What is the goal of the Columbia Housing Center?

The goal of the Columbia Housing Center is to sustain Columbia’s residential integration so that all of Columbia is attractive and welcoming to all ethnic and racial groups.

Why is the Housing Center needed?

Columbia is a remarkably diverse and integrated community as compared to our region, which is highly segregated. Of Columbia’s census tracts, more than 2/3 reflect the region’s overall balance of black, white, Asian and Latino residents, while only 9 percent of the region’s census tracts do.

However, a worrisome trend of pockets of racial segregation is emerging in our community. Now is the time to promote the racial integration that has distinguished our community. We know — based on national experience — that if an area is no longer seen as desirable by one or more racial groups, that loss of demand affects not only home values and other measures of prosperity, but the very sprit of a place.

How does the Housing Center work?

As a rental housing locator service, the Columbia Housing Center helps landlords find tenants and tenants find homes. It also provides training and educational programming.

• With detailed information provided by property owners, the center maintains a database of available units to help renters find listings that match their preferences such as rent, bedrooms, amenities and community assets.
• Housing center staff engages apartment seekers about the center’s mission of promoting racial integration and lets clients know that the center recommends apartments that further that goal.
• Apartment seekers define their needs and get a tailored set of listings to help with their search.

A Typical Housing Search

A Search by a Housing Center Client

What are the benefits?

• Diverse schools
• Stable, improved property values
• Greater understanding across racial and ethnic groups
• Stable, vibrant and inclusive communities

Has this been done anywhere else?

Yes. In Oak Park, Illinois (outside Chicago). Faced with rapid racial change 50 years ago (about the same time Columbia was being founded), residents of Oak Park created a Housing Center to cultivate Oak Park as a stable, integrated community.  Their model has been remarkably successful: at least two-thirds of people who go to the Oak Park Housing Center end up making moves that improve the integration of their community.

Oak Park has sustained higher property values as compared to its less integrated neighboring communities, and the Housing Center has enjoyed steady municipal support from its founding through to today – a testament to the impact of this proactive approach.

What about owner-occupied homes? Isn’t it important for those to be integrated, too?

Yes, it certainly is. In Oak Park, the Housing Center works with local real estate agents to encourage homebuyers to consider homes throughout their town and we want to do that in Columbia, too. The Columbia Housing Center initially focuses on rental housing because it’s easier to set up a central referral service for rental homes, and because renters move more often and can have a quicker impact on the integration (or segregation) of a community.

How does the Columbia Housing Center address affordable housing?

Given historic racial disparities in wealth, affordable housing is an important component of racial integration. In fact, agencies that distribute funds for affordable housing (like HUD, the State of Maryland, and local jurisdictions and housing agencies) have a duty under the Fair Housing Act to operate their programs in a way that counters historic racial segregation patterns.

The Columbia Housing Center is designed to promote racial integration regardless of income and is a voice helping to ensure that local affordable housing policy supports the goal of a racially integrated Columbia.

What is affirmative marketing?

Affirmative marketing is a practice whereby an entity, like the Columbia Housing Center, engages in race-conscious marketing in order to provide home seekers with information regarding properties they might not ordinarily know of or consider, with the goal of increasing integration.

Are the Columbia Housing Center’s affirmative marketing activities permissible under the Fair Housing Act (FHA)?

Yes. For over 25 years, federal courts have held that affirmative marketing is permissible under the FHA.  The Columbia Housing Center voluntarily engages in affirmative marketing practices to encourage individuals to broaden their housing search, and thereby encourage a diverse and integrated community. In addition, the Center ensures that its marketing programs do not limit housing opportunities or grant preferences based on any protected class and neither excludes nor deters any prospective homebuyers or tenants. For more information on how affirmative marketing is not only legal, but also advances the intentions of the FHA, please see South-Suburban Housing Center v. Greater South Suburban Board of Realtors, 935 F.2d 868 (7th Cir. 1991).

How can I get involved?

You can help with outreach to constituencies and stakeholders to explain the need to retain and sustain Columbia as an integrated community. You may have ideas for how to effectively develop relationships that will be helpful. Perhaps you have expertise that will help the Columbia Housing Center get started (administrative, legal, financial, fundraising). You might even join a Board committee. To get involved in the Columbia Housing Center or to learn more, contact us. Tax deductible donations can be made here.