Transcript Affordable Housing Scoping Session: The Big Questions

Housing Choice:
Unique Challenges and Opportunities
in Southern New England
2004 New England Planning Expo
American Planning Association
Springfield, Massachusetts
September 30, 2004
Housing Choice Scoping Session
Don Bianchi – Massachusetts Association of CDCs
Susan Boddington – R.I. Housing and Mortgage Finance Corp.
Sheila Brush – Grow Smart Rhode Island
Ted Carman – Concord Square Development Co.
Brenda Clement – Housing Network of Rhode Island
Joe Flatley – Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp.
Bob Kanter – Connecticut Partnership Office, Fannie Mae
Connie Kruger – Massachusetts Housing Partnership
Bill Landry – Blish & Cavanagh, LLP
Mark Pellegrini – Town of Manchester, Connecticut
Regina Winters – Mutual Housing Association of South
Central Connecticut
Paul Farmer – American Planning Association
_______________________________________________
Bill Klein – American Planning Association (Facilitator)
Catherine Ady – University of Massachusetts (Scribe)
Housing Need:
Economic, Demographic, and
Spatial Dimension
•
•
•
•
•
•
Transition from industrial to service economy
Changes in household size and composition
Immigration, especially for key target areas
Loss of subsidy for very low income hshds
Stratification/segregation
Focus on workforce hsng impacts very low income
Politics of Housing:
Federal, State, and Local Levels
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Anti-tax feelings drive the discussion
Resources down to ¼ what they once were
Anti-development feelings generally
Fear of in-migration, impact on schools
Perception of excess profits by developers
Legitimate infrastructure needs
The Governor must lead
Affordable Housing
Production and Retention
•
•
•
•
•
•
Devolution of Federal responsibilities
More sophisticated ways to stop dev
Loss of by-right zoning for multi-family
Lack of certainty in process
Diminished profitability, fewer for-profits
Impact fees; pacing and phasing
mechanisms; off-site improvements
Promising New Tools/
Cautions about Old Tools
• Mass. Ch. 40R – 2 carrots for higher density
• Mass. Ch. 40B adjustments
• R.I. Affordable Housing Act
____________________________________
• Voluntary vs. mandatory inclusionary tools
• Homeowner association covenants
Housing Choice:
Unique Challenges and Opportunities
in Southern New England
2004 New England Planning Expo
American Planning Association
Springfield, Massachusetts
September 30, 2004
The Big Questions
Over the past 20 years, how have housing
issues in this region changed? What have
been the primary forces causing those
changes (e.g., demographics, economics,
political factors)?
The Big Questions
• How do housing issues differ by sub-area or
metropolitan area in the region today?
What are the issues?
The Big Questions
• How do you feel federal housing programs,
such as Section 8 vouchers or HOPE VI,
work in the region? What changes might
make them work better?
The Big Questions
• Which areas in the region have the strongest
need for affordable housing? What is
fueling that need? Are there any particular
groups that present special affordability
challenges in the state, such as the elderly,
disabled, or current public housing
residents?
The Big Questions
• What barriers exist for affordable housing in
the region? Which barriers are at the state
level? Which ones are at the local level?
Where in the region are the barriers most
severe?
The Big Questions
• Describe the institutional structures and
programs for housing planning and
financing at the state level?
• Of the state-level institutional structures and
programs, which ones are most effective in
addressing the need for affordable housing?
How? How can effectiveness be improved?
The Big Questions
• Of the state-level institutional structures or
programs, which ones are the least effective
in addressing the need for affordable
housing? Why? Under what conditions
could it have been successful?
• Are there any state policy initiatives in the
region that have been failures? Why?
The Big Questions
• Of the various local initiatives or tools for
planning and for financing affordable
housing, which ones have been the most
effective? Why?
The Big Questions
• Are there any existing state task forces or
commissions that have proposed changes to
make the production of affordable housing
easier? What were those changes, and have
they been implemented? If not, why?
The Big Questions
• If you were on a task force recommending
new programs or institutions for affordable
housing in your state, what would your
three top recommendations be?
The Big Questions
• Is there a need for training programs in the
area of affordable housing, including fair
housing? If so, what kind, and whom
should they be aimed at?
The Big Questions
• Who are the leading advocates for
affordable housing in the region? Are they
effective? If so, why?
The Big Questions
• Are professional planners in your state
viewed as helping to solve problems
relating to affordable housing? If they are,
how and why? If they are not, what could
they do to be viewed as more proactive?
The Big Questions
• What could the American Planning
Association do through best practices media
to help planners and planning commissions
address housing choice issues?