Transcript Housing Choice in Texas - American Planning Association

Housing Choice:
Unique Challenges and Opportunities
in Texas
2004 Texas American Planning Association
State Conference
Austin, Texas
October 14, 2004
Housing Choice Scoping Session
Mary S. Chambers –League City
Walter Moreau – Foundation Communities
Joanna Moreno – Corpus Christi Housing Authority
Karen Paup – Texas Low Income Housing Information Service
Bill Skeen – Tekoa Partners, Ltd.
Michaelle Wormly--WOMAN, Inc.
Housing Need:
Economic, Demographic, and
Spatial Dimension
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Immigrant Influx
Household Composition
Overstatement of Need for Elderly
Spatial Component- Rural v. Urban
Change in Poverty Dynamics
Boom/Bust Economy
Housing Need, continued
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Wage Gap
“House Poor” phenomenon
Jobs-Housing Balance
Low density sprawl, leapfrog development
Emphasis on homeownership a detriment to
some.
• Colonias – new phenomenon
Politics of Housing:
Federal, State, and Local Levels
• State Level
– Not typically a Governors Office issue
– A Regional Issue for the Legislature
• Local Level
– NIMBY
– Race and Income Segregation
– Property Values
Politics, continued
• Concerns about property taxes, schools
• Politics of Density
• Property Rights
Affordable Housing
Production and Retention
• Low Income Housing Tax Credit
• Other Federal programs have limited impact
(Section 8, HOPE VI)
• State Programs
• Gentrification
• Manufactured Housing
Production and Retention, cont.
• Regulatory Barrier Removal
• Role of the Non-profit Sector
Affordable Housing Tools
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Relationship Building is Key
Apartments over the store
SMART program (Austin)
Land Assemblage- LARA (Houston)
Earned Income Tax Credit initiatives
Livable wages, credit counseling
Housing Choice:
Unique Challenges and Opportunities
in Texas
2004 Texas American Planning Association
State Conference
Austin, Texas
October 14, 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?
Thank you for attending!
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