Parker’s housing plan is ambitious, but can it overcome steep challenges? | Editorial

The need for more housing is a problem nationwide, and Philadelphia is not exempt. The shortage has driven up costs for both renters and first-time homeowners in a market traditionally known for its affordability when compared with other large East Coast cities.

In addressing the problem, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s $2 billion Housing Opportunities Made Easy initiative could be the transformative change Philadelphia needs — that is, if she can muster crucial support from her former colleagues on City Council.

Last month, Parker declared her intent to build, preserve, and restore roughly 30,000 homes. In a speech to Council on Monday, she detailed how she plans to reach her goal through a mix of affordable and market-rate housing, additional resources for home repair programs she pioneered as a member of City Council, and a renewed push for the Turn The Key workforce housing program designed by former Council President Darrell L. Clarke.

The mayor’s proposal is appropriately ambitious, but it also has some daunting obstacles to overcome.

One major complication is the ongoing antics of the Trump administration, which has already slashed staffing at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Housing Choice Voucher Program, recently expanded to serve 30,000 Philadelphia households, is also under threat from the Department of Government Efficiency’s chaotic destruction of congressionally approved federal programs.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, which funds affordable housing proposals, has also been threatened by Elon Musk’s DOGE minions. These federal cuts will make it harder to serve households with the most needs.

Another complicating factor is what Parker referred to as the elephant in the room: councilmanic prerogative — the tradition of deferring land-use decisions to district Council members.

Prerogative functions as one of the city’s biggest constraints on housing, hampering the development of market-rate, affordable, and workforce housing alike. Zoning restrictions rubber-stamped through prerogative limit the height and density of housing proposals — including those along key transit corridors — over neighbors’ misguided fears of growth.

Some members of Council, like the 5th District’s Jeffery Young, have proven unwilling to sell city-owned vacant lots, even after the Land Bank has approved plans. Council members also routinely intervene to shrink the size of proposals, even ones with a significant number of affordable units.

While the Parker administration has wisely avoided a direct challenge to recalcitrant Council members so far, it is impossible for the mayor’s plan to succeed at the needed citywide scale as long as some districts insist on opting out.

Another wrench is local groups who oppose using city money, city land, or other taxpayer-funded incentives for any proposal that serves households they deem too wealthy. These groups often cite the wage disparity between city and suburban households, arguing the federal income guidelines are skewed as a result. Parker, for her part, has repeatedly said she does not intend to exclude households who are “a nickel over the limit” from accessing housing assistance their city tax dollars are paying for.

That’s almost certainly the right move. A growing consensus among housing policy experts is that more housing supply, including market-rate development, is good for all households, even those that cannot afford new construction. Every household that rents a new luxury apartment in Northern Liberties or a new townhouse in Graduate Hospital is one less bidder for the more affordable housing options that already exist.

Additionally, the natural highs and lows of the housing market have allowed the Philadelphia Housing Authority to acquire properties built for luxury rentals at lower costs than building in-house, and higher apartment vacancy rates have led many landlords to market to voucher holders.

An easier political lift for Parker is the additional support for housing preservation and maintenance programs, like Basic Systems Repair and Restore Repair Renew, which have a proven track record of fighting blight, reducing gun violence, and allowing longtime homeowners to stay in the neighborhoods even as costs rise.

Still, preserving housing is only half the plan. If the mayor is to succeed in accomplishing all her housing goals, she’ll need to find a way to overcome the local and federal roadblocks to bring her plan home.