Let’s Talk About Creating Affordable Housing + Try it Yourself
The City of Chico is continuing to move forward with the Housing Element Update (you can and should take the time to particpate in this), and there are also some large projects coming forward, like the Gonzales Development project on the old Diamond Match Company site on the edge of the Barber neighborhood.
Chico Green Hot Takes has done some excellent analysis of historic and current policies; it’s an excellent starting point to learn more about affordable housing creation in Chico. Their writing on this and other topics is lucid, informative and thought-provoking.
According to the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA), since 2014 we have built approximately 1.5% of the low income housing we need for our area. And yet we are surprised that more people have landed on our streets.
Both the Chico Chamber of Commerce and the Chico Builders Association Advocate for Market-Rate/Above Market Rate Housing
At the State of the City this year, both entities begun pushing for the development of market/above market value single family homes to attract telecommuters from the Bay Area. Given Chico’s extremely low vacancy rates (generally hovering around 2%), the near total lack of affordable housing for people in our city we find this approach hard to fathom.
Developers do have a point about the cost of creating affordable housing. Finding balance is key, and unfortunately, with low-cost housing production at historic lows, developers are focused on profit-generating “luxury” single-family homes while largely ignoring the ongoing housing crises.
Could you do better? Where should our focus be as we navigate this housing crisis?
If you’re anything like us, it’s often easier to understand by doing. Urban.org, in partnership with the National Housing Conference, has created a tool where you can try your hand at housing creation. Adjust the inputs from local government to developers, try implementing policies, and see how it shifts the housing landscape.
𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐔𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐨
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