Housing Choice: Unique Challenges and Opportunities in Southern New England

Housing Choice: Unique Challenges and Opportunities

in Southern New England

2004 New England Planning ExpoAmerican Planning Association

Springfield, Massachusetts

September 30, 2004

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

Housing Choice Scoping Session

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

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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

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• Voluntary vs. mandatory inclusionary tools

• Homeowner association covenants

Housing Choice: Unique Challenges and Opportunities

in Southern New England

2004 New England Planning ExpoAmerican 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?