With New Leadership, Could Reno and Washoe County Begin a New Era of Expanded Social Housing?
With some of the new mayors elected during these midterms across the country promising a return to “sewer socialism,” as reported extensively by the In These Times publication last week, could the approach be tried here in Reno with the newly elected Democrat Kate Marshall, especially in regards to being more aggressive in getting more residents into decent housing?
While some on the local Reno subreddit have called Marshall Momdani, nothing indicates so far she has similar progressive ambitions as the New York City mayor. But with more and more locals wanting to see more people focused policies from our government leaders, who knows where the next few years will take us.
The sewer socialism term harks back to Milwaukee when socialist mayors there in the early part of the 20th century helped bring modern sewage and wastewater treatment systems to the city, as well as public parks and for the first time in the country’s history municipal public housing.
According to the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, “Garden Homes, completed in 1923, included both single-family homes and duplexes, and was the first municipally-sponsored public housing project in the United States. During the Depression Milwaukee became home to Parklawn, a Public Works Administration project built on vacant land on the western edge of the city. Parklawn was made up of two-story brick row houses with numerous amenities, including a community center with a health clinic.
Despite opposition from local builders and real estate dealers, in 1944 the Milwaukee Common Council created the Milwaukee Housing Authority (MHA), now known as the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM).”
Could we see some new more aggressive housing ideas take shape as we are well into the 20s of this century?
More recently, as a nearby possible model to explore, Seattle set up the Seattle Social Housing Developer, with a municipal office of social housing. “Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD) is a public development authority focused on addressing the city’s housing needs through the innovative social housing model. Created in 2023 with the passage of I-135, we intend to acquire and build high-quality housing that is publicly owned and permanently affordable, sustainable and inclusive for all Seattle residents,” its website indicates.
“As a public development authority, our charter gives us a public mission while operating separately from the Seattle City government. It means all buildings and units will be public goods, and not privately owned by developers or individuals.”
Progressive politicians across the country have said they are tired of subsidizing private sector landlords or overpaying private developers who have been building and owning apartments for low income residents with different complex financial setups and Section 8 voucher incentives.
Other models to look to include Montgomery County in Maryland, “using a $100 million revolving loan fund to develop more than 3,000 affordable housing units across the county. The Housing Production Fund uses county-backed municipal bonds to provide up-front, low-cost capital for construction, replacing the need for private equity investment.
The Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County (HOC), which operates the fund, is unique in that it functions as a public housing authority, a housing finance agency and a developer, according to Chelsea Andrews, HOC’s executive director. Its multifaceted structure is what has enabled the county to continue developing affordable units, regardless of the market, she noted,” the National Association of Counties indicates.
Food for thought as we enter a new era for both our city and county leadership (where four out of the five county commissioners will now be Democrats), unless of course they want to continue on the path of saying their influence is limited and that they’re doing the best they can, while the quality of life and housing accessibility continues to degrade for many local residents.
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