WELCOME!

KNOWLEDGE SESSION 2| September 1, 2015

Community Knowledge Sessions

Standard format:Progress updateDeep dive on specific area(s)Resources + networking

What’s going on?

We’re implementingthe plan:

• Education• Employment• Place

Shared values for working together

Collaboration listening with an open mind

Commitment making time, taking time, giving time

Honest, open & transparent communicationDiversity & Equity, Inclusion & EngagementFocus moving forward, not getting stuck

Respect valuing and understanding individuals, neighborhoods and community – and their history

Thinking big & outside the boxBeing great leaders & great role models

What’s going on now

Working Together!Systemic Projects BUHL + PARTNERS

Community-wide projects ACTION TEAMS

Neighbor-to-neighbor projects RESIDENTS + SPROUT

September 1, 2015

Design Center PittsburghOne Northside

One Northside Knowledge Session: Housing 102

Agenda6:00 Sign-in & Snacks6:15 Welcome 6:30 What we heard6:45 Current Trends7:00 Innovative Solutions & Precedent studies7:30 – 8:00 Q&A/ Report Out

Next Session

• To report out on the discussion and concerns found during session 1.

• To offer an analysis of the previous discussion.

• To work towards discussing potential solutions.

Goals: Session 2

What We Heard

• Race• Class• Affordability• Anti-displacement• Inclusive Communities• Vacancy

Housing Affordability

“We need help maintaining the homes that remain.”

“We are afraid to be gentrified”

“There aren’t enough places for low income residents to transition”

“Some people are on the verge of homelessness because they can’t afford living costs anymore.”

Housing Occupancy- Owner Occupied Units

Housing Occupancy- Renter Occupied Units

Race of Householder (African American)

Race of Householder (African American)

Median Household Income 2000

Median Household Income 2009- 2013

Median Housing Value (2000)

Median Housing Value (2010)

Percent Change Median Housing Value (2000-2010)

Poverty Status 2000

Poverty Status 2010

Housing Foreclosure

Anti-Displacement

“I’m afraid we will be gentrified.”

“There are too many abandoned properties in our neighborhoods.”

“Land banking is the only chance we have to solve problems.”

HUD Public Housing Units

HUD Subsidized Voucher

HUD Other Multifamily

Public Assistance Households 2000

Public Assistance Households 2009-2013

Public Owned Properties (2014)

Vacant Housing for Sale 2000

Vacant Housing for Sale 2010

Vacant Housing for Rent 2000

Vacant Housing for Rent 2010

Zoning/ Density

“There is no accountability and regulation of landlords and absentee homeowner violations.”

“Code enforcement is too lax.”

“There is a lack of diverse development- too many single family homes and not enough mixed income”

Density

Living costs rise when the density decreases, since maintenance of the space, transportation to and from the area, and taxes all increase.

Coverage

The relationship between the ground floor area of enclosed buildings to the area of the lot; usually measured as a percentage.

Population Density

The measurement of population per unit area or unit volume.

Population Density 2000

Population Density 2010

Percent Change in Population Density 2000-2010

Owner Occupied Housing Costs (2000)

Owner Occupied Housing Costs (2010)

Renter Occupied Housing Costs (2000)

Renter Occupied Housing Costs (2010)

Northside Housing Zoning

Northside Housing Zoning

Code Violations

Vacancy & Building Code Violations

Vacancy & Median Household Income

Building Violations & Median Household Income

Building Violations & Median Housing Value

Solution Strategies

1.Mixed Income Communities2.Code Enforcement3.Land Banks4.Land Trusts5.Density6.Zoning7.Inclusionary Zoning

Mixed Income HousingBenefits Improves the safety and well being of low-income residents. Brings connections to communities that lack them. Provides better maintained units that are usually more energy efficient. Provides affordable homes that stitch the neighborhood together rather

than stick out of its context. Raises local property value. Acts as a catalyst for new development. Builds large scale equity.

Tacoma, Washington. Hope VIHope VI aimed to convert distressed public housing to mixed-income communities.

HOPE VI Recipient winner: 2000Replaced 855 Barrack style homes built in the 1940s with 1,165 dwelling units.250 Market-Rate Homes100 Below-Market-Rate Homes815 subsidized rentals.

Strengths: Trust and friendships were built between once diverse, segregated communities.Failures: loss of community because people did not feel invested or that it was a long term living condition for them. This can be fixed with good design.

Code Enforcement

Code Enforcement is the prevention, detection, investigation and enforcement of violations of statutes or ordinances regulating public health, safety, and welfare, public works, business activities and consumer protection, building standards, land-use, or municipal affairs.

Code EnforcementBenefits Stabilizes neighborhoods, preserves characteristics, and revitalizes distressed

communities. Brings blighted property into compliance with maintenance & building codes. Increases neighborhood safety & security. Residents begin to lose their sense of fear & feel empowered to help themselves

& each other. As a result there is an increase in the rate of progress in neighborhoods & community trust is developed. (Broken Window Theory)

Attracts investors, renters, and tourists if codes are upheld. The result? Increased taxes and revenues.

Maintained properties are likely to do more for a neighborhood’s stability than the new development & rehab activity that will take its place.

Helps local government identify, halt, and reverse the negative impact of vacant, abandoned, and problem properties.

Immediate Strategies for Code Enforcement

• Target at-risk neighborhoods first to see if newly implemented system is working.

• Community Development clusters.o Fixing vacant lots in one area at a time ensures that residents of newly repaired

homes don’t live alongside properties that remain boarded for extended periods.

• Engage community members/ volunteers (“neighborhood deputies”) who patrol and send notices of potential code violations to property owners. o Just $80,000 for 12 volunteers-same as hiring just 2full time employees within the

department to inspect and report violations.

• Counseling & assistance to land lords in order to help them achieve compliance.

• Structure partnerships with housing, health, zoning and building inspection departments.

Long-term Strategies for Code Enforcement

• Adopt-a-Lot Program.

• Streamlined Code Enforcement.o Citations Large sums of citations Property Auctions

• Foreclosure should be implemented to encourage people to bring their property up to code & ensure abandoned properties can once again be used safe and productively.

• Offer Grants and Loans to home owners and small landlords who lack resources to keep their properties up to code.

• LERTA- Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance.o Property tax exemption on the assessed value of improvements of home. Must apply

BEFORE you begin improvements. o Tax Emption on contemplated alteration or new construction of deteriorated

industrial, commercial or other business property.

Vacants to Value, Baltimore

Goal: To clean up and redevelop vacant/ blighted properties in order to raise property values, create community amenities, increase local tax revenue, and attract new residents and businesses.

Streamlined Code Enforcement: Targets the few vacant and boarded properties in relatively strong neighborhoods in order to fix and occupy them quickly.

Community Development Clusters: Targets high-vacancy areas where whole-block strategies are needed to make revitalization successful. Identifies Community Development Clusters where developers and legal strategies can be used to get blocks of properties fixed, sold, or auctioned to new owners.

Land Banking

Land Banks are municipal authorities or non-profits that acquire, manage, maintain, and repurpose vacant, abandoned, and foreclosed properties –the worst abandoned houses, forgotten buildings, and empty lots.

Genesee County, Michigan Land Bank Authority

• Mission: to restore value to the community by acquiring, developing and selling vacant and abandoned properties in cooperation with stakeholders who value responsible land ownership

• Acquires parcels mostly through tax foreclosures.• Attempts to prepare properties for productive reuse through

ten different programs some of which include:o Housing o Renovationo Brownfield redevelopmento Demolitiono Lot maintenance

• Generally sells or rents 25-50 properties annually & has returned 1,500 properties to some form of productive reuse.

Baltimore City Land Bank Authority

• In 2009, Baltimore City owned 10,000+ vacant and abandoned properties- making it one of the largest holders of blighted city-owned parcels in the nation, and the 4th

highest vacancy rate in the nation.

• 3 step Land Bank implementation:1. Amend the city code to grant HCD authority to sell abandoned property.2. Place property suitable for redevelopment under the management of a central

agency.3. Create a nonprofit entity to acquire, maintain, and sell abandoned property on

the city’ behalf.

Land Trusts

A Land Trust is legal agreement where a trustee is appointed to maintain ownership of a piece of real property for the benefit of another party: namely, the beneficiary of the trust.

Land Trust Benefits

BenefitsSuccession and probate avoidanceOwner ProtectionEase of conveyancePrivacy of ownershipDisposing of part interestAnyone that is capable of entering a contract may

establish a land trust.

Neighborhood Housing Services ofGreater Cleveland Land Trust

• Develops affordable homes for sale and for rent.

• Preserves the affordability of homes so that future residents will have the same affordable homeownership opportunities.

• Help low and moderate income families benefit from the equity built through homeownership.

• Offers homebuyer classes through a HUD-approved counseling agency to prepare people for successful homeownership.

Density

Benefits

Reduces a city’s environmental footprint

Reduces the cost of infrastructure

Allows for more affordable housing options

Synchronizes urban and transportation planning

Provides new zoning rules

Rethinks open space/ “common” areas

Allows mixed building types

Density housing strategies (Micro-housing, alley housing etc) provides a totally new housing option for those who

can’t afford to own their own homes.

The Laneway RenaissanceVancouver Density Model

• Similar to alley housing we find in Pittsburgh now. It can create “hidden density” in the city’s most desirable single-family neighborhoods, and allow micro-housing units to be developed to provide more density within neighborhoods.

• Density doesn’t have to be overcrowded like New York or San Francisco, it can be successful like Vancouver and Portland with proper planning.

• Allows under utilized areas to be beautified and turned into valuable affordable home spaces. They are basically miniature versions of single-family homes — in the range of 500 to 1,000 square feet —that are built in what has traditionally been the garage location of a single-family lot.

Inclusive Communities

• Private developers incorporate some percentage of below-market-rate units into their new developments. These units can be rented or sold, as long as they are targeted towards households within specific income brackets.

• Generally, the provision of affordable housing units as part of an inclusionary program does not require significant expenditure of public funds. Inclusionary units are delivered in step with market units through incentives to developers such as density bonuses, fee waivers and/or local tax abatements offered by the local jurisdiction.

Inclusionary Zoning

Inclusionary mandates are frequently coupled with increased zoning capacity, such as the ability to build more on given parcels of land than the law currently allows.

Inclusionary Zoning

Benefits Creates & strengthens economically diverse communities. Prompts market driven, fiscally responsible solutions. Stimulates economic development Supports smart growth principles and protects against

disinvestment. Enhance economic and racial integration Overcome “Not In My Back Yard” syndrome (NIMBYism) Offers Predictability and a level of playing field to

developers.

Inclusionary Housing Program (IHP)

• Promotes economic integration in areas of New York City undergoing substantial new residential development by offering an optional floor area bonus in exchange for the creation or preservation of affordable housing, on-site or off-site, principally for low-income households.

• Requires a percentage of the dwelling units within a building to be set aside, or new or rehabilitated affordable units be provided off-site within the same community district or within one-half mile of the bonused development.

• Units must remain affordable permanently.

King’s Hill, Portland- The Commons concept

One of Portland's oldest and densest neighborhoods has a wide variety of housing types with intimate gardens and a mature tree canopy.

A dynamic mix of historic homes, townhomes, courtyard apartments, and condo towers mixed with professional offices, a gas station, auto dealerships, a tavern, three social clubs, and a soccer stadium.

Neighborhoods will be more affordable, diverse, equitable, and sustainable with the addition of a variety of housing types.

The Commons concept focuses high density varied-unit housing and uses around public spaces such as parks (the “Commons”) with medium density varied-unit housing on any suited lot in a neighborhood. Priority is given to

housing scaled for families.

“Our community needs a Master Plan!”

Everything works as a system…

…we must fight to implement all of these strategies as our tool for success.