New Report Identifies Planned Actions to Foster Transit-Oriented Housing Development

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A new report outlines steps that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and a second agency plan to take to better promote, encourage, and facilitate development of transportation-oriented mixed-income housing.

The joint report, by HUD and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA), responds to a 2007 congressional legislative directive. Congress ordered the two agencies to “better coordinate public transportation and housing policies and programs”; develop a “best practices” manual for localities; and formulate new ways that FTA and HUD can better coordinate transportation and housing programs to promote affordable housing near transit.

The report says Americans on average spend 52% of their income on housing and transportation, with the burden stiffer for low-income and certain metropolitan area households. “One approach to lowering the combined cost of housing and transportation,” it notes, “is to expand housing opportunities adjacent to transit.” The notion is that living near mass transit (e.g., subway stops, bus lines, light rail, etc.) can cut a household’s combined housing and commuting expenses, provided the housing is affordable.

The report cites an estimate that demand for housing near transit will grow to 14.6 million households by the year 2030, compared to six million in 2004.

The report describes previous inter-agency work in this area between HUD and FTA, and current challenges to development of mixed-use housing near transit. The latter include high land costs, zoning and other regulatory barriers, the complexity of joint venture projects, and other reasons.

The report identifies 11 specific actions or strategies HUD and FTA plan to take over federal Fiscal Years 2008-10 to better coordinate transportation and housing planning and programs to promote affordable housing near transit. Goals of these actions are to: expand mixed-income and affordable housing choices near new/existing transit stations; develop a more comprehensive approach to address household spending for housing and transportation; and preserve existing affordable housing. The report, for instance, notes that a 2007 study identified 100,000 expiring use federally assisted housing units in eight states as being close to transit.

The 11 actions and strategies include to:

  • Continue the work of a joint FTA/HUD working group.
  • Publish a “best practices” manual, describing sample projects and available resources, to guide local officials on how to successfully create mixed-income housing near transit.
  • Develop a plan for outreach activities to housing and transit providers and stakeholders, such as conferences and training.
  • Hold briefings and workshops for HUD and FTA staff.
  • Enhance capacity building programs within the two agencies, such as exploring opportunities within HUD’s HOME and Community Development Block Grant programs and the federal Transportation Planning Capacity Building program.
  • Identify regulatory barriers to coordination of HUD and FTA investments in projects proximate to transit, such as inconsistencies between the agencies’ requirements, possible restrictions on HUD mortgage insurance for mixed-use development, and state and local barriers.
  • Better coordinate HUD and DOT planning requirements, such as HUD’s requirements for consolidated plans. As part of this, the report says public housing agencies (PHAs) might prepare a PHA plan that also addresses transportation.
  • Identify opportunities for joint research and policy analysis.
  • Identify legislative proposals for the next federal surface transportation authorization bill and other legislation, to boost opportunities and reduce challenges to affordable housing near transit.
  • Assess the effectiveness of joint actions taken by HUD and FTA.
  • Identify financial incentives for funding affordable housing near transit. As part of this, HUD and FTA will assess the feasibility of encouraging and/or providing targeted incentives to finance affordable housing near transit. In the report, HUD funds, DOT dollars, low-income housing tax credits, and tax-exempt financing are just a few of the resources mentioned that have or could be used in connection with development of transit-oriented housing.

(http://www.huduser.org/publications/commdevl/transport_and_hsg.html)