New Haven recently launched a campaign called RE: New Haven in the hopes of increasing the city’s homeownership rate. Will the incentive-backed, multimedia approach work in increasing residents' stake in the community?
Bill Bradley reports on the recent multimedia barrage from RE: New Haven—the marketing arm of a campaign designed to raise the city's homeownership rate from its current tendency to hover between 32 and 34 percent.
"They’ve plastered billboards along I-91 and I-95 and put ads on Metro North trains. The housing incentives have existed for years, but this new full-court press aims to get more people to move to New Haven and retain the residents who are already there. They’ve swapped out the city’s dusty old website with little resources for a flashy new web portal," writes Bradley.
As for why the city is going to such great lengths to attract homeowners: "It’s a program with its sights set on social equity. They want lower- and middle-income families to have a stake in the community."
The marketing campaign follows a largely ineffectual group of financial incentives, including forgivable home loans, forgivable loans for renovations, and in-state college tuition for local high school graduates—check out the article for more details.
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