Report: Concern among mayors over housing costs dwarfs other issues

Soaring housing costs and rising inflation are driving up the cost of living in communities across the United States. Mayors are very concerned.

More than 80 percent of mayors interviewed in the latest report from the Boston University Initiative on Cities’ annual 2022 Menino Survey of Mayors—which is based on interviews conducted last summer with 118 sitting mayors leading cities with populations greater than 75,000 people, representing 38 states—ranked housing costs as their top concern. The latest report covers economic, health and safety challenges faced by American city leaders.

“Soaring housing costs remain a national challenge with eight-in-10 mayors naming them one of the top two economic challenges for their cities. Mayors’ concerns about housing dwarfed other issues: the next most prioritized economic challenges were rising cost of living (44 percent) and poverty (37 percent),” reads a statement about the latest survey results, which was released Tuesday. The first report based on the findings covered perspectives on climate change. It was published in January. Subsequent reports have covered, among other things, mayoral opinions on the racial wealth gap.

Another recent report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition paints a clear picture of the crisis American cities are facing. Rising housing costs are impacting those at the bottom of the economic ladder the most. Between 2021 and 2022, rental costs spiked 22 percent nationally, according to the report. And as prices went up, the number of housing units that low income renters could afford declined by “more than one million units.”

As the latest Menino Survey of Mayors report shows, there’s no easy way to address the ongoing housing crisis, which the report correlates with poverty.

“Mayors prefer allocating resources for housing to alleviate poverty. When asked what two programs or types of spending they would prioritize if given a large grant for poverty alleviation, 58 percent selected rental assistance programs and 56 percent chose homeownership programs. The next answer—direct cash transfers to adults—was 24 percentage points less popular,” the report says.

When considering how to address the crisis, those surveyed were divided on whether to focus directly on those in poverty, or to put their efforts toward uplifting the broader economy.

“Republican and Democratic mayors differ sharply, though, in their responses: 63 percent of Democratic mayors favor focusing on poverty as a distinct issue, compared with only 30 percent of Republicans. A majority of mayors (69 percent) also believe that poverty results mostly from systemic factors, as opposed to individual decisions, with a parallel partisan split,” the report continues.

But while mayors differed over the best methods to pull people from poverty and address housing insecurity, there was majority support for race-targeted policies as part of anti-poverty initiatives, according to the report. Most mayors, for example (83 percent), said they thought that some city resources should be reserved for minority business owners, and 61 percent support homeownership programs for Black residents.

The results were released against a backdrop of the school shooting in Nashville, Tenn., that killed six people including three 9-year-old students, and amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Climate change and traffic accidents were cited as other top safety concerns among mayors. But of all concerns, crime was listed as the highest priority (14 percent), edging out gun violence (13 percent).

In addressing safety concerns in their cities, “Mayors strongly support additional gun control. Seventy-five percent of mayors agree that civilians should be unable to acquire assault rifles under any circumstances. Mirroring national partisan polarization, Democrats and Republicans were divided: 88 percent of Democratic mayors supported an assault rifle ban, compared with only 40 percent of Republican mayors,” the report says.

They’re increasingly prepared to take action on the subject.

“Mayors see themselves as being increasingly held accountable for many public health challenges, compared to 2018. In particular, mayoral accountability for gun violence and resident mental health increased by at least 26 percentage points over the last four years,” the report adds.