Currency
Columnist Geoff Daily explores Lafayette’s economy and government, providing critical commentary about what’s working and what’s not.
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byGeoff Daily
Lafayette’s housing crisis isn’t unique. Most communities in the U.S. are struggling with the availability of affordable housing and sustainable funding for homeless programs.
What is unique about Lafayette is how little we’ve done in response to these growing crises. And now that inaction is threatening real human lives because of Lafayette’s inability to provide adequate, affordable and safe housing for all of its citizens.
In the last month and a half alone:
- Lafayette’s only emergency homeless shelter for single adults lost 80% of its operational funding for the next 12 months
- Numerous media outlets have reported on the deplorable conditions at the Himbola apartments that threaten the health and safety of hundreds of low-income residents
- UL’s student housing shortfall has pushed dozens of residents, including children, out of the hotel they called home, forcing them to find housing elsewhere
These three developments alone could result in hundreds of people without a roof over their heads, living on the streets and trying to survive the heat of the day, because there simply aren’t enough affordable, safe housing units or shelter beds to meet the demand.
The underlying deficiencies these latest developments expose have been known and left to fester for decades. Like the Lafayette Housing Authority, which has underperformed for years and failed to do anything of any significance to address the need for more affordable housing.
More on Housing
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Opinion: Lafayette’s housing problem isn’t unique. Its lack of action is.
Lafayette is adrift without a plan, public investment and or any real sense of purpose or priority.
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Are you struggling to find housing in Lafayette?
Have you had trouble finding a place to rent in Lafayette? Or have you had issues with the quality of the housing you’re in?
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Council Preview: Boulet resumes push for emergency prep office
M-P Monique Boulet is now seeking funds for a single position for two months, following the Parish Council’s rejection of a larger scale plan.
Mayor-President Monique Blanco Boulet has taken the first step to rectifying that by appointing a new LHA board. But the administration is showing no urgency when it comes to addressing the shelter’s immediate funding crisis. And the proposed budget for next year doesn’t include serious new money for any of these issues.
None of the nonprofit housing organizations in our community have sufficient resources to handle their own segment of the homeless-to-housed continuum, let alone operate at the scale necessary to shelter and house hundreds of people. Between 400 and 500 are homeless in Acadiana, many unsheltered, many of them children, according to recent counts.
So this leaves Lafayette adrift without a plan, without sufficient coordination to leverage what limited assets we do have, without significant public investment and without any real sense of purpose or priority.
And it’s all happening at a time when macroeconomic trends suggest these issues are only going to get worse. More storms means costlier insurance and, in turn, higher rents. That means more people who can’t afford housing and more landlords who can’t afford repairs. More people could end up on the streets as what housing we do have is left unsafe for whoever’s stuck living there.
Meanwhile, our neighbors in all directions have made major headlines over the past year about their innovative efforts to at least attempt to ensure their citizens have roofs over their heads.
Lake Charles leveraged its federal disaster relief funds to provide loans to affordable housing projects.
Baton Rouge spent $1.3 million to build a disaster and overflow shelter that opened in 2020 and now is spending another $1 million on a non-congregate shelter for families without homes.
New Orleans announced a 10-year plan that includes a proposal to invest 2% of the city’s annual general operating budget into a fund that invests in creating more than 100 new affordable housing units per year.
These are moves that Lafayette could and arguably should be making — proactive efforts to address one of the most fundamental human needs that are not being taken care of by market forces alone.
More opinion from Geoff Daily
Column: Boulet’s first budget is sobering
Lafayette’s lived through a financial fairy land the past few years. This budgets bursts the bubble.
Column: Lafayette’s golden age of food variety
Adventurous eaters rejoice! Lafayette’s buffet of restaurants has more choices than ever.
Column: Will Lafayette accept Landry’s homeless shelter funding veto lying down?
Gov. Landry’s decision to veto $1 million for Catholic Charities of Acadiana to run its homeless shelter — if left unchecked — could literally kill people.
Between city and parish allocations, Lafayette got $86 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds, all of which was eligible to be spent on homelessness and affordable housing. Yet, to date, LCG has chosen not to invest any of that money in housing. Roughly half of that money has already been spent, but the other half could still be redirected if LCG chooses to do so.
The city’s general fund is carrying a balance twice what its recommended minimum is. So there’s at least $20 million the city could spend on anything without putting the city’s overall financial health in peril. The City Council could remove the stress and instability created by Gov. Jeff Landry’s line item veto of funding for Lafayette’s emergency shelter with a simple ordinance to give Catholic Charities $1 million as bridge funding to maintain current operations for the next year while a more sustainable funding source is identified.
There’s also plenty the local government can do that doesn’t cost any new money. LCG could change zoning regulations to allow for increased density and be more proactive about prioritizing infrastructure investment that supports infill development rather than continuing to subsidize continued sprawl. These are moves that both red and blue communities alike have made.
Lafayette must start addressing its housing and homeless crisis proactively, and make a multi-year commitment to moving the needle. And that’s not just because it’s the right thing to do morally, but also because it’s the smart thing to do economically. Keeping people in housing they can afford and off the streets is foundational to the success of any economy.
