The Availability of Affordable Housing on Long Island is Unchanged in First Half of 2014, Compared to 2013 – Stalled at 24% of Home Sales
Contact: Lauren Hiznay Goodman
Media International
lhiznay@goodmanmedia.com
The Availability of Affordable Housing on Long Island is Unchanged in First Half of 2014, Compared to 2013 – Stalled at 24% of Home Sales
New Interactive Online Maps Unveiled by the Long Island Index Enable the Public to Explore Trends in the Availability of Affordable Housing in Their Communities
Garden City, NY – October 20, 2014 – The Long Island Index, a project of the Rauch Foundation, announced today the availability of a new series of interactive online maps that present recent trends in the availability of affordable housing on Long Island. The maps reveal for five different time periods – from 1997 to 2013 – the percentage of homes in every census block group on Long Island that sold for less than 2.5 times the Long Island median family income (2.5x = $171,250 in 1997, $191,250 in 2000, $234,500 in 2007, $268,105 in 2010, and $264,750 in 2013).
The color-coded maps reveal that, for the five time periods, affordable homes were most available in 1997, least available in 2007 (before the Great Recession), and more available in 2013, although not nearly as much as in 1997. Out of a total of more than 32,000 home sales in 2013, 24% were affordable, compared to 47% in 1997 and 4% in 2007. The vast majority of the affordable homes in 2013 were in Suffolk County – more than 75%. Data for the first half of 2014, which is not yet presented in an interactive map, shows that the 2013 level is being maintained but not improved – stalled at 24% of home sales.
The lack of affordable homes on Long Island is a longstanding concern, and these maps reveal the patterns in a new interactive format, enabling viewers to explore the trends in their own communities in a way that has not previously been available. The maps are available free of charge at www.longislandindexmaps.org.
“The need for affordable housing on Long Island is a crucial public policy challenge,” said Nancy Rauch Douzinas, President of the Rauch Foundation and Publisher of the Long Island Index. “Addressing it is essential to enabling our children and grandchildren to remain on Long Island, attracting new young talent to our communities, and providing options to long-time residents who want to down-size later in life.”
The new interactive maps are the latest feature in a series of interactive online tools offered by the Long Island Index to enhance public understanding of socioeconomic and governmental circumstances and developments on Long Island. These online tools have been created by the Long Island Index in collaboration with the Center for Urban Research at the Graduate Center, City University of New York.
“These new online maps provide an enhanced level of transparency to public understanding of the availability of affordable housing,” said Steven Romalewski, Director of the Graduate Center’s Mapping Service. “They enable Long Islanders to explore the trends in their own communities and better appreciate the need that exists.”
About the Rauch Foundation
The Rauch Foundation (www.rauchfoundation.org), which funds the Long Island Index, is a Long Islandbased family foundation that invests in ideas and organizations that spark and sustain early success in children and systemic change in our communities. The Foundation was established in 1961 by Louis Rauch and Philip Rauch, Jr. Funding for the Foundation was made possible by the success of the Ideal Corporation, an auto parts manufacturer founded in 1913 by their father, Philip Rauch, Sr. The Long Island Index – conducted annually since 2004 – is available for download at www.longislandindex.org. The Long Island Index interactive maps, an online resource with detailed demographic, residential, transportation and educational information, as well as the Build a Better Burb website, are also accessible from the Index’s website.
About the Center for Urban Research
The Center for Urban Research (http://www.urbanresearch.org), housed within the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), organizes basic research on the critical issues that face New York and other large cities in the United States and abroad. It collaborates on applied research with public agencies, nonprofit organizations and other partners, and holds forums for the media, foundations, community organizations and others about urban research at the Graduate Center and elsewhere across the CUNY system. The CUNY Mapping Service at the Center for Urban Research assists organizations in realizing the geographic and mapping dimensions of their activities.
About the Graduate Center, CUNY
The Graduate Center (GC) is the principal doctorate-granting institution of the City University of New York. Offering more than thirty doctoral degrees from Anthropology to Urban Education, and fostering globally significant research in a wide variety of centers and institutes, the GC affords rigorous academic training in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences in a Ph.D.-focused, scholarly environment. It is home to a core faculty of approximately 150 teachers and mentors, virtually all senior scholars, and many leaders in their disciplines. This faculty is enhanced by more than 1,800 faculty from across the CUNY colleges, as well as from cultural, academic, and scientific institutions throughout New York City and beyond. Through its extensive public programs including lectures, conferences, performances, exhibitions, and conversations, the Graduate Center contributes to the intellectual and cultural life of New York City and affirms our commitment to the premise that knowledge is a public good.