Updates on Housing Choice Voucher Program

Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance

Every month housing advocates meet to discuss any threats to affordable housing. The December meeting featured representatives from the Housing Choice Voucher program who provided their periodic update on the success of this critical affordable housing program. Priscilla Pointer Hicks attended the meeting to give a report to the community on the voucher program. Currently, they have distributed 99.8% of all the vouchers available or over 14,000 vouchers on the streets. 35% of the vouchers are disabled, and they are hoping to be able to expand if the federal Section 8 reform bill passes.

One of the items that we hear all the time is that the Section 8/voucher holders are bad tenants and turn a neighborhood. There are bad section 8 tenants just as their are bad regular tenants, but what does not get enough attention are the bad landlords. But besides all that, there is a great deal of mythology associated with the Section 8 voucher program. What most people do not realize is how small an impact Section 8 tenants have on a community. Based on the report issued by CMHA here are the top communities based on the percentage of their total rental housing using a Section 8 voucher. These are based on 2000 Census figures of rental housing. A great deal has changed in the last 10 years. So, for example some markets have seen large numbers of houses become rental units because of foreclosures which increases the number of rental units and can alter the percentage of voucher holders.

Community (listed by %) Rental Units in 2000 Choice Vouchers 12/1/09 percent
1. Maple Hts. 1,697 541 31.9%
2. Garfield Hts. 2,460 482 19.6%
3. South Euclid 1,532 256 16.7%
4. Euclid 9,874 1,589 16.1%
5. Highland Hills 128 19 14.8%
6. Bedford Hts. 2,393 278 11.6%
7. Cleveland Hts. 7,960 837 10.5%
8. East Cleveland 7,229 687 9.5%
9. Warrensville Hts. 3,290 283 8.6%
10. Shaker Hts. 4,266 340 8.0%
10. Orange Village 50 4 8.0%

Other notable cities:
Lakewood 14,642 424 2.9%
Cleveland 98,135 7,555 7.7%
Parma 7,904 154 1.9%

It is interesting that the last mayoral election in Lakewood had a great deal of attention on Section 8 voucher holders. The victor in that race railed against voucher holders, and yet Lakewood has such a small number of the renters.

Next meeting is January 4, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. at 1350 Euclid Ave. in the basement of the US Bank building.

Brian Davis
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