{"id":12540,"date":"2022-06-18T05:38:40","date_gmt":"2022-06-18T15:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=12540"},"modified":"2022-06-27T18:03:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T04:03:51","slug":"how-to-increase-housing-and-ease-homelessness-in-hawaii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2022\/06\/18\/how-to-increase-housing-and-ease-homelessness-in-hawaii\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Increase Housing And Ease Homelessness In Hawaii"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by <\/em>Mark Coleman

<\/em>As an expression of hope for the next generation of America\u2019s leaders, Joe Kent gave a presentation last Friday to a group of students from Hope College in Michigan, in which he connected the dots between Hawaii\u2019s barriers to housing and its high rate of homelessness.

Kent, executive director of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, made the point that many of Hawaii\u2019s housing regulations are meant to favor the poor, but actually, they serve the very wealthy. And that has made homelessness in Hawaii worse.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his one-hour talk, Kent outlined the four major types of homelessness: transitional, episodic, chronic and \u201chidden.\u201d

\u201cBut there\u2019s another group here, besides just homeless, that are in a tenuous situation,\u201d he said. \u201cThose are folks that do have a home [to live in as renters] but they are unable to meet their basic needs. They may be one paycheck or two paychecks away from becoming homeless, and those are folks we call the ALICE population here, that makes up about 33%. [ALICE stands for \u201casset-limited, income-constrained, employed.]

Since housing comprises the largest portion of their costs, sometimes at the expense of food, clothing and other necessities, understandably many of those residents have been moving away in recent years, in search of cheaper housing and greater job opportunities.

\u201cSo all of this is to say \u2026 we have a big housing problem,\u201d Kent said, \u201cand the question is: Why is the problem so bad?

\u201cThere are a lot of reasons,\u201d he said, \u201cbut No. 1 is housing regulation. We have the highest housing barriers in the nation.\u201d

Kent outlined six major layers of housing regulation: the state Land Use Commission, county plans, community plans, county zoning, special management area permitting and the historic districts.

After describing how each constrains housing, he discussed possible solutions, including reforming the LUC, \u201cbuilding out,\u201d \u201cbuilding up\u201d and liberalizing zoning laws in lands already designated urban.

One student in the audience noted that people who already own homes often oppose zoning reform because it might affect their property values.

\u201cPolitically, that\u2019s the issue,\u201d said Kent. \u201cThe people who need the housing don\u2019t show up at the political process, and the people who don\u2019t need the housing do show up at the political process. So you have the unspoken masses that, you know, don\u2019t have a voice in this problem.\u201d

\u201cWell, how do you go to the zoning meetings when you have to work three jobs?\u201d asked another student.

\u201cAnd take care of all your kids?\u201d said another.

\u201cRight, said Kent. \u201cExactly. I know. So often I\u2019ll go to the zoning meetings and testify on behalf of all those people that can\u2019t make it. But, you know, I\u2019m viewed skeptically as well. It\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, who are you?\u2019 \u2026 \u201cAre you really a developer?\u201d It\u2019s like, \u201cNo, no. I\u2019m just a nerd, you know. So, just don\u2019t be afraid.\u201d

To view the entire presentation, visit grassrootinstitute.org\/2022\/06\/how-to-increase-housing-and-ease-homelessness-in-hawaii\/<\/a>.

MARK COLEMAN<\/strong> is managing editor and communications director for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Jonathan Helton\u2019s article can be viewed by visiting the institute\u2019s website at <\/em>grassrootinstitute.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Coleman As an expression of hope for the next generation of America\u2019s leaders,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,11,41],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?fit=1024%2C644&ssl=1",1024,644,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?fit=300%2C189&ssl=1",300,189,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?fit=640%2C403&ssl=1",640,403,true],"large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?fit=640%2C403&ssl=1",640,403,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?fit=1024%2C644&ssl=1",1024,644,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?fit=1024%2C644&ssl=1",1024,644,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?resize=1024%2C644&ssl=1",1024,644,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?resize=870%2C570&ssl=1",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?resize=600%2C644&ssl=1",600,644,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?resize=1024%2C644&ssl=1",1024,644,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?resize=727%2C500&ssl=1",727,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?fit=1024%2C644&ssl=1",1024,644,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?resize=540%2C285&ssl=1",540,285,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?resize=375%2C250&ssl=1",375,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Featured<\/a> Hawaii - Filipino<\/a> Open Forum<\/a>","tag_info":"Open Forum","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OF-homeless-color_06182022.jpg?fit=1024%2C644&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12540"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12540"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12661,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12540\/revisions\/12661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}