New Yorkers Across Every Neighborhood and Age Group Say They Cannot Afford Housing in the City

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The results of one of the most expansive public opinion surveys in New York's history reveals that the lack of affordable housing is an acute crisis for the new mayoral administration, said Talking Transition today.

"This unprecedented data project reveals that a single concern unites the city," said Danny Fuchs, Talking Transition project director and principal at HR&A Advisors. "New Yorkers cannot afford the housing in their neighborhoods, and the problem is getting worse."

Nearly 53,000 New Yorkers responded to a citywide survey as part of Talking Transition, an effort to pioneer the first open mayoral transition in New York City's history. Talking Transition transformed the typically closed-door transition process between Election Day and inauguration into an opportunity for New Yorkers to make their voices heard. The Talking Transition data project is an effort to engage tens of thousands of New Yorkers – 60 percent of whom did not vote in the election – in diagnosing the city's strength and weaknesses, and providing a reference point on the sentiment of the city for the new Mayoral administration.

Many of the challenges confronting the new administration are place-based, the project says. Respondents in Central Brooklyn, the South Bronx, and Upper Manhattan expressed deep dissatisfaction with police-community relations in stark contrast to more positive sentiments across much of the rest of the city. More than 50 percent of New Yorkers said their ability to find a good job in the city is bad and getting worse—primarily in the Bronx, Queens, Upper Manhattan, and outside of Brooklyn's "brownstone" neighborhoods. New Yorkers citywide are optimistic about the direction of parks and open spaces, health and human services, and transportation

More than one hundred canvassers, speaking 19 different languages, were active for two weeks across the city, asking New Yorkers in the streets to share their sentiment on the city. In addition to housing, respondents were asked about jobs and the economy, arts and culture, education, the environment, health and social services, parks and public spaces, transportation, public safety and law enforcement. 

More about the data project and Talking Transition, which also included 120 events over fifteen days in its pop-up tent on Canal Street, can be found on talkingtransitionnyc.com.

Talking Transition was supported by a collation of foundations including Atlantic Philanthropies, Brooklyn Community Foundation, the Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, New York Foundation, the New York Women's Foundation the, North Star Fund, the Open Society Foundations, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

See the entire report here:  http://www.talkingtransitionnyc.com/dataproject

SOURCE Talking Transition