As a research associate with the Housing and Environments Research Group (HERG), our team studied residents’ experiences of living in a community land trust in Minneapolis. We extend our sincerest thanks to the staff and community at CLCLT; without their generosity, this project would not have been possible. We are especially indebted to Staci Horowitz, the Program Director at CLCLT, who made herself available on many occasions to talk through questions and share her insight related to the inner workings of CLCLT, the research process and the data content.

Suggested Citation: Hackett, K., Saegert, S., Dozier, D., and Marinova, M. (2018). Community land trusts: releasing possible selves through stable affordable housing. Housing Studies.

Abstract

Housing affordability – a long-standing issue for low-income households – is crucial for the flourishing of both households and communities. When housing is unaffordable, households struggle to attain and maintain housing, which negatively effects household well-being. Since the foreclosure crisis, community land trusts (CLTs) have emerged as a viable housing policy. Relying on quantitative and qualitative data collected by a Minneapolis-based CLT, this study examines the experiences of 91 CLT homeowners. Our analysis illustrates how the CLT’s institutional framework alters the political, economic, social and material relations that characterize the lives of these households to facilitate the provision of previously unavailable resources. Beyond indefinitely stabilizing households, this new arrangement of relations creates a foundation for the cultivation of ontological security and contributes to the opening up of possibilities and the unfolding of life in ways not previously possible.

Source: Community land trusts: releasing possible selves through stable affordable housing: Housing Studies: Vol 34, No 1

Posted on: March 13, 2018