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<br />Ibarra, Evelyn <br />From:Nathaniel Greensides <mynci90@gmail.com> <br />Sent:Wednesday, July 10, <br />To:eComment <br />Subject:Agenda item 12 - July 16, 2024 City Council Meeting <br /> Attention: This email originated from outside of City of Santa Ana. Use caution when opening attachments or links. <br />Dear City Council, <br /> <br />While I generally welcome and applaud the construction of affordable housing units for ownership (instead of only <br />affordable rental units), I wish to express some points of consideration regarding affordable housing development in our <br />City as a whole: <br /> <br />Habitat for Humanity OC has shown a good track record. I think there needs to be a requirement that they collaborate <br />with other Community Based Organizations moving forward so as to share the wealth and increase the number of <br />qualified local community-based housing developers in our City. There are a few organizations that submitted proposals <br />in recent housing RFPs that were ultimately not selected due to lack of years of experience in housing development who <br />could benefit from collaboration and knowlege sharing with organizations that do ultimately get selected in City RFPs. <br /> <br />The location of where affordable units for sale are developed reflects a continuing sense of inequity among <br />neighborhoods of Santa Ana wherein low-density, high-value-per-square-foot residential neighborhoods, tend to keep <br />affordable units out of their neighborhoods (2525 north main street) while already dense, lower income neighborhoods <br />get selected for affordable housing development. There needs to be a better blend of incomes and types of residential <br />housing throughout all of the City to ensure that all of our City can develop and grow in a healthy manner. If the current <br />trend continues, we will see and experience - very quickly - a further entrenching and worsening of pre-existing <br />conditions exacerbated by income inequality. <br /> <br />The for-sale affordable housing being constructed will still not be affordable for many tenants who have lived in our City <br />for decades. While Habitat for Humanity has assisted many families in becoming first time homebuyers, the additional <br />barriers that are enacted upon the demographics served by these types of initiatives do not even compare to the <br />barriers enacted upon first time home buyers who are privileged enough to buy a home with money from family or <br />having saved a substantial sum from high income employment. The inequity there should not be disregarded. <br /> <br />Again, overall, I think this project and similar projects are needed and welcomed. I think it stands to serve us all to <br />ensure that we always question how we best achieve housing affordability and who these types of initiatives actually <br />wind up serving. When a majority of tenants and residents who have lived in a place for decades (if not most of a <br />lifetime) are never considered and positively impacted by initiatives purporting to increase opportunities for home <br />ownership, I think there needs to be a change in said initiative(s) to ensure that all people who live in our City actually <br />have a fair shot at housing independence and housing self-determination. <br /> <br />Sincerely, <br />Nathaniel Greensides <br />Ward 5 resident <br />1 <br />