CHAPTER 4: Recommendations for Reform
 |
Austin is at a strategic point in its growth.
Without providing more housing at lower prices, Austin's middle class --
and soon, its businesses -- will move to more affordable areas in nearby
cities or beyond. In order to help to overcome the key barriers to affordable
housing -- the lack of public awareness, supply, access, and resources
-- four goals were developed by the Community Action Network Working Group
on Affordable Housing. Important first steps to achieve these goals are
also included. These actions are neither exhaustive nor mutually exclusive
nor do they need to be undertaken chronologically; these actions complement
one another. The Working Group created a more extensive list of suggested
actions that could be initiated to address Austin-Travis County's housing
needs (See Appendix C.).
RECOMMENDED
GOALS AND ACTIONS
GOAL 1: EDUCATE
THE COMMUNITY ON THE REGIONAL HOUSING CRISIS.
|
In order to educate residents and business and community leaders on the
impacts of a lack of affordable housing and the difficulties facing area
residents in finding affordable housing, the Community Action Network partners
should:
Action1-A. Make housing a priority in decision-making processes
throughout the region. Every policy decision made by community leaders
should weigh the impact on the housing market.
Action1-B. Convene major employers and the universities and colleges
to discuss the housing crisis, its impact on their business or institution,
their impact on the housing market, and their responsibility to help improve
conditions.
Action 1-C. Institute a public education campaign to educate
residents, neighborhood associations, and employers on the impact of the
affordable housing crisis on them. Raise awareness of substandard conditions
in unregulated or poorly managed developments and the difficulties facing
low-wage workers. Rising housing prices mean businesses will face more
difficulties in recruiting and retaining workers, and Austin residents
will face rising tax burdens as their middle income neighbors move to the
suburbs.
GOAL
2: IMPROVE EXISTING FINANCING METHODS. Existing housing programs
of government, lending institutions, and nonprofit organizations are largely
ineffective, narrowly designed, and/or underfunded. The community must
develop new ways of creating more housing opportunities for low and moderate-income
residents of Travis County. To do so, the Community Action Network partners
should:
Action 2-A. Encourage public officials to develop incentives
for building more affordable housing through a variety of tools, such as
rehabilitation of existing buildings, tax abatements, tax increment financing,
fee waivers, density bonuses or transferable development rights.
Action 2-B. Facilitate a review of the current allocation of
housing resources, e.g., federal and state funds, lending pools, and foundation/nonprofit
support, to ensure they are operating efficiently to meet the needs of
eligible residents.
Action 2-C. Challenge lenders to develop new and appropriate
loan products to accommodate lower income borrowers and borrowers with
less than perfect credit ratings.
GOAL
3: DEVELOP PROACTIVE POLICIES TO MEET COMMUNITY NEEDS. In order
to ensure that the tax burden is equitably distributed, Austin-Travis County
must attract and retain residents across the income spectrum. A citywide
housing policy is essential to do so. Elements of the policy may vary,
but critical issues should be addressed. The Community Action Network partners
should:
Action 3-A. Encourage city and county officials to adopt
a joint affordable housing policy that includes a comprehensive list of
neighborhood impacts that all housing developments must address including
traffic, school, long-term maintenance, crime and safety issues, and other
issues to be identified. Developments that comply with this policy will
be approved. Among other issues, the policy should:
Action3A-1. Promote efforts to make more land available
at below market prices for affordable housing developers, such as convening
taxing authorities to develop a vacant-lot foreclosure program, creating
a land bank, or allowing appropriate entities the first right of refusal
for surplus public lands.
Action 3A-2. Encourage public officials to review zoning
ordinances to facilitate affordable multifamily developments and other
group quarters, especially single-room occupancy units, similar to college
dormitories.
Action 3A-3. Promote community and employer efforts
to help consumers achieve their housing goals, such as credit counseling
for both renters and homebuyers, homeownership counseling, and savings
programs.
Action 3A-4. Highlight that any housing built with public
subsidies must be accessible to disabled residents and encourage privately
developed housing to be as well.
GOAL
4: INCREASE RESOURCES FOR HOUSING. The Working Group estimates
that tens of thousands of households live in substandard housing; pay an
excessive amount for their housing; and/or live in overcrowded conditions.
The public sector cannot address these problems only with federal resources.
Additional monies are necessary to address the current shortfall in affordable
housing units. To raise supplemental funds for the community's housing
needs, the Community Action Network partners should:
Action 4-A. Work with public and community leaders to create
a housing trust fund with adequate, dedicated resources for affordable
housing efforts by the year 2000.
Action 4-B. Engage the assistance of private and community institutions
in collaborating with the public sector in providing more housing programs.
Return to Top
