Almost all the affordable housing development in L.A. in the past decade has occurred in majority-minority neighborhoods. The L.A. Department of City Planning is looking for ways to make sure high-income areas do more of their fair share.
The Los Angeles Department of City Planning (DCP) is hoping to leverage the eight-year Regional Housing Allocation (RHNA) process to ensure that affordable housing development and growth are distributed equitably across its neighborhoods.
According to an article by Steven Sharp, DCP staff co-authored a new report with the city's Housing and Community Investment Department to document the inequities of affordable housing development in L.A. over the past decade. The report also suggests short- and long-term policies designed to shift the distribution of affordable housing to more affluent parts of the city.
According to Sharp's summary of the report's finding, "over the past decade, affordable housing has been increasingly concentrated in majority-minority neighborhoods in Central and South Los Angeles, which have long been characterized by poverty and segregation." Specifically, "Just 14 percent of the city's affordable units over that time period - nearly 1,600 in total - were built in high-resource communities, compared to 62 percent in low-resource neighborhoods."
The report also blames zoning for contributing to that divide. "In high resource communities, 76 percent of residential parcels are zoned for single-family uses, with 20 percent set aside for apartments," explains Sharp. " In low resource neighborhoods, the ratio is flipped, with 80 percent of residential land zoned for apartments and just 20 reserved for single-family homes."
The policy recommendations in the report include zoning changes that target high-opportunity communities proximate to transit routes. "Additionally, the report proposes more flexible zoning and new incentives to promote the construction of so-called 'missing middle' housing in current single-family and low-density neighborhoods," reports Sharp. Also included in the report's policy recommendations: the idea of a citywide inclusionary zoning policy.
More details and recommendations are included in the source article linked below.
FULL STORY: Planning Department proposes "fair share" allocations for affordable housing
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.