The City of Cincinnati Consolidated Plan describes activities and projects that will be funded under the 1995 Community Development Block Grant, the Emergency Shelter Grant and the HOME Investment Partnership Programs. The total estimated Consolidated Plan resource for 1995 is $26 million.
The Consolidated Plan Budget is reviewed and recommended by the Community Development Advisory Board (CDAB), a volunteer citizen's group broadly representative of the community. Members are appointed by the Mayor with the approval of City Council.
The human services operating programs and the human services facility
improvement requests, including the homeless and transitional housing requests,
were reviewed by the Human Services Advisory Committee (HSAC) which made
recommendations to the CDAB. The HSAC is a citizen advisory committee which
reviews the City's assistance program for human service activities in the City.
The demographic trends experienced by the city of Cincinnati during the last decade are not unlike those that have occurred in other older cities: overall population decline, increase in minority and low income populations, loss of jobs to outlying suburban areas, and an increase in female head of households with children.
According to 1990 U.S. Census data, Cincinnati's population totals 364,040. Of those individuals, 220,285 are white (60.5%), 138,133 (38%) are African-American, and 623 (1.5%) are categorized as "other". Between 1980 and 1990 the City lost 21,417 people or 5.56% of its population; however, the African-American population increased from 33.8% in 1980 to the current 38% in 1990. Comparatively, the total population in the Cincinnati metropolitan area rose 5.1 % during the same period.
According to 1990 US Census data, 24% of the city's total population is living below the poverty line, an increase of 4% from 1980. Of those in poverty, 40% are aged 0- 17, and 65% are female. Between 1980 and 1990, the number of African-American residents living below the poverty level increased from 33% to 39%.
Twenty-two percent of all households are headed by females with children. The majority of these households, 72%, are headed by a black female. Children living in female headed households are more likely to be at poverty status. There are 27,011 children at poverty status in this type of household, only 13,277 of this group are above poverty status.
In 1990 there were 50,587 persons aged 65 years % or older in Cincinnati, a slight decrease from 50,726 in 1980. Fifty-four percent of all elderly households are low income (0-50% MFI).
Between 1980 and 1990 the overall unemployment rate of the City decreased from 8.7% to 7.9%. During the same period, the unemployment rate for African-Americans decreased from 15.2% to 14.8%. In January 1993 the overall unemployment rate was 8.4%. Since that time, the City's unemployment rate has remained higher than the state and national rates.
Over the past decade a number of major employers in the City have reduced the size of their work force. From 1980-1993, Cincinnati firms eliminated more than 12,500 positions.
A Cincinnatian is more likely to be a tenant than an owner. Since 1940, the
owner- occupancy rate has remained static. Currently, only 36% of Cincinnatians
own their own home, compared to a national home ownership rate of 64%.
The City of Cincinnati undertook an extensive Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) needs assessment process during 1993 for a five-year CHAS. Several focus groups made up of neighborhood residents, nonprofit groups, social service providers and interested members of the public met to discuss the needs of federally specified groups. These reports were distributed to the Community Development Advisory Board (CDAB), the City's citizen advisory body for federally funded housing and community development programs. The reports became part of the determination of priorities for housing. Due to the timing of the federal regulation, no new planning effort was undertaken for the 1995 Consolidated Plan. The Housing and Homeless Needs Assessment and Priorities portions of the Consolidated Plan document contain extensive excerpts from the 1994-98 CHAS.
Three critical housing needs were identified through the needs assessment process: increasing the affordability of housing, rehabilitating substandard housing units, and decreasing the incidence of overcrowding. According to 1990 Census data, there are 154,243 households in Cincinnati of which 49,000 (32%) have a housing problem. Not surprisingly, households with housing problems most often are low income households: 76% of the households with housing problems in Cincinnati are low income. Housing problem is defined by the federal government as physical defects, overcrowding or cost burdened.
Cost Burden and Severe Cost Burden
Cost burden is the most frequently reported problem. Of the 44,910 households with a cost burden, 94% are low income, of which well over two-thirds are low income renters. Cost burden means a household is paying more than 30% of income for housing needs. Households with a severe cost burden number 21,742, of which 47% are low income. Severe cost burden means a household paying more than 50% of income for housing needs.
The following illustrates the number of households that are cost burdened by income category.
Extremely Low Income (0-30% MFI) number of households 35,819 cost burdened households 26,617 (74%) severe cost burdened 18,984 (53%) Very Low Income (31-50% MFI) number of households 21,108 cost burdened households 11,180 (53%) severe cost burdened 2,228 (7%) Low income (51-90% MFI) number of households 28,131 cost burdened households 4,425 (16%) severe cost burdened 435 (2%) Moderate Income (81-100% MFI) number of households 11,888 cost burdened households 896 (7.5%) severe cost burdened 95 (.8%)
Substandard Units
The CHAS process recommends that the Census definition of Substandard Unit (absence of complete plumbing, bath, kitchen facilities for exclusive use of unit) be employed; however, this leads to an unrealistically low level of reported defective units. If the American Housing Survey is employed, a higher level of defective units is reported. The factors determining physical problems in the American Housing Survey are roughly equivalent to the Housing Quality Standards measure of quality for assisted projects. The survey incorporates the U.S. Census definition of lack of complete plumbing and kitchen facilities for the exclusive use of the units. Based on this measure, it is estimated that 10,000 housing units are substandard. Another estimate available is the number of housing units cited for building code violations. According to the Department of Buildings and Inspections, approximately 9,000 housing units have building code violations. Building code violation citations are primarily complaint driven.
The following estimates, however, were developed by the City's CHAS Consultant through interviews with social service practitioners. The definition of substandard units was used in a broader sense than in the American Housing Survey estimates. Consequently, these estimates report a higher number of substandard units.
Extremely and Very Low Income (0-50% MFI) households live in inadequate dwelling units more often than others. It is estimated that at least half, 28,464, of these households live in a substandard unit, and the majority of them (87%) are renters. It is estimated that 25% of the 28,131 Low Income households (51-80% MFI) live in substandard housing. At the Moderate Income Level (81 - 100% MFI), however, physical inadequacies decline dramatically. Only an estimated 1O% of the 11,883 households at this income level are living in substandard housing.
Overcrowding
Overcrowding is not as much of a problem for owners as for renters. Only 706 of the 59,310 owners in Cincinnati report overcrowding. However, 4,835 of the 95,032 renter households report overcrowding.
Overcrowding is a problem for large family households at all income levels, particularly for those households at the Extremely Low Income level. Of the 2,254 households reported as overcrowded at the Extremely Low Income level, 1,480 have five or more members. Of the 1020 households at the Low Income level reported as overcrowded, 721 have five or more members. Overcrowding affects large rental households more frequently because affordable large rental units are not available.
The 1990 Census identified 169,088 housing units within the City of Cincinnati, a reduction of 3,483 from the 1980 Census. The actual number of vacant units declined by only 148 units, maintaining the 1980 vacancy rate of 8.7% in the 1990 Census. The single-family, detached unit represents 33.5% of all housing units. Multifamily housing provided 90.23% of rental housing.
Almost all existing units are unsuitable for persons with physical disabilities. Significant portions of units are built on hillsides or raised foundations and the majority of low income rental units are "walk-ups" of two or more stories. It is estimated that less than 300 accessible units are available in Cincinnati, while 29,000 accessible units are needed.
Cincinnati has had a consistent home ownership percentage of 36%. Because of this low level, the maintenance of current owner-occupied units is a priority. Assisting first time home buyers of all incomes is another priority, due to the many benefits which accrue to Cincinnati and its residents from home ownership. The creation of new affordable units and provisions to keep people in existing units constitute an important aspect of homeless prevention.
Housing units in Cincinnati are older than housing in the balance of the area; 95.3% of city units were built prior to 1979. Half the housing stock of Cincinnatti was constructed before 1947.
Despite the predominance of older housing units, much of the housing is well maintained. Based on the definition of substandard units by the American Housing Survey, 10,000 housing units are substandard and occupied, 8,000 units have moderate physical problems and 2,000 units are burdened with severe physical problems.
In Cincinnati, the average contract rent is $298. More than 30,667 households pay a mortgage in Cincinnati. The majority of households pay between $400 and $699 in monthly housing expenses for a payment, taxes, insurance and utilities. The average purchase cost in 1988 was $88,000.
Twenty-one of the city's fifty-one neighborhoods are predominantly African-American. In Cincinnati, the only large group of minorities is African-American citizens.
For the purposes of its 1995 Consolidated Plan, the City uses a two-tier definition of an area of low income concentration:
Using this two tiered definition, seven neighborhoods with a significant concentration of low income population meet the first definition and an additional fifteen neighborhoods with median family incomes of 65% or less of median family income meet the second definition.
There is a need to:
An estimated 18,000 persons are homeless during the year in Cincinnati, with possibly as many as 10% being homeless at any one time. The question of why a person or family is homeless has many answers. Perhaps the best effort at generalization is to say that Cincinnati's four high risk populations - very low income families with children, substance abusers, the chronic mentally-ill and single adults, living below the poverty level - are different faces of one underlying condition: income that is not adequate to provide the necessities of life.
A 1994 study of Cincinnati's homeless by Planning Concepts, Inc. emphasized that the greatest unmet need is for more housing options for women, families with children (including emergency shelter space), but particularly transitional and permanent independent housing, and housing for persons and families with chemical dependency/substance abuse problems.
During the 1994 Federal Fiscal Year, the City had 3,309 vouchers and certificates for rental assistance, 7,658 public housing units and 443 modernization units under the Section 8 Program. This was an increase of 132 units during 1994. The Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) has received notice that it will receive an additional 164 vouchers/certificates in 1995.
Approximately 71% of the public housing units were constructed prior to 1964. The average age of units in CMHA's large family developments is 48 years. These developments represent 66% of Cincinnati's public housing units.
An additional 11,838 units are available through other sources of assistance, such as the Hamilton County Section 8 program, HUD's Section 8 program, and programs with rent restrictions and income limitations, such as the Rental Rehab Program.
Barriers to developing affordable housing have been identified, including cost, lack of incentives to develop, maintain and improve affordable housing, certain local policies, and certain state regulations. Although Cincinnati is frequently cited as one of the lower cost areas of the country, a large proportion of city residents, particularly tenants, are cost burdened.
Cincinnati has been aware of the need to remove obstacles to affordable housing development for some time, such as restrictive zoning and building codes, permit processing time and procedures. Progress has been made over the past few years to remove these obstacles and the Department of Buildings and Inspections will undertake a study of the housing code provisions and methods of enforcement in an effort to reduce regulatory burdens in order to actively promote housing development. Additionally, there are several state regulatory barriers to affordable housing including residential prevailing wage requirements, and uniform building and rehabilitation codes.
Other impediments to affordable housing include residential lending practices, neighborhood opposition to lower income units (especially rental units), absentee landowners and negligent property owners.
The City of Cincinnati has contracted with Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME), a private, nonprofit fair housing agency, for the past 16 years to affirmatively promote fair housing. HOME provides fair housing education to the Cincinnati Board of Realtors, the major real estate brokerage firms, rental management companies, builders and investor groups.
HOME monitors the private housing market (rental and sales) through an ongoing testing program. HOME aids those who encounter discrimination in housing by investigation, counseling, and assistance in filing administrative complaints and lawsuits.
HOME also examines from time-to-time the mortgage lending patterns of federally regulated lenders to determine if they are affirmatively originating mortgage lending in neighborhoods which have a primarily African-American population.
The City of Cincinnati regularly invests in assisting families who do not have decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing, Those investments have been made in nearly every neighborhood and have covered a variety of types of assistance. In fact, 43 of the 48 Cincinnati neighborhoods were the beneficiaries of housing investments made by Cincinnati during the years 1989 through 1991. Both in number of units and dollar amount, the vast majority of City housing investments have been in African-American and low income neighborhoods.
Due to the age of Cincinnati's housing stock, it is assumed that approximately 90% contains some level of lead paint hazard because it was constructed before lead base paint was restricted. Over 40% of Cincinnati's housing stock was constructed prior to 1940 and 95% built prior to 1980. We can assume that lead-based paint is a hazard, not only to low income families, but to many other families in the city.
Four non-housing community development needs were identified - increasing employment opportunities, maintaining and attracting industrial enterprises, retaining the viability of neighborhood business districts, and promoting small and minority-owned business firms.
As stated earlier, during the last decade Cincinnati's population declined by 5.56% and the number of persons living below the poverty line increased from 19.7% to 24.3%. While large companies throughout the City continue "downsizing," small companies are struggling to increase their employment levels. In addition, the City has experienced the out-migration of businesses and thus, the challenge of competing with the suburbs. Healthy cities must maintain a diverse economic base which includes maintaining a balance of inner city businesses. Such businesses and the jobs they provide enable the City to respond to the large volume of unemployed residents traditionally located within inner cities.
Older, built-up municipalities like Cincinnati have little vacant land available for development. These cities must plan for the use and reuse of limited commercially zoned land, in order to maximize the opportunities for investment by existing and new businesses.
The physical impact of blight on a small neighborhood commercial district is evident much sooner than in large commercial or industrial areas. The loss of one business in a neighborhood business district may result in a sharp decrease in the volume of business to the area and adversely impact adjacent businesses. Without a replacement of a viable business to the area the vacancy rate is likely to increase as it becomes harder to attract new business to a neighborhood.
Small business start-up and development have been most beneficial in
allowing the City's unemployment rate to show a slight decrease between 1980 and
1990. Roughly half of all minority and women-owned businesses are in the
service sector. By looking at the increased role of small businesses in the
economy and the proportion of MBEs and WBEs found in service industries, the
importance of targeting these groups for financial and technical assistance is
critical to keeping unemployment down in a changing job market.
The 1994-1998 CHAS process identified housing priorities. The Community Development Advisory Board (CDAB) recommended that the housing priorities be reaffirmed for the 1995 Consolidated Plan.
Renters:
Owners:
Renters/Owners:
Homelessness:
The following nonhousing community development priorities have been identified.
To reduce the number of households with incomes below the poverty level, the applicable programs designed and controlled by Cincinnati have either job creation or skill development as their primary objective.
Specific resources to carry out the plan include Federal, State, county, city and educational institutions. Numerous nonprofit organizations also are involved in housing and community development activities, as well as financial institutions, builders and developers, and service providers. Contributions from these sources have been detailed.
The Consolidated Plan process provided an opportunity for social service
providers from a broad range of agencies to come together to discuss common
needs. Coordination of services has happened informally through contacts made
during the needs assessment process.
The One-Year Action Plan outlines the proposed use of approximately $26 million in CDBG, HOME, and Emergency Shelter Grant funds, in addition to program income. Activities include:
Most activities are citywide programs that may be used to benefit any eligible individual or household in any eligible area of the city.
MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.
MAP 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels.
MAP 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
MAP 5 is a map, sectioned by neighborhood, which depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
MAP 6 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects within one of the four neighborhoods indicated in MAP 5.
MAP 7 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded project(s) from a street level vantage point.
TABLE (without associated map) provides information about the project(s).
