Gerard Albert III/ Editor in Chief
There are a lot of things that make Miami seem like the worst.
Rush hour traffic at noon, unpredictable weather and ever-present construction. But Miami actually is the worst for one thing.
A study from the Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center at FIU found that Miami is the worst large city in the nation for affordable housing.
It is especially affecting the younger populations–so you may be living with Mami and Papi for a long time. That’s if you stay in Miami.
“You leave, you just can’t possibly stay here any longer,” said Ned Murray, associate director of the Metropolitan Center. “We are losing a lot of young people, they’re moving to other states or other parts of Florida that are less expensive.”
According to a LinkedIn workforce report, Miami is losing more workers than it is gaining per month. Most aren’t going far, West Palm and Orlando ranked highest among the cities where Miamians relocate to.
“We’re losing a lot of our young, talented workers and families that need to be here.” Murray said.
The phenomena referred to as brain drain–in which an area loses it most talented and educated workers to other areas–is happening right now.
“Young people are leaving in droves,” said Murray.
Brain drain has an effect on the economy, which is already among the worst in the nation for income according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Florida does not charge an income tax, allowing wages to start lower than in metropolitan areas in states that do. But when compared to the other large metropolitan areas, Miami still falls short.
“It’s not that our rent is higher than New York City or San Francisco, but our wages are so low because we are a service sector economy,” Murray said.
Pushing the crisis is an economy made up of service and hospitality workers living in an investor’s playground.
“Affordable housing is also an economic issue, you’re not going to be able to create a resilient and sustainable economy if you’re losing your workers and working families,” said Murray.
Foreign investors, most from from South America and Europe, who bought up condos after the 2009 recession are still buying property.
Foreign buyers spent $8.7 billion on residential properties across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties from August 2017 through July 2018, an increase from the $7.1 billion spent over the same period the previous year, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.
“There’s very little market out there in terms of housing being built for the people who live here and work here,” Murray said.
Miami only maintains population growth because of immigration and natural births according to census data. 2018 was the second slowest year for population growth in Miami since 2011.
The reason? People can’t afford to stay.
Although Miami continues to be a welcoming area for immigrants to come, most working low-level service and hospitality jobs, new arrivals may not stay long.
“It’s the immigrant population that’s feeding Miami-Dade but once people get here they just move on because they can’t afford to stay,” said Murray.
Foreign and domestic developers are facing a different landscape than the recession of 2009, when they moved west towards the Everglades or south towards Homestead.
Miami earned its nickname, the Magic City, because of its rapid expansion, now developers have nowhere south or west to go and they are targeting poorer neighborhoods.
The comeback from the recession has been geographically uneven, meaning some areas are vulnerable to gentrification.
“Developers are looking at these older neighborhoods which were left alone in the last decade,” Murray said referencing the new developments in West Kendall and Homestead. “Now they are looking at these poorer neighborhoods where a majority of our city’s workers reside.”
The consequence is a city made up of the wealthy, where cultural hubs like Little Haiti, Coconut Grove and Liberty City cease to exist and where young people can’t afford to live.
“If these neighborhoods were in other cities, given their proximity to downtown, they’d be high rent districts, so these neighborhoods are vulnerable from that standpoint.”
The affordable housing master plan released by the Metropolitan Center aims to preserve neighborhoods while geographically concentrating affordable housing investment. This the best defense against large-scale gentrification and displacement according to the plan.
Miami is a renter majority market where over a third of renters are cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their paycheck on rent according to Metropolitan Center study.
Once that percentage reaches 50, most people leave, according to Murray.
The study also found that while the amount of people renting in the Miami went up by 33 percent, the amount of homeowners went down by 17 percent, leaving the percentage of people who owned homes at 30 percent–half of the national average.
The study, commissioned by the City of Miami, was released in May. Last Saturday, Sept. 21, the City and Metropolitan Center wrapped up a series of town hall style meetings to discuss the master plan and hear from residents.
The events were held in Little Haiti and Little Havana, both areas that are in danger of being affected by developers searching for cheap land.
“If we lose these neighborhoods then we aren’t going to be very special anymore,” Murray said. “There goes the magic out of Miami.”
About Post Author
