Deepening Roots and Creating Space: Building a Better Future for New York’s South Asians gives a clear, thorough urban analysis of the South Asian plight in New York. Using a variety of research tools and methods such as statistics, focus groups, surveys, charts, and the current US census data, the Chhaya Community Development Corporation specifically focuses on the dire housing and economic development needs of the South Asian community.
South Asians, the fastest growing ethnic population, are composed of immigrants from a variety of countries in that region. They face a great deal of obstacles in their attempts to maintain housing, mainly language barriers, discrimination, and limited civil service access. Chhaya describes how most of them (70%) are forced to rent due to high costs. The 30% of them who do own homes bought them recently within the past decade, and they struggle to pay the mortgage; to afford these costs, they rent out their basements or attics illegally. Renters also engage in dubious behavior as well, for they rent in cash, do not own leases, or live in the informal units. In not having anything on paper, they make themselves vulnerable to displacement. Furthermore, the places that they find themselves dwelling in are overcrowded and are just generally bad living conditions. Particularly because of the recent economic downturn, they are much more unwilling to do renovations to their places. The prices for the most part continue to be on the rise and unfortunate statistic is that the number foreclosures continues to go up as well, specifically in the Queens section that is 50% South Asian.
Another issue that Chhaya raises is employment for South Asians. Their economic mobility is severely limited and therefore they are mostly confined to the service industry. An ironic statistic is that regarding education, the highest academic achievement for them is either a college degree or below a high school degree. Chyyana also includes anecdotal evidence to support the claim that for most people, the higher education still does not have an effect on their job; they are still stymied in the classic South Asian service industry. Especially as of late, they have faced severe unemployment, which causes them to have difficulty meeting a living wage. Therefore, the problem of employment and housing is highly correlated.
Chyyana gives many recommendations as to how to ameliorate the housing predicament and substandard living conditions that South Asians are facing. And while I understand that he is trying to address a severe issue that occurs today, I do not think that some of his solutions are feasible. It is indeed problematic that South Asians have trouble paying the high housing costs. However, I do not think that lowering down payment costs is the solution. Chyyana mentions that during the housing bubble they, like others, did not pay a down payment; when the bubble burst, many of them went into foreclosure. The lack of a down payment clearly tempted them to buy houses that they could not afford; had they paid the initial sum, they might have thought twice before signing on the dotted line. A down payment is a therefore a safety measure in the housing market. If we lower it, the economy will surely return to its nadir a la 2007. I certainly believe in helping educate marginalized people and immigrants into making proper, sound financial decisions, but I do not believe in policies that will negatively affect the outside economy.
