Akron housing discussions become a rare space for civic dialogue across divides 

David Anthony didn’t realize how many Akron residents are one missed paycheck away from homelessness. 

Clarice Rigby was unaware tiny homes required a different type of zoning — and that a lot of residents don’t want them in their neighborhoods.

And Justin Wheeler was shocked to learn about Akron’s large number of vacant or abandoned homes, as well as the number of unlived-in properties whose deeds are penned to out-of-state landlords.

“Akron’s in an interesting place where we have some of the lowest housing [costs] in the nation, but we also have the lowest median household income in Summit County,” said Michael Jarzenski, a homeowner and owner of Merriman Valley Pizza.

“So we have this catch-22 of, we have low housing, but we also don’t pay people a lot. How do we get people who live in Akron to stay in Akron?”

Unify Akron this spring sought to unite people from all walks of life, financial standings and neighborhoods to hold space and dialogue for their respective experiences. 

Since March, these Unify Akron delegates — approximately 60 participants, selected via lottery system – met on Thursday nights and all day on Saturdays to create solutions to Akron’s housing crisis. Most of them had never met. Yet as participants gathered last week for the final time before Thursday’s graduation and the announcement of voting results, they had formed friendships and came with infectious enthusiasm for helping their shared community.

“Housing is a foundation upon which a whole bunch of other things sit, and if we don’t correct housing, so many other things fail,” said Morgan Lasher, the event organizer and chief of U.S. Democracy Leagues with Unify America.

“It’s a really important cornerstone for us to build around.”

Also on Thursday, the cohort will present its proposal to city officials at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium.

Unify Akron creates ‘third space’ amidst nation’s polarized politics

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third space,” a social environment besides one’s home and place of work or schooling (which are the “first” and “second” places, respectively), in his 1989 book entitled The Great Good Place. In it, Oldenburg emphasizes the importance of third spaces in building a healthy community and society.

Tom Cook, one of the facilitators of Unify Akron sessions, said that, in a way, the organization created a temporary third space where people abandoned silos of thinking and listened to others in face-to-face discussion. 

It also led delegates to put forth solutions that weren’t just self-serving.

Cook said he observed the delegates put forth solutions that weren’t just self-serving. By and large, delegates concurred.

“This has given me a really great view into the lives and experiences I would never have insight into and brings people to the table who don’t normally get to be a part of the conversation,” said Wheeler, a homeowner who lives in North Hill.

It was this collaboration and willingness to acquiesce to the needs of neighbors, Jarzenski added, that brought the cohort closer. 

Cook, who lives in Cuyahoga Falls, said that curating the space for dialogue sits firmly at the heart of civic engagement.

“You would assume [the delegates] would advocate for their own self-interest, but I’ve been surprised to see a lot of them advocate for a broader interest,” said Cook, who is self-employed as a business advisor. He also volunteers for the American Red Cross, making Unify Akron far from his first foray into civic engagement.

Once Unify Akron got delegates talking, a plan naturally began to form. The consensus from the crowd was that change is both necessary and possible when people come together.

“I’m really starting to see how much the community can pull together once you get everyone in a room talking and working on a project,” Jarzenski said.

Quick consensus on key housing issues and their urgency

Lasher said cramming material into a few months of programming is cramped work, but it was made easier by the commitment of delegates to show up and discuss. 

“I think we agreed we should have more accountability in civil code citations, proposals to help people fix up homes, and creating more housing stock,” said delegate Annaliese Russell.

“The most agreeable things have been deciding the need for things like court resources to help with eviction cases for people who can’t afford lawyers, or systems to help new homeowners make their first down payment,” Jarzenski said.

Identifying problems? Not that difficult. Figuring out funding? More challenging

The implementations of policies are less unanimous. Delegations reached a bump in the road with the big question of money.

“The first question is a little tense, which is, ‘We need money, but how are we going to generate it, or won’t we?’” said Sue Lacy, Unify Akron’s lead facilitator. 

“Should we raise taxes? Should we levy fees on developers? The bottom line is we need more resources if we’re going to have an impact on the housing crisis.”

Deciding who should shoulder the financial burden — and, further, who can — was both the soul and scourge of seeing the project’s proposals through.

“My biggest problem is renovating existing housing — because some of the housing in Akron is just really bad and in some cases need [to be] demolished or replaced,” Anthony said. “I can’t see throwing money at a home that’s still going to be substandard. That’s been most disagreeable, but we’re still coming together and realizing this is a solvable problem.”

Other paths of disagreement stemmed from legal designations, such as zoning regulations for certain types of homes or the treatment of criminal status in housing accessibility.

“The most controversial topic to me was criminal status as a protected class because that butts up against the imperfections of the legal system,” Russell said. However, even in areas where disagreements occurred, the civil willingness to learn prevailed. So did healthy debate. 

Russell said she was grateful to learn something about tiny homes and absorb the perspective of folks who thought them valuable.

“I used to think it was just, ‘Let’s give out these houses’ without thinking about plumbing, utilities, land, rent, those kinds of things,” Russell said. “So I’ve definitely changed my perspective on tiny homes.”

Added Anthony: “We need to encourage the people who can solve these problems to use their heads and give them the information they need to make reasonable, positive decisions.”

The Akron cohort’s commitment to advocating outside sessions

Delegates said they realize Unify Akron is a civic assembly with no lawmaking or bureaucratic power. What they plan to present to Akron Mayor Shammas Malik on Thursday falls entirely in his administration’s hands.

“You can’t turn a key and suddenly the housing crisis in Akron is fixed,” Jarzenski said. “This will take time. So my biggest key takeaway is that the power of the people comes from what we do outside this meeting and outside these walls.”

“I’m cynical but hopeful,” Wheeler said. “I think this has been an incredible process and an incredible exercise, but, unfortunately, the results of this are going to take years.”

Still, there is optimism to be garnered from the fact that some among the cohort will blossom into future leaders. Participants like Tim Sullivan, a senior at Hoban High School. 

“You could make a complaint to the city that maybe they don’t take as seriously, but when we all come together and make our voices heard as one, I think that’s a lot more powerful,” Sullivan said. “This gave me more appreciation for civic engagement.”