Resilience and Affordable Housing Key Topics at Florida Conference

A conference organized by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council (TBRPC) and other partners “focused on proactively determining new strategies and approaches to ensure new housing construction is affordable and resilient to increasing flood risks and a changing climate,” according to an article by Mark Parker in the St. Pete Catalyst.

“Climate change and sea-level rise present an incredible additional layer of challenges to the housing situation, said [St. Petersburg City Councilmember Brandi Gabbard]. Especially in St. Petersburg, where much of the city exists within a coastal high hazard zone.”

The Resilience and Energy Assessment of Communities and Housing (REACH) conference highlighted the importance of tying housing affordability to resilience efforts. “In addition to topics such as reducing energy costs through efficiency, an update on the Pinellas Countywide Housing Compact and new information released in partnership with the University of Florida identifying area flooding ‘hotspots,’ a key part of the conference was the unveiling of the Keep Safe Florida program for property owners and managers.” According to the article, “The program provides easily accessible tools to assess a development’s vulnerability to climate-related events, specialized training and assistance to develop action plans and implement assessment recommendations. It also provides a funding resource guide to help implement resilience strategies.”