New Report on Smart Growth and Affordable Housing Published

National Neighborhood Coalition

"Affordable Housing and Smart Growth: Making the Connection" is new report is jointly produced by the Smart Growth Network and the National Neighborhood Coalition and is an effort of the Smart Growth Network Affordable Housing Subgroup.

The report is available online at http://www.neighborhoodcoalition.org. For more information about the report or to obtain a free copy, please contact Danielle Arigoni at EPA at 202-260-0254 or [email protected], or Betty Weiss at National Neighborhood Coalition at 202-408-8553 or [email protected]. A short executive summary of the report is also below.

According the newly released report, "Affordable Housing and Smart Growth: Making the Connection" policies that expand the quality, supply and distribution of affordable housing can also promote smart growth, according to a report released by the Smart Growth Network Subgroup on Affordable Housing.

"Affordable Housing and Smart Growth: Making the Connection" identifies a range of policies and approaches that help achieve both smart growth and affordable housing objectives and provides case studies of towns, cities, and states that have benefited from linking these two interrelated goals. The report, produced by the Smart Growth Network and the National Neighborhood Coalition (NNC), was released on Nov. 28.

Communities across the country are faced with difficult decisions about development. At the same time they are also finding it increasingly hard to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing. Smart growth creates an opportunity to link better land use practices with community development to create a wider range of housing options and thereby improve affordability.

Smart growth can help improve affordability in housing by loosening restrictions against low-cost housing such as townhouses and accessory dwelling units; through modified land use and development approaches that disperse affordable units and create mixed-income neighborhoods; by emphasizing use of existing infrastructure and reinvestment in existing neighborhoods; and by creating options (i.e., walking, transit) that can reduce household transportation costs. The 19 approaches featured in the report represent a range of options for public, private, and nonprofit sector members to consider as they pursue smart growth and work toward affordable housing goals.