Some enterprising social services graduate student at University of Texas at Arlington about to start a thesis might want to look closely at this fascinating topic: Why are 13,500 families on the waiting list for Section 8 rental assistance in Arlington, when the waiting lists in Fort Worth and the rest of the county are so much shorter? The Fort Worth Housing Authority has about 4,000 families on its waiting list; the Tarrant County Housing Assistance Office has about 3,900.
On average, about 50 slots open monthly in Arlington, which would mean that some people are signing up for Section 8 recognizing that they're years away from walking through a rent-assisted door. No doubt they're hoping that more money will become available -- mostly it comes from the federal government. But settling down to a decade-long wait? Part of it is sociopolitical. By allowing so many housing applications, Arlington Housing Authority board members are clearly trying to make a case for more funds and more affordable housing by establishing a need. Only those people who meet federal guidelines can get on the list in the first place.
Households must earn no more than half the median income for the Dallas-Fort Worth area -- that works out to $31,700 for a family of four -- to qualify for Section 8, although the feds require 75 percent of applicants to earn no more than 30 percent of the median income. That's $19,000 for a family of four. A family with two people earning minimum wage would bring in almost $23,000 year before taxes and insurance -- if they're lucky enough to have insurance.
That so many households in Arlington have an income low enough to qualify, in addition to the 3,300 families already receiving rental assistance in the city, is somewhat sobering. But 13,500 applicants just for Arlington? Clearly, something else is going on, consider that the Fort Worth Housing Authority is still accepting applications for its much shorter housing list.
One possibility is that social service agencies in Arlington are considerably more efficient in identifying qualified low-income families and helping them apply. This would no doubt attract some would-be recipients from neighboring, less-efficient cities. If that's the case, it's working. If you help them, they're more likely to show up. There's also another time-honored demographic maxim at work here: People vote with their feet.
That's another way of saying that they'll go where their best interests are served. They'll go where they believe there are jobs suitable for their skills. Go where they feel safe. Go to the best environment they can afford for the best quality of schools they can find for their economic status. Go where people like them already live. Think birds of a feather.
There's room within this premise for a popular theory about the role of cities as well. The theory is that one of the main purposes of cities is to create a middle class. To produce an environment in which wealth can be created. While it is true that many of the now-flourishing exurbs in the region have many residents of above-average financial means, in general those cities do not create wealth. They're merely depositories for it.
Arlington, by contrast, is being perceived as a magnet for middle-class status by people who haven't reached that level. One puzzle about Arlington's appeal to this demographic is that Fort Worth or Dallas would seem to be a better bet if for no other reason than enhanced mobility. Arlington has no buses and no trains. Picking Arlington instead -- and being willing to wait on a housing list for years - says something about the city's energy and appeal that isn't easily understood but which is evident.
Source: Star-Telegram.com