2023 Spring Issue - 51
waiting to be served, but there is little activity in
that space. The obvious barriers are the high costs
of construction and government regulation. But
there are other reasons, too, and one is a lack of
knowledge. People will accept living in smaller,
simpler, higher-density homes, but there is not an
existing body of knowledge that lets developers,
investors, and municipalities make this conceptual
jump.
DAVID DWORKIN: Each market has its own unique
story, and more markets than ever are struggling
with this issue. This is not just a question of big
cities on the coasts: we are seeing the housing
attainability challenge appear in communities
across the country. Even some Republican representatives,
who may not always have assumed affordable
housing is a core issue from them, are hearing
more and more often from their constituents in red
states that this is a problem.
What are some immediate changes that
the public sector could take to step up
housing attainability?
DUCKER: A lot of cities and towns are grappling
with getting rid of single-family zoning, which would
allow density in places where the land values are
still meaningfully lower, where a developer can
build a smaller home for a middle-class household
with a construction type that is more affordable,
such as threeplexes and fourplexes, or a three- or
four-story townhouse. That's the sort of publicsector
move that would be the most impactful in
opening up a new business opportunity.
DWORKIN: I am hopeful that we will see action
soon on reform of the Section 8 program and the
HOME Investment Partnerships Program. Both programs
have years of layered regulatory protections
that protect the government from fraud so well that
they protect American citizens from actually using
the programs that are paid for with their tax dollars.
It's time for the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development to create an advance notice of
proposed rulemaking so we can gather feedback
and better implement these programs. Also, in the
most recent budget, Congress didn't extend the
2018 12.5 percent increase in the allocation for the
Low Income Housing Tax Credit, which effectively
cut the program 12.5 percent at the worst possible
time. This is one area of government spending
where more spending means less inflation.
McFADDEN: Streamlining the approval process at
the local level would really facilitate building
housing more quickly. The public sector also has
access to data that could tell us about residential
developments that are at risk of converting to
market rate, whether because of expiring regulatory
agreements or expiring Low Income Housing Tax
Credit partnerships. Sharing that data would help
with preserving existing naturally occurring affordable
housing, which is extremely cost-effective compared
with new construction.
PTOMEY: Single-family exclusionary zoning, in particular,
is a barrier to both housing production and
attainability in lots of places around the country.
But eliminating zoning doesn't put units on the
ground; that has to happen over time. We're just
starting to see some developers focus on adding
density to areas that were previously zoned only
for single families. Addressing land costs can be
another important part of the equation. Governments
can look for ways to provide tax abatements
or fee waivers or other cost reductions that can
enable developers to build units and charge
lower rents.
What about the private sector?
McFADDEN: We need to focus on cost reduction.
Using off-site construction models, such as factory
construction of modular units, or panelized flat
packs for assembly on site, could provide speedier
production timelines and cost savings. So far, it's
been challenging to capture these benefits for a
variety of reasons, including difficulties with financing
this kind of production, because it's new and
different. Another idea is to look for more sustainable
and less expensive building materials. We're
SPRING 2023
URBAN LAND
51
2023 Spring Issue
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2023 Spring Issue
2023 Spring Issue - Cover1
2023 Spring Issue - Cover2
2023 Spring Issue - 1
2023 Spring Issue - 2
2023 Spring Issue - 3
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2023 Spring Issue - Cover3
2023 Spring Issue - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2024-fall-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/-2024-summer-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2024-spring-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2024-winter-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2023-fall-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2023-summer-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2023-spring-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2022-winter-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2022FallIssue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2022-summer-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2022-spring-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/ulm-winter-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/summer-issue-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/uli-spring-2021-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/ULIWinter2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/URBANLANDFALL2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/URBANLANDSUMMER2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/URBANLANDSPRING2020
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