant considering the fact that, even the cost of other aspects ad amenities in the economy are also expensive.
“Cause of the affordable housing crisis is the mismatch between demand for, and the supply of, housing. This stems, in part, from the increasing desirability of calling New York home. For the first time in decades, more people are moving to or staying in the City than leaving: our older residents are aging in place rather than moving after retirement; our young families are remaining in the City rather than moving to the suburbs when their children reach school age; empty-nesters are returning to the City after their children are grown, and people are moving to the City from all over the United States, as well as all over the world. The attractiveness of the City is a hard-fought victory, and we must continue to retain and attract residents in order to prosper.” (Glen, Alicia)
Other than the fact that there is an issue of the rate of demand for housing and the rate at which they can be supplied, there is also the desirability to contend with. People keep moving to the city to live there (Glen, Alicia). The older generation is aging in place other than moving to the suburbs after they have retired. Young families no longer move to the suburbs once they get their children to the school going age. At the same time the empty nesters are returning to the city after their children are all grown up. People are moving to the city from the urban areas and in some of the cases from other cities to come and be associated with the prestige of living in New York.
Resolving the Crisis
To resolve the problem, both the government and the private sector have stepped up to the challenge. This is relative to the realization that the public and private housing at the time did not match the number of residents that existed and the ones who were coming in at the time. This also meant the city was not matched for the demand at the time and in the future relative to the trend in the people increasingly staying in the city and more coming in from the rural and other urban areas. What is more, is the continued mismatch between the demand and supply of housing, further exacerbates the issue of rising inequality in income (HOW HOUSING MATTERS: A Critical Summary Of Research And Issues Still To Be Resolved). This is a direct to the progress of the city, given that there are more than fifty thousand new Yorkers who are homeless and hundreds of thousands that struggle with their rent due to the ever-rising rent compared to the rise in their income.
Housing Projects
As such one of the main approaches that was implemented after the Second World War is private housing. This was an approach that associated with the financial boom that came with after the war spoils. Most of the private developers jumped onto the chance to feel in the gap in the market for housing. However, there was a problem associate with the quality of the houses that were offered. Most of the private developers that stepped in the real estate market, mostly build houses that were of high standards. This means they mostly concentrated in higher standard houses above the affordable rate in the market for most of the poor families. As such, while the private developers came to salvage the situation, they did so for the citizens that were earning above average salaries (Furman Center For Real Estate and Urban Policy,). For the poor families, this only widened the gap and reduced their chances of having a home as the houses available were not affordable. It also made the situation worse for the government that was trying to make sure the challenges in the housing sector were resolved (Pader, Ellen).
The government was left with option however, to venture into the social housing approach. This is the only section of the housing sector, the government had enough influence to make a change. A change that would see the poor in the society get affordable housing in clean and safe neighborhoods. Much of the private investors had managed to eliminate the older slums with the element of raised standard across the city (Power, Anne). This however excluded the poor in the society and their only hope was the government housing the ventures in social housing (Power, Anne). There were a number of significant reasons that pushed to the government to consider social houses in the city of New York, one of them being the fact that the second world war ravages left a number of people in the population homeless and in need of assistance, especially for those with families struggling to get them to safety. After the war, the city was also faced with massive numbers in immigrants, coming to the city from the rural areas along with those who came from the ex-colonies and other countries (HOW HOUSING MATTERS: A Critical Summary Of Research And Issues Still To Be Resolved). At the time, the private urban housing was decaying fast and there were significant difficulties of upgrading or even modernizing the houses, without having to leave hundreds of thousands of residents in the city without homes. In light of the aging housing structures, most of which were built before the war, there was a need to modernize them (Power, Anne). This did not just mean just the aesthetics, but the safety and security standards of the houses also had to be checked and implemented where they were lacking. Some of the houses at the time did not have fire exits, the roofs and the floors were hazardous especially with reference to fires. With some of these improvements the government was able to gradually ensure that the citizens in all of the boroughs were getting affordable and safe housing (Pader, Ellen). At the same time, there was a rise in the belief in the corporate and technocratic solutions that came after the war along with the economic boom of the postwar period. There was also the growth in the tax incomes coming from the economic success the country experienced after the war. The government needed to make the best out of the growing economy.
In a twist of eventualities this also presented the local government and the private sector with an opportunity. The social landlords as they were referred to at the time, considered this as an opportunity as it would be a strong imprint on the land. It presented an opportunity to improv...