City of Knoxville invites public to speak on process of creating Fair Housing Equity Plan

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT)—The City of Knoxville Housing and Neighborhood Development held a meeting Tuesday night to allow community members to weigh in on a Fair Housing Equity Plan.

Officials said a Fair Housing Equity Plan addresses patterns of racial and ethnic segregation, concentrations of poverty and areas of opportunity.

Additionally, the plan analyzes public policies and programs, identifies issues with fair housing and proposes measurable solutions, officials said.

People at the meeting broke out into groups to identify areas of most concern and strategies to help curb disparities.

Knoxville has partnered with Community Solutions Collaborative (CSC) to create the plan with the help of residents. Rob Breymaier with CSC was at Tuesday night’s meeting to discuss how equity plans strive to reduce disparities and improve overall prosperity and equitable outcomes related to housing.

“Generally, we would hope that after five years, there will be less disparity across the community both by its geography and by the different protected groups within the Federal Fair Housing Act. The idea is that in the end, everybody will have benefited from the program,” Breymaier said.

The City of Knoxville Housing and Neighborhood Development will review the input given by community members from this meeting to determine the next steps in the process.