Date of Conferral

4-1-2025

Date of Award

April 2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Lori Salgado

Abstract

The literature showed that low-income households face a persistent deficit of affordable housing, forcing these families to live in dilapidated housing or to live beyond their means to pay for adequate housing, and that this problem transcends rural and urban counties. Further, researchers indicated that solving this problem provided a stable workforce and a better quality of life for all income groups. A gap in the literature showed the need for more research on nonmetropolitan communities addressing housing and neighborhood revitalization; therefore, through this qualitative multiple-case study local policymakers' perceptions of the affordable housing problem in rural Georgia were explored. Following a pilot study, data were collected via document analysis and semi-structured interviews with four county commissioners and two managers. Data were analyzed within and across cases using punctuated equilibrium theory as a lens and following an eclectic combination of approaches. Six themes representing a policy image emerged for each case and in a cross-case analysis. Results indicated that local officials were receptive to a seamlessly integrated affordable housing policy that was a county-centric but unified effort of local levels of government. Officials viewed their responsibility as setting the conditions to attract free market intervention and building capacity within an organization such as the economic development authority. Barriers identified included an imbalance in sustainable capital and affordable housing programs that are complex and unresponsive. Solving the affordable housing problem may lead to positive social change by improving the quality of life and allowing low-income families to move into higher-income groups.

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