By Lily Guiney
Staff Writer
Posted: May 28, 2024 9:55 PM

MACKINAC ISLAND – Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Michigan State Housing Development Authority Director Amy Hovey discussed advances made in Michigan's housing shortage and the obstacles that remain persistent in providing accessible housing on Tuesday.

The Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference panel, moderated by Sen. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), also included Ann Arbor City Councilmember Linh Song and Communities First, Inc. CEO Glenn Wilson, who discussed community-level improvements that can be made to address housing access issues. Hovey said the current housing crisis is a natural response to a heightened demand coupled with lesser supply.

"We do not have enough housing units for our families," Hovey said. "In basic economics, if you are short on supply and high on demand, the cost increases. So, we really have to help the market."

Duggan cited recent housing improvements made in Detroit as potential models for the rest of the state to consider.

"We just had our announcement that we did a $1 billion in affordable housing projects in the last five years in the city of Detroit," Duggan said. "You will not find any homeless encampments in the city of Detroit because of our aggressiveness."

Song said Ann Arbor has had the unique experience of navigating housing access in a university town where thousands of students rent property in the city, but aren't permanent, taxpaying residents. In the post-pandemic housing shortage, she said the city has gotten creative to help bolster housing construction.

"In the early days of the pandemic, we were hearing from residents who were worried about whether federal relief was coming and if evictions were going to start, so we started looking around as to what we could do, and a lot of it had to do with rezoning," Song said. "So, we have zoned along transit corridors. We got rid of parking minimums. We had to learn really quickly how financing works, and support city staff looking for creative solutions."

Hovey said instances like these are a critical driver of MSHDA's regional housing partnerships and the MI Neighborhood grant program, which allow communities to set their own housing goals and apply for funding to implement them, with the state as a supporter rather than a director of the process.

"I was super impressed with the vision that Mayor Duggan had for housing in his city and following it through with the money, with looking at the systems and approving permits," Hovey said. "Where we see housing recovering most quickly is in communities where there are strong, courageous leadership, leadership that's willing to do the right things, be consistent and steady enough for us to see the impact long term."

As housing continues to hold center stage in discussions about retaining Michigan's population and attracting young professionals to the state, Anthony said cooperation between political parties and organizations will be key to implementing equity-conscious housing policies.

"Guess what, this is not a partisan issue," Anthony said. "This is something that goes across both (aisles). If you don't have a wealthy person in your family, if you don't have someone that's passing down a home, is it going to be very hard for you to get one."