Regional Approaches to Affordable Housing

Book excerpt: 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.