Affordable Housing Policy & Program

The issue of affordable housing is not contained within the boundaries of NELA. In response to this city-wide challenge, there are currently efforts led by City Council to permanently fund the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. It is especially important to identify alternative sources of funding to support the development of housing reflecting the income levels of existing stakeholders, under 70% of Area Median Income (AMI). Unlike the boundaries of the CASP, the NELA Study Area has much less vacant or underutilized land. For these sites and for projects that exceed a certain threshold - to be determined by further analysis - we recommend the City create a housing policy that ensures a sensible percentage (20-30%) of new residential units be set aside to serve families making less than a certain AMI.

There are many tools that can be explored for encouraging affordable housing, including municipal housing bonds, density bonuses, and other regulatory mechanisms. However, these tools often focus on new and sizeable developments projects. Much of the Study Area is characterized by single-family homes and multi-family apartment complexes, which are often the most vulnerable to turnover. Thus, we recommend the City also fund the exploration of a program that preserve affordability of single family and multi-family units, especially as they go on the market.