HomeMy WebLinkAbout3D - Public CommentsRe: Discussion on disposition of Highland Gateway Estate Single-Family Residential Lots
Dear Palm Springs City Council,
Lift to Rise’s Housing Stability Collaborative Action Network (CAN) is writing to express our deep support
for Home Ownership Sweat Equity or Homeownership with Down Payment Assistance for item number
3D, request of direction of the disposition of Highland Gateway Estate Single-Family Residential Lots. We
encourage the city to work with Coachella Valley Housing Coalition, a local affordable housing developer
with a successful record of accomplishment of implementing Home Ownership Sweat Equity programs,
for this effort
In Palm Springs today, 41% of Black households own their homes, compared to 71% of non-Hispanic
white households, and census data reveals that homeowners in Palm Springs earn double what renters
earn. In terms of income, the Census data reveals that the median income among Black households in
Palm Springs is $43,125 compared to $104,049 among non-Hispanic white households. Homeowners
regardless of race earn more than double what renters do.
According to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Trymaine Lee, in his article on Black inheritance in the New
York Times magazine, Black people are 13% of the United States population but hold less than three
percent of the nation’s total wealth. In terms of net worth, 19% of Black households have zero or
negative net worth, while just nine percent of white families are that poor.
These outcomes continue to impede the ability of Communities of Color households to build
generational wealth. One solution is to use the Highland Gateway Estate Single-Family Residential Lots
as Home Ownership Sweat Equity or Homeownership with Down Payment Assistance Home Ownership
Sweat Equity or Homeownership with Down Payment Assistance.
Lift to Rise Housing CAN urging you to meaningfully consider the disposition of Highland Gateway Estate
Single Family residential lots and create Home Ownership Sweat Equity or Homeownership with Down
Payment Assistance as it would create more ownership opportunities for communities of color in Palm
Springs.
Lift to Rise formed to transform the systems that generate supply of affordable housing, recognizing that
the combination of low wages and high housing costs are the root causes of financial precarity among
Coachella Valley residents.
That is why Lift to Rise and over 60 cross-sector partners, including the City of Indio, have coordinated
around a shared goal of reducing regional housing cost burden at a population level through the
production of 10,000 units of affordable housing in the Coachella Valley by 2028.
Together, we are operating off a shared Action Plan which spans 5 key strategy areas:
1.aggregating a pipeline of community-prioritized projects across the valley,
2.growing a regional Housing Catalyst fund to spur production,
3.advocating at the local, state, and federal level for policies and regulatory changes that support
housing production in our region,
4.engaging and mobilizing residents and elected officials in support of affordable housing, and
5.keeping residents housed through a coordinated eviction prevention strategy.
11/10/2022
Public Comment
Item 3D
We stand ready as a collaborative to support for Home Ownership Sweat Equity or Homeownership with
Down Payment Assistance for item number 3D. We encourage the city to work with Coachella Valley
Housing Coalition, a local affordable housing developer with a successful track record of implementing
Home Ownership Sweat Equity programs, for this effort. We thank the city of Palm Springs for joining us
in this work thus far and urge the city council to continue to prioritize the production of affordable
housing to ensure that all residents are healthy, stable, and thriving and urge you again prioritize
affordability in this development.
Thank you for your time.
Lift to Rise Housing CAN
11/10/2022
Public Comment
Item 3D