Efforts of the City of Knoxville to Provide Housing

To address the significant issue facing the city of Knoxville regarding the best way to solve the high demand for housing, the administration has embraced the implementation of a strategy that will provide fairer access to all residents.

To have the financial capacity to tackle this problem, it was necessary to rely on the resources provided by the country’s Department of Housing and Urban Development, which requires that any city wishing to join the Equity Strategy program, as the aid funds are called, must evaluate the current housing conditions and identify which areas need improvement.

Due to the analysis required by HUD and the evident need for housing in Knoxville, the city’s Department of Housing and Neighborhood Development has initiated a program that will seek to provide more fair opportunities for access to affordable housing for its citizens. The program has been consolidated and presented to the respective authorities under the name of Fair and Equitable Housing Strategy.

According to statements from the program director, he has indicated that their Equity Strategy, a requirement of HUD to access the funds, focuses on equity and access to housing, not on specific structures or their construction. It is about patterns, ensuring that new policies are designed with the sole purpose of promoting equity and access to housing.

Therefore, this new strategy will focus on the possibility that all residents of Knoxville, Tennessee, can have access to the housing currently available in the city rather than promoting the construction of more properties per se.

To ensure the strategy’s success and good reception by the citizens, key objectives were set, including the intention to integrate Knoxville’s neighborhoods, address the damage caused by urban renewal, and prioritize economic growth in all areas with fewer opportunities.

Undoubtedly, the measure and implementation of this strategy were well received by the citizens, who state that by fostering the possibility for everyone to obtain housing equally and fairly, the administration is creating an equitable future and reducing the racial disparities that have caused so many problems for the city.

Therefore, considering these racial disparities, which according to national standards are moderate but high at the local level, the strategy aims to tackle and reduce all these disparities manifested in Knoxville’s current real estate market.

According to the draft strategy presented by the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Development, this equity measure works and seeks to achieve its promise by developing some ideas. The first is the creation of a Housing Resource Center in various areas of the city to enable the creation of coordinated programs that seek to promote fair housing and equity in opportunities.

The second idea the strategy aims to achieve is to stimulate and maintain partnerships that allow expanding housing options for all Knoxville residents and prioritize equitable economic development in areas with fewer opportunities or more vulnerable populations.

The great help that the creation of this Housing Resource Center could offer is the possibility of unifying housing applications. This center will then be able to manage the application intake and check credit before proceeding to distribute it to the different available complexes.

Available Foreclosures:

Knoxville: 15 homes available.

By Elias DaSilva | September 30, 2024