BUFFALO, N.Y. — State Senator Sean Ryan unveiled a four-part affordable housing plan Thursday afternoon that is tailored specifically for Buffalo.
This plan lays out ways to tackle the city's affordable housing challenges by increasing home ownership for low and middle-income families and making rent more affordable.
"We used to have an abundance of extra houses, not enough people. But between demos and the increase in our population, there's a real crunch now," Ryan said.
Ryan says if families can't afford to buy a home, they continue renting, and then there aren't enough affordable apartments for other renters creating a ripple effect. He's proposing a four-point affordable housing plan for Buffalo.
The first part focuses on incentivizing the construction of new homes with most being singles and doubles that look like the existing homes in Buffalo's neighborhoods. A pilot project would see 2,000 new starter homes built over five years using state subsidies.
"The money to build new housing in Buffalo is already in the state's budget. We just have to make sure the programs work for us," Ryan said.
The plan also calls for making it easier for landlords to improve their rental units, helping people better insulate their homes, and making it easier for renters to access programs that prevent evictions.
With this being a long-term plan proposed for Buffalo, 2 On Your Side asked the state senator if he wants to run for mayor. There has been speculation over the past year that Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown could potentially step down before his current term ends to take on a different leadership role.
"This is a very specific Buffalo plan. If there's an opening, are you running for mayor?" 2 On Your Side's Kelly Dudzik asked.
"Right now, we're working on how to improve Buffalo from New York State, so we want to make sure New York State is developing plans that are good for Buffalo," Ryan said. "We're working on this year in and year out. But this is the first time we've really captured the attention of all of the state policymakers to not just look at the problems in New York City, but to look at the problems in the rest of the state also."
Ryan added: "That's why we have a Buffalo specific plan because we know that the programs are designed to fit New York, sometimes they try to say well, you do those programs, too, but they don't work in Buffalo."
"So that's not a no," Dudzik said.
"Today has nothing to do with anything but a New York State housing plan," Ryan said.
As far as what happens next with the housing plan, Ryan will meet with other leaders so they can get on the same page and he's also asking for public comment.
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