This spring and summer, the College of Design will aim a spotlight on the issue of affordable housing. Through two concurrent exhibitions at the Goldstein Museum of Design and a symposium on affordable housing, the college hopes to inspire new ideas and a strong momentum for creating high -- quality, affordable housing throughout the state.

By Suzy Frisch

Nearly 350,000 households in Minnesota, or one in five families, struggle to find affordable housing. When families cannot secure housing that's in their reach, they face an uphill battle to get out of poverty and even risk becoming homeless.

Those who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing often find themselves in financial crisis. By spending upwards of half of their income on a place to live, they have little left over for expenses like food, clothing, health care, transportation, and emergencies.

The lack of affordable housing in Minnesota is a crisis that doesn't seem to be abating. In the Twin Cities metro area, 171,000 households -- and 46 percent of low-income families¿pay more than 30 percent of their incomes for housing, according to an independent study funded by the Family Housing Fund, the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, and the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. That number is expected to grow by an additional 33,000 families statewide (22,000 in the metro area) by 2010.

Although Minnesota has cultivated a long history of innovation in developing affordable housing, much remains to be done.

"I think we recognize that it does take a village to house people," said Becky Yust, professor of housing studies and head of the Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel. "This is not a situation of an individual being able to go out and get a job and buy housing. The working class does not earn enough money to pay for housing that doesn't take more than 30 percent of one's income. The cost of housing is rising faster than wages and the inflation rate."

Coming soon to the U

One of the two Goldstein exhibitions, which open April 20 and run through July 21, is "Affordable Housing: Designing an American Asset." Organized and toured by the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., it takes a historical perspective on affordable housing in the United States and highlights successful projects from across the country. The Goldstein is one of the last venues on the national tour.

Lyn Bruin, associate professor of housing studies (DHA), brought the exhibition to the attention of Lin Nelson-Mayson, director of the Goldstein Museum. Nelson-Mayson was able to secure the last available stop on the exhibition's tour.

Bruin is guest curating the second show, called "Leading from Policy to Practice: Minnesota Affordable Housing." She will highlight 10 projects from across the state in which the stakeholders -- government and community leaders as well as private industry and charitable organizations -- came together to create successful affordable housing. This type of collaboration has been instrumental in developing effective affordable housing in Minnesota, noted Bruin.

"The two exhibitions complement each other so well," said Nelson-Mayson. "The National Building Museum's exhibition will provide a historical context and explore how projects from around the country serve their different communities. It's a nice backdrop to zero in on the topic in our own state. We'll see the national overview with an in-depth look at Minnesota."

A successful Minnesota collaboration featured in Bruin's exhibition is the one between Nicollet Meadows and Washington Terrace subdivisions in St. Peter, Minnesota, which were built in the aftermath of the massive tornado that struck the area in 1998.

Partners in this project included the school superintendent, bankers, and business people, who teamed up with the city government and other agencies such as the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership, the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, and the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. With the architects, this group created home styles that fit into old town St. Peter and developed a neighborhood that's now popular with families.

In staging this exhibit, Bruin aims to do more than just honor effective partnerships and projects from across the state. "I want it to be more than a history lesson. We have a lot to be proud of, but we need to build on that," she said. "We need to take what we learn from our successes and not-quite successes to tackle new initiatives. People should realize that we need to continue to collaborate. It's too big an issue and too big a societal problem to assign to any one sector."

Calling all parties

In addition to the exhibitions, Bruin hopes to spur more conversation on the topic of affordable housing through an upcoming symposium and monthly, informal brown bag lunches.

The symposium, "Affordable Housing in Minnesota: Designing, Celebrating, Innovating for the Future," will be held June 19¿20 at the University's Continuing Education and Conference Center and McNeal Hall on the St. Paul campus. It aims to bring together an eclectic group, including architects, interior designers, landscape architects, policy experts, state officials, housing researchers and planners, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, housing and social service providers, clients, volunteers, and concerned citizens. Meeting in small groups, they will brainstorm ideas for developing the state's affordable housing of the future.

"It's a time when all the players can come together, be reenergized, and feed off each other's creativity," said Bruin. "Hopefully, coming out of the symposium will be a few or many ideas that will move Minnesota further ahead of the curve and lead the nation in solving the affordable housing crisis."

The symposium will feature a keynote address on June 19 by Sherry Ahrentzen, associate director for research, Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family at Arizona State University. She will speak on "How Housing Matters: Towards an Evidence-Based Design Practice in Affordable Housing." Bruin hopes Ahrentzen's talk will show how research from the University can be used to influence design, housing policy, and program development.

Through exhibitions, symposia, and collaborative discussions about the topic of affordable housing, the College of Design seeks to become the convener of a community of interest around the topic of affordable housing. The college and the University can act as an unbiased source of research, ideas, and motivation for all the parties in the state to come together to create the necessary affordable housing in Minnesota, Bruin noted.

"Our mission is to work for the good of the state as a whole," she added. "To me it just makes common sense that the state's University would be trying to support our state government in developing and implementing the most efficient, effective housing policy."

Housing Studies program

The University of Minnesota has long been the premier training ground for the state's architects, interior designers, urban planners, and landscape architects. But for more than three decades another one of its units has educated those who work in other aspects of shelter, such as management and finance, community development, and housing for special populations.

Graduates of the University's Housing Studies program work in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to develop housing, finance and manage projects, assist individuals in finding homes, and work with seniors or others in need of supportive housing. A former unit in the College of Human Ecology, Housing Studies now has a home in the new College of Design.

"Our program has its roots in social science. It's not about doing housing design but studying and researching the socioeconomic, environmental, and policy issues of housing," explained Becky Yust, head of the Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel (DHA) and a housing studies professor. "Housing studies is about the process of finding housing and making sure that housing is affordable, adequate, and meets the needs of people and the community."

DHA offers a range of degree programs in housing studies, including an undergraduate degree, a master's, a Ph.D., and a graduate certificate for people who already have earned a bachelor's degree. Undergraduates from other programs also can take 15 credits in housing studies to earn a minor.

The postbaccalaureate certificate program is aimed at professionals who work in the housing sector but might never have formally studied the topic in college. For these professionals, the 15-credit program provides an academic backbone for the theory and practice of urban, suburban, and rural housing issues, housing development and management, housing policy, affordability and access to housing, and issues of race and class.

Graduates of the University's Housing Studies programs are the professionals who continue tackling the affordable housing crisis and other housing challenges that come our way.

Affordable housing events

The Goldstein Museum of Design
241 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Avenue, St. Paul campus
http://goldstein.cdes.umn.edu
612-624-7434

Exhibitions
April 21-July 1, 2007
Leading from Policy to Practice: Minnesota Affordable Housing
Guest curator, Marilyn Bruin, associate professor of housing studies
and
Affordable Housing: Designing an American Asset
Organized by the National Building Museum

Continuing Education and Conference Center Room 135, 1890 Buford Avenue, St. Paul campus

Symposium
June 19, 12:30-7:30 p.m.
June 20, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Minnesota Affordable Housing: Celebrating, Designing, Innovating for the Future
Complete agenda at www.cdes.umn.edu/ce/conferences
McNeal Hall Room 33, 1985 Buford Avenue, St. Paul campus

Symposium keynote address (free and open to the public)
June 19, 6:30 p.m.
Sherry Ahrentzen, associate director for research, Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family, and research professor, Arizona State University College of Design

Exhibitions and programs sponsored by National Association of Realtors®, Saint Paul Area Association of REALTORS®, Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Wells Fargo Bank N.A., Minnesota State Arts Board, the Friends of the Goldstein, Schweiger/McNellis Housing Studies Endowment, the College of Design, the University of Minnesota, and individual donors.

The Affordable Housing: Designing an American Asset traveling exhibition and associated tour were organized by the National Building Museum, Washington, D.C., and made possible by generous grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Fannie Mae Foundation, and the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.