Regional Approaches to Affordable Housing
PAS Report 513/514
By Stuart Meck, FAICP, Rebecca Retzlaff, AICP, James Schwab, FAICP
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Do regional approaches to affordable housing actually result in housing production and, if so, how? Regional Approaches to Affordable Housing answers these critical questions and more. Evaluating 23 programs across the nation, the report begins by tracing the history of regional housing planning in the U.S. and defining contemporary big picture issues on housing affordability. It examines fair-share regional housing planning in three states and one metropolitan area, and follows with an appraisal of regional housing trust funds — a new phenomenon.
Also assessed are an incentive program in the Twin Cities region and affordable housing appeals statutes in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The study looks at recent private-sector initiatives to promote affordable housing production in the San Francisco Bay area and Chicago. A concluding chapter proposes a set of best and second-best practices.
Supplementing the report are appendices containing an extensive annotated bibliography, a research note on housing need forecasting and fair-share allocation formulas, a complete list of state enabling legislation authorizing local housing planning, and two model state acts.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Affordable Housing as a Regional Planning Priority
About This Report • How This Study Was Conducted • Previous Studies on the Topic
Chapter 2. Historical Development of Regional Housing Planning in the U.S.
Statistical Studies of Housing Conditions • Federal Promotion of Local and Regional Housing Planning • Regional Fair-Share Housing Planning • Technical Manuals Supporting Regional Housing Planning
Chapter 3. The Big Issues
Defining Affordable Housing • The Regional Dimension of Affordable Housing • The Weakness of Regional Planning Authority • The Chain of Exclusion • The Nimby Problem
Chapter 4. Fair-Share Programs and an Incentive Program
New Jersey • California • Portland Metro, Oregon • New Hampshire • Metropolitan Council, Twin Cities Region, Minnesota
Chapter 5. Regional Housing Trust Funds
The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board • A Regional Coalition for Housing, King County, Washington • Sacramento, California, Housing and Redevelopment Agency • Columbus/Franklin County, Ohio, Affordable Housing Trust Fund • Montgomery County, Ohio, Housing Trust Fund
Chapter 6. State Affordable Housing Appeals Systems
Massachusetts Comprehensive Permit Law • The Rhode Island Low-and Moderate-Income Housing Act • The Connecticut Affordable Housing Appeals Procedure
Chapter 7. Private-Sector and Other Initiatives